Kabkabou

Capers, olives and preserved lemon are the dish, and they go in at the end so they stay sharp.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

the fish

• 6 thick white fish steaks -- grouper, tuna or mackerel
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt

the sauce

• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 tablespoons tomato purée
• 400 g chopped tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon harissa
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons ground caraway
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 400 ml water
• salt and black pepper

to finish

• 4 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 20 green olives
• 2 preserved lemons, in strips
• juice of 1 lemon
• a handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. CAPERS, OLIVES AND PRESERVED LEMON ARE THE DISH, and they go in at the end so they stay sharp. Four tablespoons of capers, twenty olives and two whole preserved lemons for six people -- quantities that look like a garnish list and are in fact the point. All three are salty and sour and all three lose that if they are simmered: capers go soft and flat, olives turn bitter, and preserved lemon dissolves into mush. They go in for the last five minutes, with the pan off the boil, so they warm through and keep their edge. A version with them stirred in at the start is a tomato fish stew, which is not what this is.
2. THE CAPERS ARE RINSED BUT THE OLIVES ARE NOT. Capers come packed in heavy brine or salt and need rinsing or the dish is inedibly salty; the olives bring their saltiness in proportion and are used as they are. The preserved lemons are rinsed of surface brine and the flesh left in.
3. THE FISH GOES IN LAST AND FOR TEN MINUTES ONLY. The sauce is made and reduced first, then the steaks are laid on top and the pan covered. Ten minutes off the boil. Fish simmered through the whole sauce-making falls apart and makes the sauce muddy.
4. IT IS NOT STIRRED ONCE THE FISH IS IN. The pan is tilted and spooned over instead. A spoon through poaching fish breaks the steaks.
5. THE FISH IS RUBBED WITH TURMERIC AND SALT AND LEFT HALF AN HOUR. It firms the surface slightly and colours it, and it seasons the flesh rather than just the sauce.
6. CARAWAY IS TWO TEASPOONS AND IS THE THREAD TO EVERYTHING ELSE HERE. Along with the harissa it is what makes this read as Tunisian rather than as any Mediterranean fish stew.
7. THE SAUCE IS REDUCED BEFORE THE FISH ARRIVES. Twenty minutes until it thickens and the oil shows at the edges. A thin sauce plus fish liquid gives something watery, and there is no chance to reduce it afterwards without overcooking the fish.
8. The fish rubbed with the turmeric and salt and left 30 MINUTES.
9. The olive oil heated and the onions softened 10 MINUTES.
10. The sliced garlic and harissa in for 1 MINUTE, then the purée fried 2 MINUTES until darkened.
11. The tomatoes, caraway, coriander, water and seasoning added and simmered 20 MINUTES, until THICKENED and the oil shows at the edges.
12. The heat lowered so the sauce is OFF the boil and the fish laid ON TOP.
13. Covered and cooked 10 MINUTES ONLY, the pan tilted and the sauce spooned over. NOT STIRRED.
14. The RINSED capers, olives and strips of preserved lemon added for the LAST 5 MINUTES.
15. The lemon juice and parsley added off the heat.
16. TESTED: the capers and olives should still taste sharp and the fish be in whole steaks. Flat and soft means they went in too early.
17. Served with bread.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Tunisia · All recipes