snoek bobotie

preheat oven to 180º celsius.

cut 1kg fresh snoek into large pieces, place into a large saucepan of boiling water and simmer gently until cooked, about 5 – 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. drain, allow to cool, then carefully flake the fish, removing the bones.

place 2 slices of bread into a bowl and pour over ½ cup of milk and leave to soak.

in a pan, gently fry 1 cup of chopped onions until soft, and then add 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger, 1 clove of finely chopped garlic, 4 curry leaves (optional), 1 teaspoon crushed cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon crushed coriander, the seeds from 3 cardamom pods and 2 teaspoons of mild curry powder. stir-fry for 2 minutes and add 1 x 410g tin of chopped, peeled tomatoes. let this bubble away until reduced and the mixture starts to thicken.

squeeze the excess milk from the bread and break into large crumbs. sprinkle over the snoek flakes and add the spice sauce. stir gently to combine and transfer to a backing dish. add 4 lemon or bay leaves and 4 sticks of cassia.

beat 1½ cups of milk plus the milk left from the bread with 3 large eggs, pour over the fish and bake for 40 – 45 minutes, or until set and the edges have browned.

serve with basmati rice, naan bread and fruit chutney.

what is snoek?

Etymology: Afrikaans from Dutch zeesnoek 'sea pike'.

Noun: Snoek

An edible fish Thyrsites atun native to South African (Cape), South American and Australian waters, often smoked or salted. …a long, bony fish that looks like a second cousin of a barracuda…

Abstract--Snoek (Thyrsites atun) is a valuable commercial species and an important predator of small pelagic fishes in the Benguela ecosystem. The South African population attains 50% sexual maturity at a fork length of ca.73.0 cm (3 years). Spawning occurs offshore during winter-spring, along the shelf break (150-400 m) of the western Agulhas Bank and the South African west coast. [2]

Snoek: A silvery and oily fish, traditional to the Cape. It is available fresh when in season and frozen at other times of the year. It has long needle like bones and doesn't need to be scaled before cooking.

Use: It can be smoked, grilled, baked, fried or poached and served with lemon, garlic, dried chillies and melted butter for extra flavour. Although it's quite an oily fish, when baked or grilled it should be basted well to prevent it from overdrying. Wrapped in foil with onion, green pepper and tomato slices and barbequed over hot coals is also a South African favourite. It makes delicious hors d'oeuvres, soufflés, quiches, and roulades.

exert from http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/snoek