A Feast of fish..Okavango style!

A feast of fish

Leburu Andrias

Fish is, and has always been, a staple diet for the tribes that inhabit the Okavango area. In fact all around the world, fish always forms part of the diet of people who live along or near a river, swamp, delta, or sea.

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For as far as the local people can remember or for as far as historians can trace the history of the people of Okavango, especially the //Anikhwe (River San), Wayei, and Hambukushu, fish has always been part of their lives. Okavango River is home to different species of fish. Of all these, the most widely eaten are cat fish, tiger fish, African pike and, top of the list, the bream family.

People preserve fish in different ways. For people found in the north western parts of Botswana, the kind of preservation one uses depends on personal choice, but most importantly, the season or time of the year. During the period between October and early autumn, because of the heat, preference is given to smoking the fish (khuninga) than sun-drying it, even if one applies salt. The fish is sliced open along the back (dorsal fin). Small poles are structured in the form of a bed of about a meter or less in height. A fire is then built under this structure, and the fish put on top of it. Depending on the size of the structure and the fire underneath, one may smoke four or more fish at the same time. These are inexpensive methods, and the fish, if put in a dry place, may be stored for months without going bad. The cold winter season is used as a ‘natural fridge’, as the fish will only go bad after two or three days before one would be forced to smoke or sun-dry it. Nowadays people have moved on to modern techniques such as the use of fridges and deep freezers and cold rooms.

The fish, whether fresh, smoked, or sun-dried, can either be boiled, fried, barbecued, grilled, or even flambé-d, if there is anything like that. There is one other way that is peculiar to Okavango – cooking fish in the form of soft porridge (only fresh fish is used). Interestingly, there are people in Okavango who have never tasted fish cooked this way, let alone heard of such a meal. Some do not even know that fish can be cooked like seswaa. Perhaps it is because the above two ways are more common within the //Anikhwe and Yei communities than other tribes. Though any kind of fish may be cooked this way (like soft porridge or seswaa), the most preferred species are tiger fish and cat fish.

Of all fishes that you will eat and find yourself praying at the same time (that a bone does not get stuck in your throat), tiger fish and African pike are the worst. The flesh of these two fishes is thick and juicy, but hidden within this flesh are a dozen, small, Y-shaped bones. Give a //Anikhwe a choice between bream and tiger fish and he will go for the latter. Cooked with water lily fruits or tubers, and mixed, the meal can compete with the best of the best meals in the world. There is a catch though. The thick flesh makes it easy for the small, Y-shaped bones to be swallowed, and boy, do they easily get stuck in your throat. Of course, this rarely happens to those who were born and bred in Okavango as they have always eaten fish. 

In Okavango, whenever people eat tiger fish, the kids are warned not to talk while eating, as this could make them swallow a bone by mistake, the worst being the Y-shaped ones. If a child found himself in this situation, the elders would make him carry a huge, three-legged pot on his head. Those who had been in this situation before, swear that it worked; that somehow miraculously, the bone would disappear from the throat. Nobody knows for sure how or why this works. Hence one may only guess that maybe it is because the heavy weight of the pot would make one swallow hard. But whatever is the case, tiger fish and African pike are two species of fish one should steer clear off if they are eating fish for the first time.

Fish in the form of soft porridge:

*  Cut the fish into chunks and pour water (the fish should be fully submerged). Bring to the boil, and keep adding water to keep its level constant.

*  There are two ways of enjoying fish cooked in this way. One can either have it half cooked and after whisking, the bones removed (using a wooden whisk or sieve); or have it fully-cooked and whisked without removing the bones.

*  When there is still enough water, whisk the fish until it crumbles totally (all the flesh comes off the bones). You will now have a soup-kind-of mixture. However, this depends on the number of fish one is cooking and the amount of water in the pot before whisking. If you are not going to add any meal – maize, sorghum or millet – then it is better to use a reasonable amount of water, for the mixture to be thick.

*  Or you can add maize, sorghum, or millet meal to thicken. Add cooking oil and salt, and leave to simmer gently for a while.

Remove pot from heat and serve while still hot. 

Source: Mmgi online.