Prized Catch · Grilled White Grouper
Thiof
Photo: Ángeles Jurado Quintana / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Overfishing has made thiof so scarce off Dakar's coast that it now costs several times what it did a generation ago, even though it's still treated as the everyday fish of choice.
White grouper is scored, rubbed with a garlic-chili paste, marinated briefly and grilled whole over charcoal until the skin chars and the flesh flakes cleanly. Women grill it fresh at stalls around Dakar's Soumbédioune fish market, usually served with little more than onions and lime.
Why it's made this way: Thiof is the namesake fish of Dakar's Lébou fishing communities, and its simple charcoal-grilled preparation reflects a local belief that exceptional fresh fish needs minimal interference.
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