Tiep (or thieb or benechin or benachin or jollof rice) is a traditional dish from Senegal that is also consumed in Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, The Gambia, and other West and Central African countries. It is the national dish in Senegal.
History
Historically, tiep is commonly attributed to the city of Saint-Louis,
in the nineteenth century. The name of the dish comes from
Wolof language words meaning 'rice' (ceeb) and 'fish' (jën).
In Pulaar it is known as maaro e liddi ('rice and fish'). In Hassaniya Arabic the
calque مارو والحوت () is also frequently used together with the Wolof loanword. It is served on large trays with the rice on the bottom and the fish, usually
white grouper (
Epinephelus aeneus), and the vegetables, many of them whole, placed in the center.
The collapse of white grouper fisheries has reduced access to the dish.
Serving
Traditionally it is eaten in a large communal dish with the hand. It is also the symbol of Senegalese
terranga (hospitality): family, visiting friends and guests gather around a single dish (called a
bolus) from which everyone eats using a spoon (
couddou Pulaar) or their hand.
Related dishes
The popular West African dish known as
jollof is thought to have originated from the thieboudienne, but is usually made with meat rather than fish, and the rice is mixed into the other ingredients.
The Gullah dish red rice resembles thieboudienne, suggesting a creolization of foodways from West Africa in the New World by enslaved Africans and their descendants. Like thieboudienne, there are regional variations of red rice throughout the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, including Savannah red rice and Charleston red rice.[ - Registration required]
Recipe
It is a preparation of fresh or dried fish, and broken rice (rice Wolof), cooked with vegetables (such as cassava, pumpkin, cabbage, carrot, turnip, or eggplant), parsley, tomato paste, peppers, garlic and onions.
Originally made with fish, it is not unusual to see it served with beef or chicken.
Variations
By country
Originally from Senegal, the traditional recipe includes fish, rice, tomato and onions. Thieboudienne is sometimes called benechin in Senegal which means 'one pot' in Wolof. However, tiep is commonly consumed in several countries in
West Africa. Depending on the country, the recipe and the ingredients change—even the method of cooking can differ. In Mali, tiep is known as
tieb, a dish consisting of chicken, rice and vegetables such as a tomato and onion base.
Jollof rice rice which derived from tiep is a popular dish especially in Nigeria and Ghana. In Cameroon, Guinea and Ivory Coast the dish is called
riz gras. The components are similar to the original recipe's ingredients with the inclusion of tomatoes, rice and onions.
By ethnicity
Senegal's distinctive ethnic groups have their own variations on cuisine and eating habits, influenced either by proximity to the ocean or the traditions of nomadism and cattle raising. For instance, people from southern Senegal usually also add some bissap while people from
Dakar and Saint-Louis will use some
soul (Wolof). The dish is considered an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Other renderings
Other renderings of the name include:
ceebu jen,
cee bu jen,
ceeb u jen,
thebouidienne,
theibou dienn,
thiebou dienn,
thiebou dinne,
thiébou dieune,
tíe biou dienne,
thieb-ou-djien,
thiebu djen or
riz au poisson.
See also
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Couscous
-
Cuisine of Senegal
-
Paprykarz szczeciński
-
List of stews
-
List of African dishes
Further reading
