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Masgouf

Name: Masgouf
Total time: 90 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Iraq
Ingredients: 1 (large, such as sea bream or sea bass) White Fish Fillet; 2 tsp Salt; 1 tsp Turmeric; 1 tbsp Tamarind paste; 3 tbsp Olive oil; 2 Tomato; 1 Onion; 1 Lemon; To taste Pita Bread

Main Dish

⏱ 90 min

👥 Serves 4

Difficulty ⭐⭐

Butterflied river fish propped on stakes and roasted by a wood fire — the famous dish of Baghdad along the Tigris.

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📖 The Story Behind This Dish

Masgouf is considered Iraq's national dish: carp from the Tigris or Euphrates is split down the back, seasoned with salt, turmeric, and tamarind, propped on wooden stakes, and slowly roasted for hours beside a fire. Restaurants on Abu Nuwas Street along the Tigris in Baghdad are famous for it.

🌆 Where it's eaten: On a Baghdad night along the Tigris, fish on stakes roast slowly around a fire as families wait in the river breeze for them to finish.

🥕 Ingredients (serves 4)

White Fish Fillet 1 (large, such as sea bream or sea bass)
Salt 2 tsp
Turmeric 1 tsp
Tamarind paste 1 tbsp
Olive oil 3 tbsp
Tomato 2
Onion 1
Lemon 1
Pita Bread To taste

👩‍🍳 Instructions

Split the fish down the back, remove the innards, and open it flat.
Mix the salt, turmeric, tamarind paste, and olive oil and spread over the flesh side.
Roast skin side down under a grill or in a 200°C oven for 25–30 minutes.
Roast the skin side too until crisp.
Slice the tomato and onion, lay on the fish, and roast another 5 minutes.
Serve with lemon and pita.

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