Fesikh (, ) is a traditional Egyptian dish. It is consumed primarily, though not exclusively, during the

Sham el-Nessim Sham Ennessim (, ''Sham Al Nassim'' or ''Sham an-Nassim''; Egyptian Arabic: ''Sham Ennesim'', ) is a festival marking the beginning of spring, celebrated by Egyptians of all religions. It is an official public holiday in Egypt.Asante, Molefi Kete ...

festival, a spring celebration that traces its origins to

ancient Egyptian Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

times and is observed as a national holiday in Egypt. Fesikh consists of salted, pickled,

fermented Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic compound, Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are Catabo ...

and dried gray mullet of the genus ''

Mugil ''Mugil'' is a genus of mullet in the family Mugilidae found worldwide in tropical and temperate coastal marine waters, but also entering estuaries and rivers. Species There are currently 16 recognized species in this genus: * '' Mugil bananen ...

'', a saltwater fish that lives in both the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and the Red Seas. In western Egypt, whitefish is used as an alternative. The consumption of fesikh has roots traceable to antiquity. In his

Histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust) ...

, the Greek historian

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

provides a detailed account of Egyptian dietary habits. Among other practices, he records that the Egyptians "eat fish either raw and sun-dried, or preserved with brine". The methods described by Herodotus parallel those used in contemporary fesikh, indicating a long-standing culinary tradition maintained from antiquity to the present.

Hazard

Each year, reports of a few cases of food poisoning involving incorrectly prepared fesikh appear in Egyptian periodicals, especially during the

festival, when the Egyptians consume this traditional pickled fish. In April 2012, the

Canadian Food Inspection Agency The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA; ) is a regulatory agency that is dedicated to the safeguarding of food, plants, and animals (FPA) in Canada, thus enhancing the health and well-being of Canada's people, environment and economy. The age ...

issued recalls for whole fesikh mullet, cut up fesikh mullet in oil, and whole fesikh shad that were sold from a store in Toronto. There were three reported illnesses associated with the consumption of the products, which may have been contaminated with ''

Clostridium botulinum ''Clostridium botulinum'' is a Gram-positive bacteria, gram-positive, Bacillus (shape), rod-shaped, Anaerobic organism, anaerobic, endospore, spore-forming, Motility, motile bacterium with the ability to produce botulinum toxin, which is a neurot ...

'' bacteria. However, these reports never deterred the Egyptians from eating this celebratory dish, since they pertain only to improperly prepared fesikh and to expired or contaminated fesikh; the Egyptian ministry of health constantly urges the Egyptians to buy their fesikh from known and trusted vendors and to check expiration dates, or to prepare it properly if they do so at home, and stores selling the fish are constantly investigated.

References

{{Egypt-cuisine-stub Arab cuisine Egyptian cuisine Palestinian cuisine Fermented fish Middle Eastern cuisine

Hazard

See also

References