Senegalese thieboudienne is quite fascinating, however not as straightforward as one would like it to be as most of the history surrounding this delicacy was transmitted via oral tradition. While Jollof rice is traditionally attributed to the Senegalese Wolof Empire (which in the 14th to 16th century was a West African ruling state whose migration patterns lead to the spread of Jollof across West Africa), a popular perspective is that the adoption of thieboudienne as Senegal’s national dish was a result of a reinvention of Senegal’s colonial legacy (they were colonized by the French) and their local culture. According to Kiratiana Freelon, oral tradition credits the actual invention of thieboudienne to a woman called Penda Mbaye from St. Louis, Senegal. A cook who lived and worked in the colonial governor’s palace, she is said to have utilized broken rice as an alternative to Barley, which was in short supply at the time. While fish is quite abundant in the Senegambia region, broken rice wasn’t local to the Senegalese natives as it was introduced by the French colonialists in the nineteenth century as a result of importation of large quantities of poor quality rice by the French from Asia.
Blend or crush the parsley, half the garlic, Maggi cube, plus a little salt and pepper to taste and a spoon of oil.
Cut slits in the flesh of the fish and stuff the marinade inside and refrigerate for an hour.
Make your tomato sauce.
In a saucepan, heat your oil on medium high and add in your onions , tomatoes, tomato paste , the black pepper and remaining garlic. Then fry for some minutes.
Remove the fish from the marinade and add your vegetables.
Remove the fish pieces and add all the vegetables with some water and cook the vegetables until they are cooked for about 30 minutes.
Do not overcook your veggies
And remove from heat.
Cook the rice on low heat, stir often and cook until tender.
When the rice is cooked well its ready for serving. place the rice on a nice dish and arrange the vegetables and fish on top.