Seafood
Smoorsnoek
Also known as smoorvis
Smoorsnoek is flaked snoek, salted or smoked, braised with onions, potato and chilli. Hildegonda Duckitt called smoorvis an old Malay speciality.
- TraditionCape Malay
- Kind of dishSeafood
- SeasonAll year
- OccasionOften a Monday meal. Faldela Williams wrote that Malay households generally serve fish on Mondays, after the rich food of the weekend.
The story
Many cooks start with dried, salted snoek, soaking and boiling it to draw out the salt before it goes into the pot, while others use smoked snoek. The fish is flaked and braised with onions, potato, chilli and often tomato, and the name comes from smoor, an Afrikaans word for braising or smothering.
The dish, also called smoorvis, has a long history at the Cape. In the early 1900s Hildegonda Duckitt described smoorvis as an old Malay speciality and suggested adding tomatoes when they were in season.
The Cape Malay cookbook author Faldela Williams noted that fish was generally served in Malay households on a Monday, after the rich, spicy food of the weekend. Her own smoorsnoek adds cabbage to the braise.
Stories
Related reading
Sources
Check out these sources
- smoor, adj. and n. · Dictionary of South African English (Rhodes University Dictionary Unit)
- Smoorsnoek with Cabbage, from The Cape Malay Illustrated Cookbook by Faldela Williams · ckbk
