Masgouf (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: المسكوف), is a

Mesopotamian Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

dish consisting of seasoned, grilled

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

; it is often considered the

national dish A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs that can be ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Geographical distribution

The Iraqi capital city

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

prides itself on making the best masgouf, with the Abu Nawas district on the shores of the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

river, "dedicated" to this dish. Nonetheless, one can find masgouf all over Iraq, especially near the Tigris-Euphrates Basin. Outside of Iraq, masguf is more or less popular eastern parts of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, especially in the regions bordering Iraq, such as in the

Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish languages, Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. T ...

Governorate, which is crossed by the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

. It is also seen, at a lesser scale,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, such as

Nusaybin Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

and

Cizre Cizre (; ar, جَزِيْرَة ٱبْن عُمَر, Jazīrat Ibn ʿUmar, or ''Madinat al-Jazira'', he, גזירא, Gzira, ku, Cizîr, ''Cizîra Botan'', or ''Cizîre'', syr, ܓܙܪܬܐ ܕܒܪ ܥܘܡܪ, Gāzartā,) is a city in the Cizre Dis ...

, on the Iraqi border. Masguf is now also found in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

due to a high number of Iraqis who lived there after the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

."أسعار العقارات في جرمانا تتحدى الإنحدار .. والجمود لم " ("Real estate prices in Jaramana challenge Downgrade ..")
''De Press - Buildex Online'' 19 March 2009, in Arabic, last accessed 18 September 2010 In the district of Jeremana alone, where most Iraqis lived, there were more than ten masgûf restaurants, all staffed by Iraqis. The fish is brought daily from the Syrian Euphrates to these restaurants, and is kept alive in a fishpond or a big

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

until it is ordered.

Preparation and serving

The fish is caught alive and weighed. It is clubbed to kill it, partially scaled and gutted. The fish is then split lengthwise down the back, washed and spread out into a single flat piece. This opens the fish into the shape of a large, symmetrical circle, while leaving the belly intact. From there, the cook bastes the inside of the fish with a marinade of olive oil, rock salt, tamarind, and ground turmeric. Crushed tomatoes and coriander are sometimes added to the marinade. The fish is then either impaled on two sharp iron spikes, or placed in a big iron, clamshell grill with a handle and a locking snare, designed specifically for this dish. The fish, either clamped in the grill or mounted on the spikes, is then placed next to the fire on the "fire altar", a feature shared by all masgûf restaurants. This "altar" typically consists of a big open-air area centered by a raised, podium-like sandbox that is either round, octagonal or sometimes rectangular, in the middle of which there is a large fire of

apricot tree An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

logs. Cooking typically takes between one and three hours, until most of the fish's fat is burned off, during which time the guests will pick at their

meze Meze or mezza (, ) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in the Levant, Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Iran. It is similar to Spanish tapas and Italian antipasti. A mezze may be served as a part of a multi-course me ...

s. When the fish is well cooked, it is laid on the coals, skin side down. This crisps the skin and helps release the flesh from it for serving ease. The whole fish is typically laid on a large tray garnished with

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

(or

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

), slices of

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

and Iraqi

pickles Pickles may refer to: Dogs * Pickles (dog) (died 1967), a dog that found the stolen World Cup trophy in 1966 * Pickles (pickleball), a dog often cited as the name origin for the sport of pickleball * Mr. Pickles, the titular demonic dog in an ...

. Sometimes, in

, a little

mango chutney Green mango chutney, also known as ''raw mango chutney'', is an Indian chutney prepared from unripe mangoes. Ripe mangoes are sweet and are not used for chutneys as they are eaten raw. Green unripe mangoes are hard and sour, and they are cooked ...

is also spread on the inside. The tray is then covered by a large crispy flatbread straight of a clay oven to keep its contents hot until served to the client.Taus-Bolstad, Stacy (2003
''Iraq in Pictures''
Twenty-First Century Books, p.55,

Variations

The

Turkmens Turkmens ( tk, , , , ; historically "the Turkmen"), sometimes referred to as Turkmen Turks ( tk, , ), are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-weste ...

of northern Iraq are known to prepare a similar recipe, often using a clay oven.

Notes

Masguf arguably being the most famous dish of

, it is also the one that is always the foremost served to foreign delegations visiting the country by the Iraqi statesmen. Two notable admirers of this dish are said to be the former President of France,

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

and

Vladimir Zhirinovsky Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky, ''né'' Eidelshtein (russian: link=false, Эйдельштейн) (25 April 1946 – 6 April 2022) was a Russian right-wing populist politician and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) f ...

, the former chairman of the Russian

Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

. Chirac apparently fell for masgûf during a visit to Iraq in a formal dinner given to his honor by

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

Gallery

File:Masgouf, an Iraqi tradition - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg, A carp on a stick File:Grilling masgouf - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg, Carps grilled into masgouf File:The famed masgouf - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg, Multiple carps being grilled

Geographical distribution

Preparation and serving

Variations

See also

Notes

Gallery

References

Further reading