El Cebiche de Ceroni

“El Cebiche de Ceroni” 

Submitted by: 

Ruby Céron Carrasco,
Department of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland 

Ingredients:

  • Fillets of white fish (cod family: cod – Gadus morhua or haddock – Melanogrammus aeglefinnus)
  • Cooked mussels
  • Fresh lemon juice 
  • Onions 
  • Red or Green bell peppers 
  • Radishes 
  • Fresh green chilies 
  • Hot chili (either ground or in paste) 
  • Vegetable oil (do NOT use olive oil) 
  • Ground black pepper 
  • Ground cumin 
  • Salt 

Instructions:

Cut the fish into very small thin pieces, making sure there are no bones. Layer the fish and the mussels in a glass container. Extract the juice of the fresh lemons and put through a sieve to ensure that there are no seeds or pulp fragments in the juice. Cover the fish completely with the lemon juice. Leave a minimum of 2-3 hours in the refrigerator. Prepare the “peure” by finely dicing the onions and covering them with salt. Squeeze the salted onions with your hands to rid them of some of their juice. Put them in a sieve and rinse thoroughly with cold water, squeeze them again to get rid of the excess water. (This gets rid of any bitterness in the onions.) Remove the seeds from the green chilies and dice them VERY finely. Finely chop the radishes, bell pepper (remove seeds) and mix all vegetables together with the onions in a clay or glass bowl. Add vegetable oil, more lemon juice, black pepper, cumin, chili powder or paste and salt (everything al gusto!). Chill for two hours in the refrigerator. Final Mixing: After 2-3 hours of “resting,” mix the fish/mollusk with the “peure.” Add salt al gusto. Serve in individual plates. It is necessary to drink cold (preferably dry) white wine to accompany this