Ceebu Jën

Ceebu jën is Senegal's national dish: broken rice cooked in a tomato sauce with whole fish and root vegetables.

Ceebu jën is a Wolof name meaning "rice and fish", and the dish is cooked in one pot, so the rice takes on the flavour of the sauce. Its origin is often linked to the fishing town of Saint-Louis. The French spelling thieboudienne is also widely used.

What it really is

Broken rice, the small fragments left after milling, is the base of the dish. The sauce is built from tomato paste cooked with onion, and the fish is cooked whole in that sauce, which gives it body and flavour. Cassava, cabbage and carrot cook in the same pot until tender. The rice absorbs the liquid as it simmers, so the grains turn soft and take on a reddish colour from the tomato. The fish is usually a firm white fish, and grouper is the classic choice.

The rice and the sauce are cooked together, so the dish is not a stew served over separately cooked rice.

How it's served

• On one large shared platter, with the rice spread at the base and the whole fish and vegetables set on top.
• Hot, from the pot, often eaten from the same dish by several people.
• With the sauce spooned over the rice, eaten with spoons or by hand depending on the household.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the fish, for example grouper or fish of the day, and say whether it is served whole or as a fillet.
• Flag fish as an allergen. It is the main ingredient, so the dish is not suitable for guests who avoid fish.
• List cassava, cabbage and carrot, and say that the rice is broken rice, not long-grain.
• State whether the dish is a shared platter or a single portion, since the traditional form is served for several people.
• Ask the kitchen about any thickener or stock it uses, so that you can answer allergy questions accurately.