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Fermentation Atlas

Fish and seafood from Egypt, Sudan, Gaza

Fessikhفسيخ

Whole, ungutted grey mullet (in Sudan, Alestes and Hydrocynus) are left to soften, then packed in layers of dry salt and pressed under weights for weeks while the flesh ripens. The soft, pungent fish is eaten without cooking. Because the guts stay in and salt reaches the inside slowly, fessikh carries a real risk of type E botulism. Made in 5 steps over 3.5 months – 4.5 months. The longest step, pack in cans or bags, takes at least 3 months (Essuman K.M. 1992). Salt is 25 % (Kassem A.E.M 2002). Staphylococcus equorum and Tetragenococcus halophilus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsReported[fao-essuman]Pack in cans or bags
Temperature18–20 °CReported[fao-essuman]Repack with more salt, cover and weigh down
Salt25 %Reported[kassem2002]Pack in layers of salt and drain
AciditypH 6.1–8.1Measured[abdallah2011]Pack in cans or bags
Fully documentedFish and seafood3.5 months – 4.5 monthsMore fish and seafoodMore from SudanMore from Egypt

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe amount is from a study of the traditional Egyptian method; households and shops vary.
Whole, ungutted grey mullet (Mugil cephalus)[kassem2002][abdallah2011]
25 % of the fish weightDry salt (traditional Egyptian method)[kassem2002]
Solar salt, layered with the fish (Sudan)[fao-essuman]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.5 months – 4.5 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: whole grey mullet, washed but not gutted

Step 1 of 5
Wash the whole, ungutted fish
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Staphylococcus equorum
T. halophilus

Output: whole mullet with the guts left in.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Fessikh is made from whole fish with the guts left in and is ripened wet under salt, not dried. That keeps it soft but lets salt reach the inside of the fish slowly, which is why it can carry botulism.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Gaza fesikhStuffed with onion and fried, or cooked in a stew.
  • Low-salt fessikh with nitrite (trial)15 % dry salt plus 0.2 % of a permitted preservative (sodium nitrate or nitrite; the study abstract names both), salted at the rigor stage; ready in about 4 weeks.

Safety

Fessikh is eaten raw, and salt often fails to reach all parts of a whole fish. The US FDA treats uneviscerated salt-cured, dried or smoked fish longer than five inches as adulterated because such products, faseikh among them, have caused botulism outbreaks and deaths. C. botulinum, mostly type E, was found in 10–15 % of Egyptian fesikh samples, and market samples ranged from 3.2 % to 14.1 % water-phase salt. A study found that salting the fish fresh, without the traditional pre-fermentation, and adding a permitted preservative gave a safer product.

Hazards the sources name: Clostridium botulinum, mostly type E (in 10–15 % of fesikh samples in one survey); Staphylococcus aureus (in 80 % of 20 market samples); Escherichia coli (in 10 % of samples).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Fessikh is eaten at Sham el-Nessim, a spring festival traced to ancient Egypt.

  1. [fao-essuman] Essuman K.M. 1992, Fermented fish in Africa, a study on processing, marketing and consumption, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 329gov
  2. [fda-cpg] US Food and Drug Administration, CPG Sec. 540.650 Uneviscerated fish products that are salt-cured, dried, or smoked (revised November 2005)gov
  3. [kassem2002] Kassem A.E.M., Khalil M.M., Hassan A.M., Nassar U.A. 2002, Chemical, physical and microbiological studies on salted mullet fish (fessekh) using different salting systems, Journal of Food and Dairy Sciences 27(3):1641paper
  4. [abdallah2011] Abd-Allah Sh.M.S. 2011, Bacterial flora of Egyptian salted Mugil cephalus fish (fessiekh), PCR identification, Assiut Veterinary Medical Journal 57(130):116–137paper
  5. [elsheshnagui2006] El-Sheshnagui S.M.L. 2006, Sanitary evaluation of some salted fishes in Alexandria, Assiut Veterinary Medical Journal 52(110):96paper
  6. [hamad2023] Hamad G., Hafez E.E., Sobhy S.E. et al. 2023, Detection of Clostridium botulinum in some Egyptian fish products, its control in vitro using Citrus leaves extracts, Foods 12(7):1466paper
  7. [farag2022] Farag M.A., Zain A.E., Hariri M.L. et al. 2022, Potential food safety hazards in fermented and salted fish in Egypt (feseekh, renga, moloha) as case studies and controlling their manufacture using HACCP system, Journal of Food Safety (abstract)paper
  8. [s2] Wikipedia, Fesikh (history and Gaza variant only)wiki