Masgouf

Semeç Masgûf
سمچ مسگوف

Carp Masgûf slowly roasting on the wood embers
Course	Main course
Place of origin	Southern Mesopotamia (Modern day Iraq)
Region or state	Baghdad and along the Tigris River
Created by	Sumerian-Babylonian
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Large freshwater carps and barbs from the Tigris-Euphrates Basin
Variations	Northern Iraqi variation, in a clay oven

Semeç Masgûf (Arabic: سمچ مسگوف), or simply masgûf, is a Mesopotamian dish consisting of seasoned, grilled carp; it is often considered the national dish of Iraq.

The Iraqi capital city Baghdad prides itself of making the best masgûf, with the Ebû Newâs district on the shores of the Tigris river, "dedicated" to this dish, having more than two dozen fish restaurants. Nonetheless, one can find masgûf all over Iraq, especially near the Tigris-Euphrates Basin.

Outside of Iraq, masgûf is more or less popular in the Jazīra as in the rural parts of Syria, especially in the regions bordering Iraq, such as in the Raqqa Governorate, (crossed by the Euphrates). It is also seen, at a lesser scale, in the Jazīra areas located in Turkey, such as Nusaybin and Cizre, on the Iraqi border.

Masgûf is now also found in Damascus due to a high number of Iraqis exiles living there since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In the district of Jeremana alone, where most Iraqis live, more than ten masgûf restaurants, 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 until it is ordered.

The fish is caught alive and weighed. It is clubbed to kill it, then split lengthwise down the belly, cleaned and spread out into a single flat piece. It is then partially scaled, gutted and cut in two identical halves from the back while leaving the belly intact, opening the fish in the shape of a large, symmetrical circle. From there, the cook bastes the inside of the fish with a marinade of olive oil, rock salt, tamarind, and ground turmeric.