Shad Cooked with Stuffed Dates (A Recipe from Fez)

• a very large shad
• 450 g (1 lb) black dates from the Tafilalet (or prunes)

Gut the shad and wash it in salt water. Boil or steam the semolina and leave it to become cold. Wash and stone the dates.

Mix the semolina with the chopped almonds, the sugar, a little butter and a pinch each of pepper and ginger. Stuff the dates with this mixture.

Fill the fish with the stuffed dates, then sew up the belly carefully. Lay it in a fireproof dish with the rest of