7Berkeh: “Mahyaweh”, or “Mahweh” in the local accent, or “Mashaweh” in Arabic, is the famous local salty fish sauce that is used in the preparation of many dishes in the Southern regions of Iran. It consists of two words in local accent; “Mahi” that means “fish” and “Aoh” that means “water”. It is smelly but is also the people’s favorite food in Gerash, especially in the long nights of winter or as they hang out together in Norouz in gardens.
Mahweh is served on many different types of bread, though the smell of it will be unpleasant for those who use it for the first time. But people get accustomed to it very soon as it is agreeable to almost every taste! The way to make it is not that simple, though, as it has many long rough rules and rites.
How the ingredients are prepared
To make a unique local fish sauce, you need dried Anchovy fish, salt, water and dried brown or yellow mustard seeds (the scientific name is sinapis alba). The main ingredient of this sauce is Anchovy fish which is hunt in the low-depth water near the beach in the Persian Gulf in spring. It is rich in nutritional value as it contains calcium and phosphorus.
After drying and mixing mustard seeds, it is re-moisturized with a lot of salt, roasted on mild fire until it gets light brown and then grinded in a mixer into powder.
Then it is time for the main ingredient, fish. First, it is cleaned and dried totally under the sun and then soused in a vat, with half a kilo of salt per one kilo of fish. Second, it is stirred every two days with a stick. The longer in the sun, the darker the sauce. The golden point in this period is to stir it before the dawn as the vat is not getting too hot to prevent the sauce from spoiling. The vat is kept under the sun, between seven to ten days in summer and twenty days or a month in winter.
How the sauce is made
First, prepare a sieve and put a big bowl under it and strain a half of vat ingredients. Press the scum between your hands until fish sap pours into the bowl. Do the same for the remaining fish in the vat.
It is possible to have a lighter fish sauce before adding the mustard powder. Pour an amount of strained fish sauce in a glass bottle and add some sliced onion, a little dried oregano, dried lemon, seasons and black pepper. Serve it for breakfast and dinner on a bread.
Second, wash the vat and pour the fish sauce in it and mix it with the mustard powder that is already prepared, a kilo and a half per two kilos of vat sauce.
Third, mix it well with a spoon. Do not open the vat lid for three days. After that, stir it with a stick and do it for ten days. Now your magic sauce is ready to serve.
How to serve it
Mahweh is mostly served with bread that is greased with oil, especially local bread like Bala-Tawa, Litak and Lebanese bread, as we sprinkle the sauce on it. In local restaurants you can find a special bread called “Ragag” that is prepared with a mixture of egg and cheese between two layers of thick bread, sprinkled with “Mahweh” after toasting it on fire or in an oven. It is also served with Taftoo which is a local salty cookie. Some people like to sprinkle it on steamed rice.
How to make the fish powder
The fish sauce is also made into a powder to transfer it easier around the world! Pour nearly three centimeters of fish sauce into a big bowl and put in under the sun and mix it with a spoon unit the moisture runs out after some days. This powder can be made into a sauce again by adding a little water.
