Something fishy for dinner time! 'Pesce al sale'

A couple of weeks ago I made this incredible 'fish in salt' for dinner one night. Oddly enough I like fish but I love red meat way more. For me to crave a piece of fish is something new. I grew up mostly eating mutton, lamb, beef, springbok basically almost anything furry, vegetarian and with four legs. I believe my cravings for cooked aquatic life started as soon as I began with scuba diving. It's probably so wrong in so many ways to start craving fish after having spent the entire afternoon swimming with them. It’s like starting to drool over the thought of a big juicy steak while gently stroking a cow in a petting zoo. *Moo

Being the adventurous cook I am, I decided to make ‘PESCE AL SALE’ or ‘Fish in Salt’. I found this recipe in one of my favourite Italian cookbooks by Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers – The River Café Classic Italian Cookbook. If you like fish you’ll definitely love this! It’s the juiciest fish I’ve ever had. People think because it’s covered in salt it will be super salty and all dried out. That is not true, because the salt acts as a little clay oven it locks in all of the moisture and flavour. The fish literally cooks and steams in its own flavours and juices. If you fancy a good piece of fish go try this baby out!

PESCE AL SALE

“Smaller turbot, John Dory, red mullet and the bream family all successfully bake in salt. The most important factors when choosing a fish are that the gills are red, eyes are bright, the scales are firm and the head, fins and tail are intact. Make sure you buy enough coarse salt sea salt – you need at least double the weight of the fish you plan to bake.”

For 2

Ingredients

A sprig of fresh thyme, rosemary or myrtle – “I used Thyme for this dish”

1x500g red mullet, sea breem, sea bass or Dover sole, gutted, head, tail, fins and scales kept on, and gills removed. – “As I couldn’t find any of those fish I used Yellow tail. Works just as great.”

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.3kg coarse sea salt

180ml water

Preheat your oven to 240C or as high as it will go. Put the herb sprig inside the cavity of the fish and season generously with sea salt and black pepper.

Mix the course sea salt with the water in a bowel and make 1cm layer of the mixture in an ovenproof backing tray. Place the fish on top and cover it with more salt, piling it over to coat the fish with a layer 1cm thick. Pat the salt over the fish carefully, following its shape.

Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then take it out and leave it in its salt for about 5 minutes, until cool enough to handle. Break open the salt crust and remove the fish to a warm serving plate. 

Buon Appetite!