Rob Keeble
Member
- Messages
- 12,633
- Location
- GTA Ontario Canada
So years ago I am on business in Northern Italy. I decide to try this local restaurant for dinner. I was with my business partner and we both liked food. Well come across this dish which is basically fish baked whole in course salt.
Fish arrives in a terracotta dish still covered in the salt and its rock solid. So i am wondering and now. Rob this time you blew it. But nothing ventured nothing gained is how i was brought up.
But man when i cracked that salt the fish was to die for. They had used Turbot, its like a sole or really baby halibut all from the same sort of family. Two eyes on one side and they live on the ocean floor.
The cool thing about them is the bone structure makes for easy eating. Fish lifts off each side and no bones.
Well while at the fishmonger i discuss this with him and he actually is a chef in his former career, and says he agrees baked in salt, fish is amazing. So i decide to bring home a couple of sea bass (that's the best he had at the time for the purpose). Got Linda tasked with doing the job ...
delegation is the name of the game . So last night she has a go and we decided to use a simple aluminum lasagna pan for the purpose. Its not as straight forward to do as i thought. You take the sea salt (not kosher salt i was going to use its too course and pointy crystals) and you mix them with egg white and make a mush that you layer in the bottom then put the fish in whole and then cover the fish totally with a layer of the same mix. Need it to be good 1/2" thick. In the oven and let it bake 35 min. Then out let rest 10 min and serve by cracking the salt and getting fish out. Skin needs to be on and next time I wont ask to have the scales removed just to put up bigger barrier between salt and fish meat. You can put some fresh parley in the gut area if you like.
Well it was to die for. The fish was so moist and nicely cooked. I highly recommend it if anyone wants a different way of eating fish.
Sorry i did not think to take pictures.
Fish arrives in a terracotta dish still covered in the salt and its rock solid. So i am wondering and now. Rob this time you blew it. But nothing ventured nothing gained is how i was brought up.
But man when i cracked that salt the fish was to die for. They had used Turbot, its like a sole or really baby halibut all from the same sort of family. Two eyes on one side and they live on the ocean floor.
The cool thing about them is the bone structure makes for easy eating. Fish lifts off each side and no bones.
Well while at the fishmonger i discuss this with him and he actually is a chef in his former career, and says he agrees baked in salt, fish is amazing. So i decide to bring home a couple of sea bass (that's the best he had at the time for the purpose). Got Linda tasked with doing the job ...
delegation is the name of the game . So last night she has a go and we decided to use a simple aluminum lasagna pan for the purpose. Its not as straight forward to do as i thought. You take the sea salt (not kosher salt i was going to use its too course and pointy crystals) and you mix them with egg white and make a mush that you layer in the bottom then put the fish in whole and then cover the fish totally with a layer of the same mix. Need it to be good 1/2" thick. In the oven and let it bake 35 min. Then out let rest 10 min and serve by cracking the salt and getting fish out. Skin needs to be on and next time I wont ask to have the scales removed just to put up bigger barrier between salt and fish meat. You can put some fresh parley in the gut area if you like.Well it was to die for. The fish was so moist and nicely cooked. I highly recommend it if anyone wants a different way of eating fish.
Sorry i did not think to take pictures.