To the lady that returned the fish
It all started that evening when a pregnant lady returned her pristine day boat codfish - just to be clear there was nothing wrong with her fish - she just wanted the hunk of a whole grilled Mediterrenan sea bass her companion had ordered when it arrived at the table. She “changed her mind.”
In the heat of the kitchen
My line cook "fired" it right away meaning the fish was massaged with vegetable oil, stuffed with preserved lemon and fragrant thyme then sprinkled generously with sea salt and a touch of cayenne.
(a close-up of thyme and lemon stuffing, note the charred skin)
(Mediterrenan sea bass stuffed with preserved lemon and thyme ready to go on the grill)
Helpful hints
When I order whole fish I specify a 1.3 pound heavy fish which is plenty for one person.
We prepare fish by taking gills and guts out and rinse them with cold water.
Cook & rest
The whole fish is grilled on the hottest spot on the char-grill or you can skillet cook it for a good two minutes on each side in vegetable oil. Either cooking technique will crisp the skin up and give it flavour.
The whole fish is transferred to an ovenproof tray and then placed in a 350 degree oven. Eight minutes later the whole fish is done cooking, but is rested in a warm place for five to ten minutes; this way the heat has time to penetrate the very center of the fish. The fish has a moist texture with a crisped skin at this point.
(left-grilled Dorado - first grilled then cooked on a hot stone)
(right-grilled Mediterranean Loup de Mer with a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil)
Bratty Eater
Sounds delicious, you would think - unless the particular lady is literally pounding her fists on the table similar to when I did not get enough honey on my buttered rye bread - needless to say I was about five years old when I did that (that's the story my mother tells me over and over ever year around my October birthday). Bratty lady eventually got her fish and loved it – the other one went to the trash. Poor fish, poor me.
Let's do some whole fish math
1 minute to season fish (vegetable oil, sea salt, cayenne, lemon/thyme stuffing)
4 minutes grilling (2 minutes on each side or skillet cooking)
8 minutes cooking (@350 degrees Fahrenheit)
5-10 minutes resting time
Voila! Your whole fish in about 18-23 minutes perfectly cooked (different fish will have pretty much the same cooking time).
Why cook it whole?
I have cooked numerous whole fish such as red snapper, sea bream (Dorado) etc.
The point of cooking fish on the bone is that it has more flavour and stays juicy. Fish such as sea bream are rather lean (meaning it has low fat content) which dries out quickly when cooked on high heat such as a char grill. So 18-23 minutes for a nicely cooked fish or 10 minutes for a dry one.
Moral of the story
Pounding your fists will not make a fish cook faster and taste good.
