Let’s see now: sun, sea, sand, then lunch, then sleep. More sun, sea and sand, then dinner then sleep. Repeat until the summer holidays are over.
My patented formula for making the most of the forthcoming Bank Holiday weekend — the last one in summer — depends on two more s-words, sea bass and salt. More specifically, to be even more sibilant, sea bass in a salt crust.
One of the most simple and beautiful dishes in the Mediterranean, salt-crusted sea bass is a joy to cook and to eat. You will need a flapping fresh fish and up to 2kg coarse sea salt, available from larger supermarkets or from www.goodnessdirect.com for 37p per 500g plus delivery.
You will also need four people who are ready to celebrate the best that summer has to offer, three of whom will be suitably impressed when you emerge from the kitchen with a huge golden sarcophagus of what looks like fish-shaped sandstone, ready to crack open with a mallet or a heavy wooden spoon. Amazingly, the fish does not taste overly salty but instead tastes just of itself, as if hauled, freshly cooked, from the sea.
You will also need a chilled bottle of sunny New Zealand sauvignon blanc, an Italian greco di tufo, or a Provençal rose, a big bowl of boiled new potatoes and a salad of rocket leaves tossed with diced tomato and herbs.
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You don’t actually need the sun, the sea and the sand, because this dish seems to embody them all anyway.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 30 mins
If your fish is larger, bake for 10 mins per 500g, plus an extra 10 mins.
One whole sea bass, about 1.3kg, scaled and cleaned
3 rosemary sprigs
10 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, smashed flat
4 egg whites
2 kg coarse sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil for serving
1 lemon, quartered
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METHOD
Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Rinse the fish under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Fill the cavity with rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and garlic.
Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold in the salt and mix well.
Lightly oil a non-stick baking sheet. Arrange salt in a 1cm layer in the centre, a little wider than the fish. Place the fish on top, and pack the remaining salt mixture over the fish until is completely covered.
Bake for 30 minutes until the crust has turned golden, then rest for 10 minutes. Crack open the crust and gently transfer the fish to a large warm serving platter, brushing off any excess salt. Peel off the skin (sometimes it lifts off with the crust), and serve the fish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and lemon wedges.