BARBECUE SMOKED SEA BREAM

It hardly seems right to call this a recipe: get fish, put on barbecue, wait, eat fish!

As the picture above actually shows, while this recipe is best with bream, it is also delightful with bass -- or red snapper. The important part of the cooking is the smoking, so this only works with a covered barbecue, and not a grill. You will also need some hickory wood chips to provide the smoke.

Prepare the fish by removing the heads, slitting and gutting (or, more sensibly, ask the fishmonger to do it for you). Soak in salted water for about 30 minutes, rinse thoroughly and leave to drain on a wire rack for 2--3 hours; the fish should be dry to the touch before smoking.

Before lighting the barbecue, soak a couple of handfuls of wood chips in plain water for about 30 minutes, and drain well. After lighting the barbecue, let the flames die down leaving the coals white; rake them to one end of the barbecue (you want to smoke the fish, not grill it). Brush the fish with olive oil, and place over the empty space, add the damp wood chips to the coals and cover the barbecue. Leave for 35--45 minutes, turning the fish just once, half-way through.

Enjoy -- particularly with a fennel salad, which seems to complement the smoked fish.

If smoking fish that hasn't been gutted, it is recommended that you remove a small patch of skin about 1" x 2" to allow the smoke to reach the flesh.

BACK TO FEN COOKING MASTER PAGE >>