ATLANTIC FISH COOKED IN MEDITERRANEAN WAY; RED SNAPPER

Cooking the fish as a whole with the skin, bone and the head is one of the easiest way of  cooking your fish and the best part is it remains more tender and juicy.  Red Snapper is native to West Atlantic Ocean, especially Gulf of Mexico but the texture and the taste profile is very similar to the Mediterranean fish.  And here is the Mediterranean way we cook our fish;

Just stuff the cavity with fresh, aromatic herbs, garlic and lemon, my choice of herbs is parsley, oregano and bay leaves. Feel free to use any other fresh herb. Cook at 180ºC / 350ºF for about 20-25 minutes depending on the size. This was 450 gr / 1 pound fish and I cooked 20 minutes.

Lemon is the secret for the taste. Flavour of lemon and seafood are complementary. Fish has mild and distinct flavour because of the amines which is very similar to ammonia. And like ammonia, amines are alkaline. Mixing the alkaline with acid, citric acid from the lemon in this case, they react and form amine salt which has no smell and no taste. So you can enjoy your fish without having the strong fishy taste.  As a result lemon is great to reduce and enrich the fishy flavour while the crisp and clean flavour of the lemon allows aromatic tastes from the herbs shine.

Tips for cleaning the fishy smell off your hands; Fish oils are hard to remove from the skin. Citric acid is great for breaking the oil up. After the fish dinner a bowl of warm water with lemon slices is perfect to get rid of the unpleasant scent off your fingers.

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