Food - Drink

This Sicilian Cooking Technique Will Improve The Flavor Of

Your Fish

By KALEA MARTIN

No matter how tricky and intimidating cooking fish can be, there are various ways to quickly prepare fish, from using sous vide to putting it in a smoker. However, there's one tried-and-true method that chefs have been using since the fourth century BCE: salt baking.

Salt baking is said to originate in Sicily by Greek writer Archestratus, who outlined a recipe that included stuffing a whole white round fish with thyme, coating it in salt, water, and egg white before baking, and serving it with olive oil. This cooking method imparts flavor and preserves the fish’s moisture.

As per MasterClass, start with a whole fish such as sea bass, red snapper, branzino, or salmon, remove the fins, gills, and guts, but keep the scales. Create a mixture of egg whites and salt, aiming for a texture that resembles wet sand, then add any additional seasoning or spice of choice.

Stuff fish with herbs and spices, coat the fish with the wet salt mixture, and before transferring the fish into a baking pan, line the pan with a layer of plain salt about a third of an inch thick. Bake in a 350-degree oven until the internal temperature reads 125 degrees, let it rest for 10 minutes, then remove the crust with a serrated knife and brush off the excess.

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