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{{#seo:
|title=Sea bass fish baked in sea salt, French recipe Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
|titlemode=replace
|keywords=#fish #fishbakedinseasalt #seabass #bream #dill #sauce #fennel #lemon #parsley #france #bakingtray
|hashtagrev=032020
|description=I first cooked this dish in a camper van, on a beach in Vieux Boucau, Aquitaine, France, many years ago
}}

I first cooked this dish in a camper van, on a beach in Vieux Boucau, [[Aquitaine]], [[France]], many years ago. The [[Salt|salt]] seems to make it easy to remove the skin and keeps the [[Fish|fish]] really moist - it's also quite an impressive looking dish. We bought most of the ingredients from the local fishmonger who strangely, looked exactly like Poseidon himself!

Don't be worried about the amount of [[Salt|salt]] used, it sticks to (and helps to remove) the skin and does not make the dish the least bit salty. The large [[Grains|grains]] of coarse [[Sea Salt|sea salt]] don't seem to permeate the [[Fish|fish]]. In [[France]], [[Sel gris]], the grey coloured [[Sea salt|sea salt]] is cheap and easily available in all supermarkets, that won't be the case in the UK unfortunately.

You really do need coarse [[sea salt]] for this recipe, and quite a lot. I've heard of 'the careful' using dishwasher salt for this though I would read the packaging very carefully first!
{{recipesummary
|TotalCalories = 556
|PortionCalories = 278
|DatePublished=20th January 2013
|Author=Chef
|ImageComment = Not a grain of salt on the fish
|Servings = Serves 2
|Difficulty = 2
|TotalTime = 40 minutes
|PrepTime = 15 minutes
|CookTime = 25 minutes
|Image = [[Image:Fish baked in sea salt recipe.jpg|middle|none|alt=Electus]]

}}
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====Best recipe review====

''Not a taste of salt''

5/5 

Strange idea which works, and it really is not salty.

 [[User:TheJudge|The Judge]] 
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<gallery widths=270px heights=270px perrow=5>
Image:Lemon and parsley sauce.jpg|[[Lemon and parsley sauce]], simple, quick and effective
Image:Fish in salt, baked.jpg|[[Baked|baked]] after 25 minutes
Image:Two bream baked in sea salt recipe.jpg|Layer two, the second [[bream]] added. This works better with just one large fish.
</gallery>
{{RecipeIngredients
| 1 Whole [[white fish]]; [[Sea bass|sea bass]]; sea [[Bream|bream]], etc.
| Bunch of fresh [[Dill|dill]] or [[Fennel]]
| Bunch of fresh [[Parsley|parsley]]
| ¼ of an [[Onion|onion]], roughly sliced
| Very coarse [[Sea Salt|sea salt]] to cover
|* Don't try to use fine-grained [[table salt]]
}}
'''Parsley and lemon sauce'''
* 50g (2 oz) [[Butter|butter]]
* 1 whole [[Lemon|lemon]]
* 1 bunch [[parsley]] leaves, finely chopped
* Seasoning

===[[Mise en place]]===
* Preheat the [[Oven|oven]] to 180°C; 350° F; gas Mk 4; Moderate/Medium
===Method===

{{RecipeMethod
| Dry the [[Fish|fish]] skin with a [[Paper towel|paper towel]] and stuff the belly cavity with the [[Onion|onion]] and [[Herbs|herbs]]
| Pour a very thin layer of [[Salt|salt]] into a [[Baking tray|baking tray]] as near to the size of the [[Fish|fish]] as you can find - this uses less salt!
| Lay the [[Fish|fish]] in the [[Baking tray|baking tray]] and completely cover with [[Sea Salt|sea salt]]
| [[Bake]] the [[Fish|fish]] for 25 minutes.
| When 20 minutes is nearly up, make the [[Sauce|sauce]].
| Melt the [[Butter|butter]] in a small pan, add a grind of [[Pepper|pepper]] and the [[Zest|zest]] and [[Juice|juice]] of a [[Lemon|lemon]], mix well.
| Once the [[Fish|fish]] is cooked, the [[Salt|salt]] crust should lift off, together with the skin. [[Brush|brush]] any reaming salt from the fish and serve, covered with the hot [[Sauce|sauce]] and a sprinkle of [[Fresh herbs|fresh herbs]].
}}
===Serving suggestions===
Serve with [[New Potatoes|new potatoes]] and [[Peas|peas]].
===Variations===
Normally I would have copious amounts of [[fennel]] or [[dill]] from the garden, but being January in England, I have none. I will not pay good coin for a measly bunches of supermarket herbs so added three tablespoons of [[fennel seed]] to the [[sea salt]]. It was a good substitute, though fresh herbs would be better.
===Chef's notes===
I used 2 small [[bream]] instead of 1 large [[sea bass]] this time, both in the same salt-dish. It presents much better with just one fish - hence the lacking photographs!

Very recently I saw Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall cooking [[seabass]] in salt, he used a few kilograms of normal table salt, cleverly dampened down with little water to make a firm 'cement'. Using this method packed the salt around his sea bass on a flat tray, rather like a jelly-mould of yester-year. It made a great table presentation. I will try this next time.
{{RecipeLine}}
[[Category:Recipes]]
[[Category:French recipes]]
[[Category:Main courses]]
[[Category:Fish recipes]]
[[Category:Sea fish recipes]]
[[Category:Baked or roasted]]

<code 'hashtagrev:12032020'>[[Special:Search/fish|#fish]] [[Special:Search/fishbakedinseasalt|#fishbakedinseasalt]] [[Special:Search/seabass|#seabass]] [[Special:Search/bream|#bream]] [[Special:Search/dill|#dill]] [[Special:Search/sauce|#sauce]] [[Special:Search/fennel|#fennel]] [[Special:Search/lemon|#lemon]] [[Special:Search/parsley|#parsley]] [[Special:Search/france|#france]] [[Special:Search/bakingtray|#bakingtray]]
</code>

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