Whole Fish Baked in Salt with Scallion Tomato Oil

When Rourke and I were taking our trip around the world, one of our stops was Paris. Coincidentally, Rourke’s parents were there at the same time for a business trip and they treated us to dinner at their favorite restaurant, Le Petit Zinc. There are two things that I remember about that dinner:

1. That my mother-in-law, Agnes, has got cojones, huevos, whatever you want to call it. The maître d’ tried to seat us at a dark table in the corner and she stared him down until he relented and put us at a choice table with a great view of the restaurant. The close-lipped “smiles” that pervaded the conversation between the two. Priceless!
2. How delicious my entree, a whole sea bass baked in clay served with a scallion tomato oil, was. The taste and texture of the fish was gorgeous — moist but not wet, flaky, and full of flavor. And the accompanying oil — simple, a touch of brine, perfect with the fish. I knew I’d have to recreate it after we were back home.

The scallion tomato oil was easy to replicate but the fish in clay thing? C’mon. Then one day I was watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations where he visited a desalination plant in Sicily. At the plant, they prepared whole fish encased in salt. The lightbulb in my head went off.

This method of baking fish uses an alarming amount of salt but not to worry, you don’t ingest it. As the fish bakes in the oven, the salt hardens into a protective crust that seals in the moisture of the fish. The fish skin acts as a barrier that keeps all of the salt from being absorbed by the meat. Same principle as the clay.

When you buy the fish, ask the fishmonger to clean and gut the fish, but leave the head, tail and scales on. Since the skin won’t be edible by this preparation, there is no reason to make your fishmonger descale it and risk tearing the skin.

Whole Fish Baked in Salt with Scallion Tomato Oil
- serves 2 -

For the scallion tomato oil:
1/2 bunch of scallions, green parts only, sliced into rounds
2 Tbs. of capers or chopped olives
3 Tbs. of diced fresh tomatoes, or halved grape tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
lemon juice (optional)
salt

For the fish:
2 1/2 lb. whole sea bass, striped bass, rock cod, or other white flaky fish, gutted and cleaned
8 cups of kosher or coarse sea salt (use a flaky salt — do not use table salt)
2 cups of water
aromatics for the fish cavity:  parsley, lemon slices, fennel fronds, whatever you have on hand (optional)

Prepare the fish:
1.  Preheat oven to 4oo°F.
2.  Rinse and pat the fish dry, inside and out. Lightly salt the inside of the fish.
3.  Stuff the cavity with your aromatics, if using. Don’t overstuff it so that you can’t close the cavity. You want the cavity to close completely to prevent the salt crust from touching the flesh.
4.  In a separate bowl, mix the kosher salt and water together. The salt should feel like abrasive snow. Some recipes call for egg whites, but it’s not necessary. Plain water works fine.
5.  In a roasting pan or baking sheet large enough to hold the fish, spread 1/3 of the salt on the bottom. Enough so that it will cover the bottom of the fish. You may want to cover your sheet in parchment paper if you’re worried about the salt interacting with the sheet.
6.  Lay the fish on top of the salt and cover the fish with the rest of the salt, packing the salt thoroughly around the fish. It is not necessary to cover the tail. The salt should be approximately 1/4″ thick around — you should not see any skin poking through. If you run out of salt, make more of the salt mixture. Mix in 1/4 cup of water for each additional cup of salt you need.
7.  Bake fish for 35 minutes. For each additional pound of fish, add 10 minutes.  Your timing may vary slightly depending on the temp of the fish when you started baking, whether you’ve stuffed the cavity with aromatics, etc.

Prepare the scallion tomato oil while the fish is baking:
8.  Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 Tbs. of olive oil and the scallions.
9.  Cook scallions until soft, less than one minute.
10.  Transfer scallions and all of the oil into a gravy boat or something similar.
11.  Add capers (or olives), tomatoes, and enough olive oil just short of covering. Mix gently and salt to taste (you should not need much, if any). Give a little squeeze of lemon juice if it needs acidity. Put aside until fish is ready to serve.

Back to the fish:
12. When the fish is ready, remove from oven and crack the salt crust. You should be able to do this with a few firm strokes of a butter knife. Remove the salt crust, which should come away in chunks. Using two large spatulas, move the fish to a platter or cutting board to make it easier to filet.
13.  Make a slit behind the head and peel the skin away. Use a spatula or broad knife to remove the filet of meat, then lift the spine of the fish from the tail to reveal the filet on the bottom.
14.  Divide meat onto plates, spoon some of the scallion tomato oil mixture onto the meat and serve with the remainder of the oil on the side.

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