Pesce al sale – whole fish baked in a salt crust – is my favorite kind of dinner party dish. It looks complicated and fancy, but it’s actually idiot-proof. It requires only a few minutes of hands-on work, and it’s very hard to mess up – even if you have no idea how to cook fish.
Cooking “food with a face,” as my sister puts it, makes some people squeamish. I understand; it’s taken me a while to get used to it as well. But if you can get past this aversion, fresh whole fish is often cheaper and easier to prepare. Ask them to clean and scale the fish for you at the market, and the rest is easy.
The first time I ever ate pesce al sale was three years ago on the island of Ischia, off the Naples coast. Ischia is magical: thermal spas, gorgeous coastline, wonderful food and wine (far superior to its flashy neighbor, Capri, don’t let anyone tell you different).
We were traveling with close friends – Abby and Adam, Nick and Tracey – a reunion of Hawaii ohana living in Europe. Abby and Adam took us to a restaurant they love near Castello Aragonese. They ordered the pesce al sale, and the waiter brought out an enormous fresh fish for us to inspect and approve (clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose). We busied ourselves admiring the view of the castle and enjoying a bottle of wine or two.
Then the waiter returned, pushing a wheeled cart piled high with rock salt.
Crack, crack, crack.
He deftly cut around the mountain of salt and pulled off the top in one solid piece, revealing the perfectly cooked whole fish inside.
It was insanely impressive. I’m sure we caused a scene by yelling, “Bravo!” and clapping (but really, isn’t that welcome any old night in southern Italy?).
Thus began my love affair with pesce al sale. The salt crust holds in moisture and keeps the fish tender. It pairs beautifully with many different sauces; my favorites are beurre blanc with capers, Italian salsa verde and chimichurri. And it’s so forgiving that a recipe hardly even seems necessary. But here’s one anyway.
Tuck your fish into a bed of sea salt, egg and water.
Bake or grill until the salt forms a hard crust.
Break off the top layer of salt crust.
Brush off excess salt.
Carve the fish into individual portions.
Serve with your favorite sauce.
Ingredients
- One 3- to 4-lb. (1.4 to 1.8 kg) whole white fish* (or two smaller fish), cleaned and scaled
- 4 lb. (2 kg) coarse sea salt
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- Parsley
- *Sea bass, bream or any other white fish will work well
Instructions
- Mix sea salt with eggs. Add a splash of water (2 to 3 teaspoons) to moisten the mixture. It should have the consistency of sticky, coarse sand.
- Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil. Spread a ¼-inch (2 cm) layer of the salt mixture across the foil.
- Stuff fish with lemon slices, garlic and parsley.
- Place fish on the salt layer, and cover evenly with remaining salt so it has an even ¼-inch (2 cm) coating all around.
- Cook fish. On a charcoal BBQ: cook over indirect heat (around 300 F/149 C) with the kettle lid on for 45 minutes. In the oven: preheat the oven to 200 C/ 400 F and bake for 35 minutes.
- Let fish rest for 5 minutes.
- Using a fork, crack open the salt crust, cutting around the perimeter of the fish and removing the top layer of salt. Brush off excess salt.
- Using a knife, cut behind the gill of the fish head. Slide the knife between the spine and the top filet. Carefully remove the meat and set aside. (The fish will be very tender, so don’t worry if it breaks apart a little.)
- Remove the head, spine and aromatics, exposing the second filet.
- Divide the two filets into four portions. Serve with sauce.
