Those who have followed by writings, recipes and travels from Greece will know that I love eating whole fish and that if you were to visit Greece and order fish at a taverna, it will likely arrive whole…tail, head, eyes, etc. Greeks will to their local fish monger in search of the best fish – which is the freshest fish!

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR FISH

Your sense of smell will never fail you. Get up & close to the fish and take a sniff. If it smells anything other than the sea than skip over it. Go sniff another fish. Once you’ve found a fish that smells fresh, the eyes should be clear, not sunken in. Now it’s time to life the gills to see if they are a bright red. If so, that’s another good sign – any other colour is not good. Now don’t be afraid, touch the fish – it should be firm and not slimy. So, you’re fish smells of the sea, clear eyes, red gills and a firm body to the touch. Ask your fishmonger to scale, trim and gut the fish. The rest? You and I are going to prepare your fish for the grill.

The fish in the videos below is lavraki aka branzino or European sea bass. You may prep/grill your fish with red snapper, dorade, bream, mackerel.

PREPARING YOUR WHOLE FISH FOR THE GRILL

1. Place your fish on your cutting board. Hold on to the fish with one hand and with your knife, make an incision between the tail end and tail, just down to the bone. Now flip the fish and make the same incision at the tail end.
2. You’re going to insert your knife into top of the fish: insert your knife about 2 inches from the head, to side of the spinal bone and insert your knife about 1/2 inch in depth. Make the incision about halfway to the tail.
3. Now make another incision from near the head, but on the other side of the spinal bone like in step 2.
4. Your fish is almost ready to grill. Drizzle the the skin and inside of the fish with olive oil, season with salt, some pepper. This step may be done 1 hour before grilling.

TIME TO GRILL

1. Pre-heat your gas or charcoal grill to medium-high heat and brush the grill surface to remove any grill residue (the cleaner your grill, the less chance of your fish sticking). If you haven’t, drizzle your fish with olive oil and season both sides and the cavity with salt and pepper. Ensure your fish returns to room temperature if taking out from the fridge.
2. As soon as your grill is ready, take some paper towel and dunk it in some vegetable oil and wipe your grill surface (to lubricate it). Now place your fish on the grill and cook for about 6-7 minutes/side. You know your fish has been cooked when you’re able to pull-out the dorsal fin from the fish.
3. While your fish is grilling, Add the olive oil, lemon juice and some salt to taste and place in a jar, close and shake well. Adjust flavourings, add the dried Greek oregano and shake again.
4. When the fish is cooked, carefully remove from the grill and place on each plate/platter. Take a butter knife and insert into the fish from the cavity side and run the knife between the bone and top half of the meat to separate. Now carefully lift the top fillet and flip it over. You should now see a whole butterflied fish in front of you.
5. At the top of the fish, make a cut into the spinal bone at the tail end, lift up and then turn to snap the other end by the head and remove.
6. You may use your butter knife to remove pin bones near where the gills were and you should be able to pull out the row of small bones located at the top of the fish.
7. At this point, your fish should have most (if not all the bones removed) and it is ready to be dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, capers, chopped parsley or dried Greek oregano, maybe a sprinkle of sea salt, wedge of lemon. You could pre-make and drizzle Latholemono on the fish.