Whole fish in the oven

Continuing with the fish theme, take a look at this gorgeous white sea bream:



It was a little over 1 kg before it was cleaned, and it's difficult to buy fish much fresher than this: it smelt like the ocean itself!

The question is: how do you cook it? Most people would consider grilling it on charcoal, but I think that by roasting it in the oven and keeping it very simple we are able to enjoy much more of its flavor and juiciness.

Here's how we do it: sprinkle the whole fish with kosher salt one hour in advance. Keep it in the fridge but remove it 15 minutes before you're ready to put it in the oven.

Eat the oven to 200 C.

Peel and thinly slice potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava and onions. Distribute evenly them on a oven tray, season with kosher salt, pepper and a generous amount of olive oil. Add a few peeled garlic cloves which you have smashed with the back of a knife. Cover the tray with aluminum foil and put it in the over. Lower the temperature to 180 C.

Peel two tomatoes and dice them.

After 20 minutes, take the tray out of the oven, remove the aluminum foil, sprinkle the tomatoes over the potatoes and arrange the fish on the tray. Add a few spoons on olive oil over the fish. Maybe put a few sprigs of parsley over the fish also.

Return the tray to the oven. Roast for 15 minutes. Open the oven and pour a glass of dry white wine on the tray. Back into the oven. Another 15 minutes should be enough for the fish to cook. The idea is that as soon as it is cooked we should remove the tray from the oven. Overcooking will render the fish dry. It may have a nice caramelized taste, but the flavor of the fish itself is gone. Below you can see the same white sea bream after it was cooked this way (sorry, I had already started serving it when I remembered to take the picture, that why the fish is not intact.)