🍽️
⭐ Dinner · Mediterranean
Grilled Sea Bream
Grilled sea bream is the soul of Mediterranean tavernas from Greece to Cyprus and the islands of southern Italy — a whole white-fleshed fish, simply salted, stuffed with lemon and herbs, charred on hot coals until the skin crackles and the flesh slips off the bone. The cooking belongs to the open fire and the sea breeze; the eating belongs to a long, slow lunch and the company that surrounds it.
Rich in vitamins
Fresh and healthy
Ingredients 4 servings
- 2 whole sea bream (about 500 g each)
- 2 lemons
- 4 garlic cloves
- Fresh dill and parsley
- Thyme
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Coarse salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
How to make it
- 1Buy the freshest sea bream you can find — clear eyes, bright red gills, firm flesh that springs back when pressed.
- 2Scale and gut the fish if your fishmonger hasn't, leaving head and tail on.
- 3With a sharp knife, score three diagonal slashes through the skin on each side, almost to the bone — they let the heat penetrate evenly and stop the skin from curling on the grill.
- 4Salt generously inside the cavity and on the skin, twenty minutes before cooking, so the salt has time to season the flesh and dry the surface for crisp browning.
- 5Stuff the belly with lemon slices, smashed garlic cloves, dill, parsley and a few sprigs of thyme.
- 6Brush the outside with extra-virgin olive oil.
- 7Build a hot charcoal fire and grill 6–8 minutes per side, flipping only when the fish releases cleanly from the grate — force it and the skin tears.
- 8The flesh is ready when it lifts off the bone with the tip of a fork.
- 9Rest two minutes off the heat, then carry the whole fish to the table on a board with extra lemon wedges, a drizzle of new olive oil, and a Greek salad alongside.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Calories 280 kcal
Protein 9 g
Carbs 32 g
Fat 10 g
Fiber 5 g
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
🫙 Yogurt
🍞 Bread
🧄 Garlic
🥗 Salad
