Dorada en papillote, delicious simplicity
They sit there staring at me everyday as I pass by the Pescaderia. I admit, I’ve felt intimidated for some time now..
Madrid, they say, is the second largest port in the world next to Tokyo. Of course, there’s no actual port to be had, but they truck in such a vast amount of seafood daily, this allows them the title.
Refreshed and back in Spain after a stay in Canada, I return with new eyes, and a list of things that I wish I’d done earlier. One of which is to take on the seafood. Grab the fish by the gills, and stuff them with herbs. How hard can it be?
I am a lover of simplicity, and in food is no exception. As long as the ingredients are fresh, and of the best quality possible, it doesn’t take much to thrill the taste buds. A few herbs, fine olive oil, wine and voilà…or I mean, um..¡Listo!
So, for my first whole baked fish ever, I chose to use a Dorada (or Gilthead, Dourade, Orato, depending on which language you speak) from the Spanish Atlantic. Up near the region of the famous culinary metropolis of San Sebastián.
“¿La quieres entera o sin cabeza?” (do you want the fish whole or without the head?) With hesitation, ‘entera por favor‘. I can’t cave now. Our fishmonger, with the capable hands of someone who’s been slinging fish for a hundred years, wrapped it up with the recommendation to cook it en papillote.
With the fishmongers advice in mind I washed the fish again, and placed it carefully in a deep rectangular baking tray lined with papel de horno. I washed up and peeled one big zucchini, 3 diced cloves of garlic, two purple onions and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Happily, I grated generous amounts of salt and pepper with my freshly unpacked Peugeot mills, a few douses of extra virgin olive oil and finally (I tell you using my ever-so-specific recipe format) two, maybe three glugs of white wine. In this case, we had a bottle of Albariño in the fridge.
I covered the nicely dressed Dorada and company with another layer of parchment and knotted all the corners, so as to create a papillote. For your reference, here is a great little slideshow of en papillote.
The preheated oven of 375′F (190′C) will finish this off in a mere 15-20 minutes. Once ready, the parchment puff will unearth a delicate aroma of wine and herbs and olive oil. Open, remove the skin if you like, and serve immediately. The fish should be moist and tender.
On a warm summer day, this is the perfect simple lunch for 2 or 3 people. With a chilled bottle of Albariño and a wedge of peasant bread, perfection.
We lunched happily at our little table with our open windows shaded by rows of trees. It was a very hot, yet slightly breezy afternoon, where the air feels the same temperature as your skin. Delicious.
‘It wasn’t difficult at all‘, the first step in many a delicious Spanish baked fish. And with that, I floated off to siesta.
So glad to be home in Spain.
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Fish is my favourite-sounds good-you make food sound soooo good,
Well, huh! I saw that you wrote this post about the same day that I finally took the fish by its gills as well! We live in the “salmon capital of Canada” and you know, I have never cooked a whole salmon! Well, since I’ll be volunteering at the salmon fest this year (albeit to raise money for my hockey team) I thought it was high time to bite the hook and sink into it.. haha.. so punny tonight!
I got a fish from the res (illegal, but 1 hour fresh!) brought it home, hacked off the tail (scales were flying all over the counter) stuffed it with fresh herbs and sliced lemon, then I wrapped it in foil and threw it on the barbie. Des googled the time for cooking, but we should have left it a little longer.. it had to finish in the oven.
However, I feel like I’ve accomplished one of my culinary goals.. and I know I have ample opportunity to perfect this dish.. or variations upon it
Thanks Megan for your story. It seems that many of us have recently grabbed our first fish by the gills…but yum, salmon. Miss it already.
I just made my first “whole fish” too recently! So much less intimidating than you think it will be…
Hi
I met you on the Vancouver skytrain. I think your blog is awesome, your photos are amazing. I am a foodie myself, so I really enjoyed your site….
Congrats
Thank you for dropping by Rodrigo!
I love fish.could eat it every day if I could buy it fresh.and I love how it soaks up the flavours we cook it with. I have never used courgette in my papillotes – taking notes.your dorada looks so fresh! You are very fortunate to have all these choices close by.
What a beautiful fish. I love eating whole, but fear the cooking part. Perhaps I will try your method. We’ve done filets that way. Really, what am I waiting for? Beautiful photos. Just beautiful.
It’s really so much easier than you think, give it a try! Good luck.