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Recipes with whole sea bream

4 recipes that use whole sea bream, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Besugo a la donostiarra, takes 40 minutes. It is most often cooked with garlic, cumin and green chilli.

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Massawa oven fish

Along the waterfront in Massawa, on Eritrea's Red Sea coast, fish restaurants slap whole snapper and grouper with a red berbere paste and lower them into scorching clay ovens, then bring them to the table on a tray with flatbread, lime and a fresh chilli relish. The skin chars and blisters, the spice paste turns smoky, and the flesh stays moist and sweet underneath. Everyone tears off pieces of bread and pulls the fish from the bone with their fingers. A domestic oven turned up as high as it goes gives a very good result. Chef's tip: score the fish deeply down to the bone and push the paste into the cuts, so the flavour reaches the middle and the thickest part cooks as fast as the tail.

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Fish singari (Alexandrian baked fish)

Alexandrian fish restaurants list singari next to grilled and fried fish, and families along the coast bake it at home for Friday lunch, usually with sea bream, sea bass or a large bolti. The fishmonger splits the fish down the back and opens it flat, then it is smothered in a garlicky cumin and lemon paste and laid over sliced tomatoes, green peppers, onion and chilli. In the oven the vegetables soften into a juicy sauce underneath while the fish roasts on top, so you get tender flesh, a slightly charred skin and plenty of sauce for spooning over rice. Serve with white rice, tahini and bread. Chef's tip: give the vegetables 10 minutes in the oven on their own first; it drives off water so the fish roasts instead of steaming.

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Besugo a la donostiarra

For many San Sebastián families, Christmas Eve dinner isn't complete without a whole sea bream, roasted or grilled and finished with a refrito: hot olive oil with sliced garlic, dried chilli and a splash of vinegar poured over at the table. The traditional fish is red sea bream (besugo), but gilt-head bream works well. A common mistake is letting the garlic go dark brown, which makes the dressing bitter; take it off when it is pale gold. Chef's tip: cut a few slashes into the thick part of the fish so it cooks evenly and the dressing soaks in.

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Dorada a la sal

Around the salt flats of San Pedro del Pinatar, at the northern tip of the Mar Menor, baking fish under a crust of coarse salt is the obvious way to cook a fresh bream, and lagoon-side restaurants crack the crust open at the table for long summer lunches. The salt hardens into a shell that steams the fish in its own juices, so the flesh is moist and lightly seasoned rather than salty. Serve it with a drizzle of good olive oil, boiled potatoes or allioli. Chef's tip: leave the scales on; they stop the salt from reaching the flesh and make the skin peel away cleanly.

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Goes well with whole sea bream