Greek red mullet

This recipe, typical of the Greek Aegean, uses red mullet, one of the most recommended, tasty and yet underused fish in gastronomy.

Most of the objections that people have is because they confuse the rock mullet with the mud mullet. The first one is larger and has more succulent meat, while the mud one has a less tasty meat, insipid one would say and with a certain aftertaste of the mud where it lives.

We are only referring to the red rock mullet which, as has been said, is of higher quality, being highly appreciated in the eastern Mediterranean. Unfortunately, many people have associated the name of mullet with the salmon-colored species - that of mud - which is precisely the least tasty.

Rock Mullet (the good one)

Mud Mullet (the bad one)

INGREDIENTS (4 people) :

• 12 rock mullet
• Half a kilo (1.1 lbs)  of very ripe red tomatoes
• One large fresh onion
• A cup of white wine (200 ml)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 bunch of aromatic herbs (thyme, basil etc)
• 1 sprig of parsley
• 1 lemon
• some coriander grains
• white wheat flour
• Salt
• extra virgin olive oil

The red mullet is descaled, gutted and washed well, leaving the head. We pass it through white flour and fry it in abundant oil until it turns golden. They are removed and left to drain on blotting paper to remove excess oil.

In another frying pan, with a splash of oil, sauté the onion and the finely chopped clove of garlic, removing the green germ from the latter. When the onion begins to become transparent, add the tomatoes without skin or seeds and crushed with a fork. Add the sprig of finely chopped parsley (only the leaves) and the entire sprig of aromatic herbs. Pour the wine and let it cook until half is consumed.

Then add the red mullet and let it cook for about 5 minutes, then serving the fish to the diners with a little sauce on top. They are a real delicatessen.