This will be a serous and important blog, for eating fish is a serious and important business, carrying risks of numerous pitfalls and promising wonderful rewards!
As we know, the Mediterranean has been heavily depleted of marine life and freshly caught fish has become scarcer and more expensive. Some species, once so commonly found on the dinner table, are rare indeed: the writer’s childhood favourite of sinagrida among them. That said, much good eating remains and this little blog will help to guide you through it…
In general, Greeks do not mess with their fish. Drowning this gift of Poseidon in cream or butter sauces raises eyebrows at best – in Crete it may cause blood feud. If not boiled for soup, fish is dusted with flour and fried or, for bigger fish and fish steaks, grilled and served with a sauce of olive oil and lemon. There are few exceptions, one being battered salt cod with garlic paste.
Sea Bass (in Greek lavraki or Λαβράκι) and Gilt head bream (in Greek tsipoura or τσιπούρα) need little description or introduction and are listed together as they are both ubiquitous and almost invariably from fish farms, even in many of the best restaurants; they can still be tasty but freshly caught should be snapped up when available and if you trust the restaurant. Red Porgy or Common Seabram (fagri or Φαγκρί) are also on most menus and generally farmed, though freshly caught are quite common – again, you need to be able to trust the restaurant that serves you. Farmed is occasionally sold as freshly caught.
Koutsomoures and Barbounia (κουτσομούρες and μπαρμπούνια) are two species of red mullet – similar in appearance and flavour – never farmed and ever loved by locals. Usually fried but delicious grilled if big enough.
Grouper (rofos or sfirida / ροφός or σφυρίδα), cut into thick slices and grilled is not so often found on restaurant menus and is worth ordering when it is. Dentex (sinagrida, συναγρίδα) is similarly rare and cut into thick slices and is exceptional.
Tuna and swordfish are caught locally and usually cut into steaks and grilled. There is a tendency to overcook these so you may wish to firmly emphasize how you like yours done.
A fish that is common but largely not known by visitors to Greece is the humble bogue (γόπα). Like the more illustrious mullet it is fried unless large enough for grilling, and also delicious when spanking fresh. Unlike the mullet it is very inexpensive. One to look out for and ask after.
There are many more fish that appear in Greek restaurants and are worth trying (barracuda, parrotfish, coley, sardines, tope shark, mackerel, other species of bream, whitebait, etc etc) and it is always worth a foray to the kitchen to view the day’s catch before ordering. Just remain aware that prices vary dramatically from the most highly prized fish (freshy caught bream, mullet, fish steaks) to the cheaper species such as bogue, mackerel, barracuda).
Finally, it is worth looking out for fish soup (psarosoupa or kakavia – ψαρόσουπα and κακαβιά) – not seen that often but usually delicious when offered. Fish soup can be a thin broth with fish served whole or in chunks, or a thicker soup with the fish pureed or in smaller pieces.
