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Le Chaudron recipe
Bar en croûte de sel
Salt-crusted whole sea bass
⏱ 45 minServes 4Medium280 kcal
A recipe from Le Chaudron — the cooking of France’s regions.
01 — Ingredients4 servings
1whole sea bass, 1.5 kg / 3.3 lb, cleaned and scaled
3 kg (6.6 lb)coarse sea salt
4egg whites
2unwaxed lemons
1large bunch of fresh thyme
1large bunch of wild fennel
8 clovesgarlic
4 tbspextra-virgin olive oil
1bunch of flat-leaf parsley
1 tspfreshly ground pepper
- 1 whole sea bass, 1.5 kg / 3.3 lb, cleaned and scaled
- 3 kg (6.6 lb) coarse sea salt
- 4 egg whites
- 2 unwaxed lemons
- 1 large bunch of fresh thyme
- 1 large bunch of wild fennel
- 8 cloves garlic
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
Quantities scaled for — some (egg, lemon, garlic…) are rounded to what’s practical.
Serves 4. In the app, quantities adjust to the number of guests on their own — and the ingredients go straight to your shopping list.
03 — Method
- Preheat the oven to 220 °C (425 °F) fan. Take the 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) fish out 30 minutes ahead.
- Rinse inside and out and pat dry.
- Slice the 2 lemons 5 mm (¼ in) thick. Remove the germ from the 8 garlic cloves and crush lightly. Strip the thyme, keeping a few sprigs for the cavity.
- Fill the cavity with the lemon, garlic, thyme and fennel.
- Pepper the inside generously (NO salt — the crust provides it). Drizzle the cavity with 1 tbsp of olive oil and close the fish.
- In the large bowl, mix the 3 kg (6.6 lb) of salt with the 4 egg whites until it feels like wet sand.
- Spread a 1.5 cm (½ in) layer of salt in the large oval baking dish. Lay the fish on top and cover completely with the rest, packing it into a sealed shell.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 220 °C (425 °F) fan. Crack the crust open at the table for a bit of theater.
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