Fish

Tuna is usually overcooked in the Middle East. But the best way of eating it is seared on the outside and raw on the inside, which makes it deliciously, meltingly tender. Otherwise it quickly dries out. It can be brushed with oil and cooked on the barbecue or under the broiler, but an easy and perfect way is to pan-grill it. The dressing is a glamorized version of the ubiquitous oil-and-lemon one. It is good with all kinds of fish.

Fish cooked in tomato sauce is ubiquitous in the Middle East. This wonderfully flavored North African one may be used with all kinds of fish. Use whole fish such as red mullet, Caribbean goatfish, sea bass, or red snapper, or fillets such as haddock, cod, turbot, catfish, or salmon.

The honeyed onions make an enthralling accompaniment to a delicate fish.

Red mullet is so highly rated it is called Sultan Ibrahim in the Arab world. In Turkey it is called barbunya. In this dish, which is simple to make and beautiful to offer, grape leaves keep the fish moist and impart a delicate flavor. You may use fresh or preserved leaves. If the grape leaves are fresh, scald them in boiling water for a moment or two, until they flop, then dip them quickly in cold water so as to preserve their color. If they are preserved in brine, soak them in hot water for 1/2 hour to remove the salt, changing the water once, then rinse them.

You find the egg-and-lemon finish, also called bel tarbeyah, in all Middle Eastern countries. In Greece it is the famous avgolemono. Use skinned fish fillets—white fish such as cod or haddock—or have a mixture of seafood including peeled shrimp and, if you like, a handful of mussels (to clean and steam mussels, see page 198).

For this spicy and aromatic Tunisian soup, use any firm white fish, like cod or haddock, and serve it as a main course.

These Tunisian fried parcels in a crisp casing of ouarka (see page 125) are ubiquitous appetizers in North African restaurants. You can use fillo to make them, although it is not quite the same. They should be served immediately, as soon as they come out of the frying oil.

These individual Moroccan pies are made with the paper-thin pancake-type pastry called ouarka (page 125), but fillo can be used. They are deliciously spicy and herby, with masses of parsley and cilantro. Serve them as a first or as a main course.

For this North African salad, use a firm white fish such as cod, haddock, or monkfish.

The distinctive feature of this famous Arab fish and rice dish is the flavor of caramelized onions in the brown broth that suffuses the rice and colors it a pale brown. Use skinned fillets of white fish such as bream, turbot, haddock, or cod.

This is a dish that is served cold and is especially good for a buffet party. It is beautiful and dramatic. Get a large white fish—sea bass would be great but is expensive; cod or haddock will do very well. (Although salmon is not a fish used in Lebanon, and not a fish of the Mediterranean regions, it is good to serve in this way.) Have the fish skinned and also filleted, if you like, and ask for the head and tail. Cooked in foil, the fish steams in its own juice and the flesh remains moist. The pine nut sauce, tarator bi senobar, has a very delicate flavor.

The most popular item on the menu in the fish restaurants along the long Lebanese coast are the deep-fried red mullet that come accompanied by a tahini sauce and very thin crisp deep-fried bread. They are fried whole, coated with flour, but at home I find it easier to pan-fry red mullet fillets.

Ask the fishmonger to clean and scale the fish, and remove the fins and gills, but ask him to leave the heads on. The rice, which is cooked with olive oil instead of the usual butter, is the traditional rice to accompany fish in Lebanon. Turmeric is sometimes used instead of saffron. Start cooking the rice first.

Olive oil and lemon with parsley or dill is the standard dressing in Turkey for all grilled and fried fish. The best way to eat tuna is rare—simply seared, with the flesh inside still pink, and almost raw. Serve it with a salad or Mashed Potatoes with Olive Oil, Scallions, and Parsley (see page 168).

Raki, the Turkish national spirit, gives the grilled sea bass a faint anise aroma. Arak, ouzo, and even Pernod can be used instead. Other fish such as bream, turbot, and red mullet can be prepared in the same way.

Deep-frying is the most popular way of cooking small- to medium-size whole fish, and red mullet (barbunya) are among the most prized. Garlic and parsley enhance their sweet flesh. Ask the fishmonger to clean the fish, but to leave the head on. Serve them with salad or Mashed Potatoes with Olive Oil, Scallions, and Parsley (see page 168).

This can be served as a first course or as a cold main course with pickles, sliced red onions, and a green salad. Cold-smoked mackerel is soft and moist and more of a delicacy than the hot-smoked variety. Hazelnuts, almonds, or pine nuts can be used as an alternative to walnuts for this classic sauce, which is called tarator. In that case, white bread should be used. The sauce can also be served with poached or grilled fish or with cold vegetables cooked in olive oil.

All kinds of white fish fillets can be cooked in this way, but I am particularly fond of skate wings with these flavors. The flesh is fine and delicate and easily parts from the layer of soft cartilaginous ribs. Small skate wings can be sautéed but the thicker, more prized wings of the larger fish must be poached (see Variations).

I like to make this dish with cod, but other fish such as bream, turbot, monkfish, and grouper may also be used.

Tuna steaks are best seared quickly, leaving the flesh still pink and almost raw inside. The sauce is also good with other grilled or pan-fried fish.