It is 2 years now since we did the Sea Bream and Sea Bass cook when on holiday in Italy. I remember it as a delightful evening as we sat out overlooking the local valley with a herby smoky aroma wafting towards us as we had an early evening Prosecco! So when we were back in Tuscany it seemed a perfect opportunity to try and recreate the meal and see if it was as good as we remembered – or if it was the romance of time that made the dish seem so good!!
This year, we bought the fish from the same van that visits the village at 10.30 on a Friday morning. It was the same van but a different fishmonger. He prepared and descaled the fish for us (with a rather nice descaler that I need to source).
We followed exactly the same recipe – so we will not reproduce it here (but you can get it from this quick link)- 
the only difference being that we substituted lime for lemon and added some wild fennel to the rosemary wedged between the fish as it cooked. So all that was left to do was open the Prosecco and sit and admire the view! The sun was setting as we came to serve the fish and that made it perfect as we could watch the sun slip behind the hills in the west of the valley.
My only disappointment last time we did this dish was that we were unable to turn the fish over due to lack of space on the Mini BGE and the fear that all the stuffing would fall out of the fish!
This resulted in perfectly cooked fish – but a lack of the visual impact that crispy grilled fish skin gives. I have to say it was much the same this time, though we decided to turn the fish over when serving so the crispy skin was on the top – and we did so whilst keeping the stuffing in place! ……….. and we just managed to snap a picture before the sun finally set!!
We served it with some couscous and slow cooked beans, but it would go with anything reasonably simple I suspect! And was it as good as remembered……..?
…………….. oh yes, quite definitely!!!!
