Oven-baked Sea Bass/Fırında Deniz Levreği

Here in Istanbul we are surrounded by water: the Sea of Marmara, the beautiful Bosphorus and Golden Horn, and then the Black Sea. You would think that fish would be cheap – but it isn’t, and dinner in one of the many fish restaurants especially by the sea can be surprisingly pricey.

A wet day for the fishermen in Karaköy

All fish meals always start with any number of meze followed by the fish traditionally grilled, baked or fried and served with a salad. For me the meze are almost enough in themselves but I am always persuaded to have a fish afterwards. The most popular drink with fish especially in summer is rakı but a bottle of nice dry white wine is equally acceptable.

I love the traditional fish places like Karaköy and Kadıköy for their displays and atmosphere but in my experience the fish counters in the supermarkets do a better job of cleaning the fish especially if you want fillets.

We were having friends round so I thought I would get some fillets of sea bass/deniz levreği, generally considered to be the queen of the fish, so I headed for my local Migros which has a great fish counter. I bought 3 beauties which were meticulously prepared and sliced into 6 fillets. This recipe adapted from Alev Kaman’s Modern Türk Mutfağı calls for a delicious sauce which I thought would make a change!

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C/360F.
• Wash and slice the mushrooms. Wash and de-seed the peppers, then slice. Trim the spring onions and slice thinly. Peel the tomatoes and chop. Wash and pat dry the fish fillets.

• Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the mushrooms and gently saute for 5-6 minutes. Add the peppers, spring onions, tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes on a low heat.
• Put the flour in a mug and gradually add the cup of water, stirring all the time. Using a whisk, add the cream. Add this mixture to the vegetables in the pan stirring all the time, and bring to the boil.
• Place the fillets on an oven tray or suitable ovenproof dish and pour the sauce over. Bake for 30 minutes.

The sauce is underway

Ready to go in the oven