Looking for some tasty fish to serve for dinner? Then you may want to consider having gilt head bream - pan-fried or baked.

With a tall back, white band over the head and usually large black patch behind the gill flaps, gilt head bream belongs to the break family Sparidae found in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coastal regions of the North Atlantic Ocean. Its specific name, aurata, derives from the gold bar marking between its eyes. It grows approximately 35 centimeters in length, although it may reach 70 centimeters and weigh up to approximately 7.36 kilograms. While it generally survives on shellfish, it also feeds on other small animals and algae.

Gilt head bream is deemed as the best-tasting of all bream, so it can indeed be something worth a try. It is usually prepared whole since it is not large. Here are some recipes you can try.

Pan-fried Gilt Head Bream

Because gilt head bream is a very tasty fish, you don’t need to add much to it. If you want to pan-fry it, all you need is oil for frying, flour for breading, salt, pepper, and lemon.

The first step is to gut it then scale it. After that, rinse it with running water and dry it. Then roll it in flour, and shake off the excess. Pour oil into a frying pan, preferably up to the level of around two centimeters. Heat the pan, and put in the fish. Reduce the heat a bit, and fry on both sides, until it you see some nice crust.

You can then serve it hot, and add some salt and pepper on a plate. Pour some lemon juice onto it, if you prefer.

Baked Gilt Head Bream with Lemon and Herbs

Another quick and easy gilt head bream recipe you can try is have it backed with lemon and herbs. The ingredients are:

• 2 pieces of gilt head bream that have been cleaned and prepared for baking
• 1 lemon
• salt and pepper
• fresh parsley and/or other herbs
• 1 fish bouillon cube
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Start by setting the oven to bake at 140°C. Mix the wine, olive oil, juice from half of the lemon, a pinch of salt, pepper, half a bouillon cube, and the herbs. Across each fish, make three large cuts diagonally. Then put the fish on a baking sheet, and cover it with the marinade. Cut the other half of the lemon into six round slices, and put one slice in each crevice. The other half of the bouillon cube should then be dissolved in 1/4 cup of hot water. Halfway through the cooking process, cover in the liquid. Place the fish in the oven on the middle rack for 40 to 45 minutes.

As easy as that, you can then enjoy your gilt head bream. Be careful that you do not swallow any bones while eating, though.