CATCH OF THE DAY

Spritely octogenarian Soula Soulis recalls learning to cook at a very early age, “My grandmother taught me the names of the different sea fish that grandfather would bring home for our family meal. Mostly we would grill the smaller fish and eat them with fresh lemons and salad. In Greece we like to cook fish in a simple way, we like to savour the taste of the sea”

If they didn’t grill the catch, together with her mother and grandmother they would prepare a traditional seafood recipe that would almost always involve tomatoes. Soula’s favourite childhood fish dish is pleasingly easy to make and wonderfully delicious. The simplicity of the mouth watering flavours are very evocative of Mediterranean cuisine.

“I have two daughters, grown up now with their own children and they make the same dish exactly as it has been made in my family for generations. For me it is so full of taste and all the goodness this island and the sea have to offer” enthused Soula.

‘Mrs Soulas Fish’ is a light and flavoursome dish of oven baked fish in fresh tomato and lemon sauce.

With a relaxed smile she advises not to worry too much about the exact quantities or the type of fish “...so long as they are all fresh ingredients you will capture the taste of Greece”.

Ingredients

• 1½ kg fresh fish of your choice; either 6 smallish ones whole or larger ones cut up into manageable pieces
• 150 ml olive oil
• 3 medium onions chopped
• 2 or 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 4 large tomatoes coarsely chopped
• Handful of flat leaved parsley and dill – chopped
• 150ml white wine
• 1 lemon
• *250g fresh spinach
• *generous handful of stoned olives
• Salt and black pepper to season
• (*ingredients are optional)

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and garlic – fry until coloured slightly.
2. Add the tomatoes, *spinach, parsley, wine and about 100ml of water. Season to taste and gently cook for 10 – 15 minutes.
3. Set the oven at 355° F / ?C
4. Arrange the cleaned fish in a well oiled oven dish; squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over them.
5. When the tomato sauce is ready pour it over the fish, cover and cook for about 30 minutes.
6. Five minutes before the dish is cooked squeeze the remainder of the lemon juice over the dish and you may add the *olives.
7. Serve with freshly baked crusty bread to soak up the juices.

Fresh fish can be bought direct from the fishermen every morning on the harbour front, Zakynthos town or from the many fishmongers situated on and around Saint Pavlou Square. The fishmongers will happy descale, gut and salt your purchase if you ask.