Baked Fish of Archies Trousers
by Cab DavidsonIngredients
1 good sized fish (e.g. a sea bass) or ½ lb of boned, skinned and filleted fish (e.g. salmon)
A dozen vine leaves and string
2 oz butter
Sprigs of marjoram, thyme and parsley
A squeeze of lemon
Salt and pepper
Instructions
Lay the leaves down in a layers such that they’ll be sufficient to wrap the fish, with three strands of string running left to right beneath them. Spread the butter in a line down the middle, from top to bottom, and lay the herbs on top of this, with a sprinking of salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon.
If you’re using a whole fish then gut and scale it, and remove the gills before scoring the skin with a sharp knife. Lay your fish on the butter and herbs, and wrap the leaves up around from either side and tie tightly closed with the string. Turn this over and lay it in a baking tray, and cover this lightly.
Bake in a hot oven for half an hour, after which cut the string, peel back the leaves, and serve thereupon.
Megs Comments
Having regular visits from Thyatian officials meant their chefs trapsing in and out of our kitchen with their strange ways. They were always wrapping something in something else or stuffing one animal into another, so much of their cooking is about what things look like rather than taste. The lack of fresh fig leaves here in Magan meant that they substituted vine leaves for them here, and the addition of butter was my own take (it isn’t a bad dish without, but everything goes down better when rubbed with butter, as I used to tell my Thyatian legionary friend Maximus).
(Authors note: This is probably based on something like baked fish of Archestratus, a recipe likely to be Greek in origin and in which fish is simply scattered with marjoram and baked wrapped in fig leaves, which was included by the ancient Roman writer Apicius. It is to be presumed that Meg misheard the Archestratus).