The catch of the day, whole grilled Spanish mackerel stuffed with garlic and parsley, is a quick, simple, and delicious family favorite!
Take advantage of any opportunity to go fishing on someone else’s boat, especially if you’re going to be catching Spanish Mackerel because these are going to blow your mind. When you grill mackerel, you’ll say, “I didn’t know I liked XYZ!” You know those recipes!
People usually think of salmon, cod, halibut, or even trout when they grill or cook fish, so when Jason went to work and told them that he and Spencer were going to North Carolina for the weekend to meet up with a college friend to fish for mackerel, he received a lot of blank looks. However, if you have the chance to try it, you shouldn’t pass up mackerel, which reigns supreme in North Carolina.
Marinating & Baking:
Apply the marinade to the fish’s skin, guts, and scoring after thoroughly blending all the ingredients until they are smooth. You can either roast it right away or after an hour of resting in the refrigerator.
Because it has a stronger flavor than some other fish, mackerel is frequently paired with simple, delicate flavors like beetroot or cucumber. Citrusy ingredients, such as lemons and limes, as in Luke Holder’s Mackerel with Lemon Sherbet Dressing, and sharp fruits, such as rhubarb and gooseberries, go well together because they highlight the fish’s freshness and cut through its oiliness.
Although there are numerous ways to prepare mackerel, the most popular ones are baking, grilling, barbecuing, and pan-frying. Mackerel is great in pâté, rillettes, fishcakes and burgers. Make sure to purchase the freshest fish you can find that was caught on the day of consumption. Mackerel is also delicious raw in the form of a tartare or ceviche.
Geoffrey Smeddle’s Seared mackerel with chilli is a good example of how piquant flavors like chilli, horseradish, and capers go well with mackerel. James Sommerin’s dish, which pairs mackerel with white chocolate, beetroot, and horseradish, is an example of an avant-garde set of flavor combinations. Buttery or thick sauces should be avoided as they tend to overwhelm the fish.
Quickly pan-frying the fillets is arguably the simplest method for preparing mackerel; just be sure to remove the pin bones first. Mackerel fillets cook quickly on the grill thanks to the high heat, which also makes the skin extremely crispy. Mackerel is a great fish for confiting, marinating, pickling, or curing because its robust flavor stands up to a variety of ingredients.
Mackerel is a gorgeous oily fish with striking iridescent skin and a flavorful, rich fishiness. Mackerel is revered by professional and home cooks alike for its distinct flavor, gorgeous presentation, and high content of omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to improve cognitive function. Despite the advantages, mackerel is frequently overlooked by consumers; it appears that we are turned off by its richness, fishiness, and oiliness, which are also its distinguishing characteristics. However, it can be a real treat with the right cooking and flavor combinations.
Spanish Mackerel Recipe, the Mediterranean Way
With whole fish, Mom, a very practical cook, didn’t fuss too much. If it arrived intact, it frequently absorbed some seasoning and a generous amount of olive oil. In the oven it went–whole.
With this straightforward recipe for Spanish Mackerel, I adhered to my mother’s fuss-free style. Here, the fish is stuffed with lemons, herbs, and crushed garlic. After that, roast the fish in foil with high-quality extra virgin olive oil (I used our Greek Early Harvest extra virgin olive oil; its savory flavor went well with the fish when combined with the herbs and garlic)!
And a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice is the ideal finishing touch for this whole-roasted fish recipe because Spanish Mackerel is a flavorful, oily fish.
FAQ
How do you clean a whole mackerel?
Quickly pan-frying the fillets is arguably the simplest method for preparing mackerel; just be sure to remove the pin bones first. Mackerel fillets cook quickly on the grill thanks to the high heat, which also makes the skin extremely crispy.
What is the best way to prepare mackerel?
Mackerel can be cooked whole, but make sure your fishmonger gives it a thorough cleaning and scales it. Use a sharp, pointed filleting knife to cut two pieces from either side of the spine before cooking to avoid the bones.
Do you have to take bones out of mackerel?
Since mackerel is an oily fish, it is recommended to soak your fillets in a saline solution for 20 minutes before smoking them. This aids in slightly drying the fish out, which speeds up the smoking process and enhances the flavor of the fish. This also applies to other oily fish, like salmon.
