Born and bred right in the centre of the Mediterranean, it is without any doubt that fish is one of our favourite meals and so happens to be our little ones’, which is a given bonus.

Apart from salmon, fish fillets do not really make it to our plates. We prefer the whole lot, including the head and the tail.

Before you make the ‘yukkie’ face, please listen to this:

The head has got the most tender bit of meat underneath the gills and forehead (and the tongue for the more adventurous) Just a little tiny bit of meat that it is almost a crime if it gets wasted!! Also, when going to the fishmonger and asking him to fillet your fish, you are giving him back some precious fish parts that could make a drooling fish stock and soup.

So, now you know this and there are no more excuses! 🙂

Ok, so we might have got the point for this bit but what about getting rid of all the bones??! Damn it, I hear it so often that one is off from eating fish because of all the annoying never ending bones especially if you have had the bad experience of swallowing one! Bless you!!

For the seabream, seabass and alike, once cooked the bones are very easy to eliminate.

1. Grab a knife and first slide the ‘spine’ outwards, starting from top near the head until you reach just before the tail. It is very easily removed if cooked properly. If bones do not slide out, it means fish is still under cooked.
2. Now we need to remove the long middle bone so to do this I make a cut along the top side of the fish and slide both sides to the side. You can now see the long bone, right?
3. Grab the tail and pull it up gently, trying not to break it.
4. Then you’re left with another line of bones on the opposite side of the spine, so slide them out just the same.

At this stage you should have most of the bones gone and just be careful for any missed ones. This is how I self-learnt to do it and I’m pretty satisfied with the outcome.

Rob