Name: Baked Whole Mackerel (Pechena Skusha)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Macedonian
Ingredients: 1 medium tomato, peeled and diced; 4 thin lemon slices; Kosher salt; ½ cup (125 ml) warm water; 4 medium-size whole mackerel, cleaned and trimmed; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus extra for greasing; 1 medium yellow onion, finely sliced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine; ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Macedonia

By Katerina Nitsou

Published 2021

About

This is a very traditional way to cook fish in Macedonia. In 2002, I traveled to my parents’ villages with them for the first time. We visited my aunt and uncle’s holiday home, where, overlooking the beautiful mountains and amid the tranquility of the land, we feasted on beautiful baked whole fish that was freshly caught from the lake earlier that day.