Alan Davidson

Gilt-Head Bream

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

gilt-head bream Sparus aurata, generally regarded as the finest sea bream in the Mediterranean (where the family of sea bream, Sparidae, is most strongly represented) or indeed anywhere else. Maximum length 70 cm (28"), average market length half of that. This beautiful silvery fish has a golden spot on each cheek and a crescent-shaped golden mark on its brow. In classical times it was sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, either because it is itself hermaphrodite or because of its beauty.

The excellence of this species and its ability to thrive in waters less salty than the open sea have made it a strong candidate for fish ‘farming’, and this is now being practised in, for example, Greece. Fish bred in this way sometimes exhibit small deviations from the norm in things like scale counts, and are held by some to have a flavour and texture which compare unfavourably with those taken from the wild. However, there would seem to be no reason why, in ‘farms’ where space is ample and general conditions optimal, fish of the highest quality should not be produced.