Stuffed Baked Fish

A fish like the sea bass, with relatively firm flesh and an uncomplicated bone structure, is best for stuffing. It is possible simply to stuff the gutted cavity and sew it up, lace it up with the help of toothpicks or leave it open, but it seems a pity that the stuffing isn’t more of an integral part of the preparation as a whole; there is little interpenetration of flavors when a fish is stuffed in this way, and serving it is messy, the stuffing being separated from the flesh by the ribcage-like skeletal structure—the filets must be separated above and below from the backbone and the stuffing spooned out apart. When it is possible to obtain fresh ungutted fish, I prefer to bone it from the back (the bulk of the guts may first be drawn out with one’s fingers through the gills, tearing the gills loose first and gently pulling out all attached material), slitting down to each side of the backbone, keeping the blade of the knife in touch with it, cutting through the bone near the base of the head and at about an inch’s distance from the tail and working the bone structure free without piercing the abdomen. Boned in this way, the fish may be stuffed, the flesh molded around the stuffing, and baked, back up and open, boat-like.