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1 large mild onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

bouquet garni

salt, pepper

300 ml (10 fl oz) dry white wine

250–375 g (8–12 oz) large white grapes

30 g (1 oz) plain flour

juice of ½ lemon

chopped parsley

Ask the fishmonger to clean and scale the fish, but to leave the head on. Using 60 g (2 oz) of butter, grease an oval dish large enough to hold the fish. Make a layer of onion and garlic, put the bouquet in the middle, and the fish on top. Season well. Pour over the wine. Bake in a hot over (gas 7, 220°C/425°F) for 20 to 25 minutes, until the fish is cooked. Meanwhile peel and pip the grapes, and mash the flour into a paste with 30 g (1 oz) of butter.

Transfer the cooked fish to a serving dish, and strain the juices into a saucepan. Bring to simmering point, and add the beurre manié in small knobs, stirring it into the sauce to thicken it. Season with lemon juice, and more salt and pepper if necessary. Keeping the sauce below the boil, beat in the last 30 g (1 oz) of butter (this gives the sauce a delicious flavour, and a beautifully glossy appearance). Add the grapes, still keeping the sauce below boiling point, and leave for 1 minute, then pour round the fish. Scatter chopped parsley on top. Make sure that the plates are very hot, and whatever you do, don’t overcook the fish.

NOTE This is a homely recipe for fish with grapes. Turn to p. 380 for the more elegant sole with grapes, Sole Véronique. I’m not implying a preference – each dish has its place and occasion. Or to p. 296 for Rougets Barbets à la bourguignonne with the vine leaves and grapes.

SEA BASS IN A PASTRY CASE (Bar en croûte)

One of the pleasures of Normandy in the late sixties and early seventies was staying at the Hôtel de la Marine on the edge of the Seine under the great curve of the Pont Tancarville. As the sun set and the lights went on the scene took on the noble simplicity of a Japanese woodcut. And there was dinner, cooked by Monsieur Morisse and including dishes like this one, to look forward to.

This recipe can be used for other fish, grey mullet for instance, or a freshwater fish. Soft roes can be included in the stuffing.

2 kg (4 lb) bass, skinned and filleted

60 g (2 oz) butter

salt, pepper

750 g (1½ lb) puff pastry

beaten egg, to glaze

STUFFING

100 g (3½ oz) unsalted butter

6 tablespoons chopped shallots

60 g (2 oz) mushrooms, chopped

100 g (3½ oz) 2-day-old breadcrumbs

a little milk

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

2–3 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped chervil

1 egg, beaten

Cook the fillets on both sides in the butter just to stiffen them. Season them and leave them to cool.

For the stuffing, cook the butter, shallots and mushrooms together until they are soft, but not browned. Moisten the breadcrumbs with milk, using very little and squeezing out any surplus. Add them to the pan, mix well and turn everything into a basin. Add the chopped eggs and the herbs, and mix in the raw egg to bind the mixture.

Roll out just under half the pastry and put it on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Place a bass fillet on top, skin-side down. Put the stuffing on top and then the second fillet, skin-side up. Trim the pastry to leave a 1½-cm (¾-inch) rim and brush the rim with beaten egg.

Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the fish with it, pressing the edges down together. If your fancy takes you, shape the pastry to make a fish complete with head. Score it lightly with scales, mouth and eyes. Brush it over with beaten egg. Chill it for at least 45 minutes, or up to 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to gas 7, 220°C (425°F). Bake the fish for 25–35 minutes, until the pastry is well risen and brown. Serve with sauce Choron*.

SEA BASS WITH TARATOR SAUCE (Samak tarator)

From Claudia Roden’s classic Book of Middle Eastern Food comes a tremendous dish which is particularly popular in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. In those countries, it is usually served with lavish decorations in a variety of bright colours