Snappier Grilling

The Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• 1 whole, fresh, cleaned snapper (or any local, fresh, mild flavored fish), weighing approximately 1.3 kg (or 3 lb)
• 120 ml (or ½ cup) of cooking grade olive oil
• 20 g (or 2½ teaspoons) of coarse sea salt (I used Maldon salt for its briny flavor)
• 2 lemons
• 4 to 6 sprigs of fresh thyme (or the equivalent amount of dried thyme)
• 4 g (or ½ tablespoon) of freshly ground black pepper
• Salad grade olive oil

The Method:

1. Prepare a barbecue or gas grill to cook the fish at high heat.
2. Rinse the fish well, pat it dry, and place it on a large platter or similar receptacle that holds the whole fish.
3. Pour the cooking grade olive into and over the fish and rub it into the skin and into the abdominal cavity.
4. Sprinkle a little of the salt into the abdominal cavity and the remainder onto the outer skin.
5. Cut the lemons in quarters and take a thin slice from each of the quarters.
6. Place the lemon slices inside the abdominal cavity of the fish.
7. Stuff the thyme into the abdominal cavity—as much as will fit comfortably.
8. Sprinkle both sides of the fish with the pepper.
9. Baste the fish with the olive oil, then place it in a fish grilling basket if you have one.
10. Place it on the barbecue or grill.
11. Place the lemon quarters, one cut side down, around the fish on the barbecue or grill.
12. Turn the fish when the skin starts to crisp.
13. Turn the lemon quarters to grill the other cut surface and remove them when they are pleasantly roasted.
14. Check the fish on both sides of the spine for doneness and remove it as soon as the flesh is opaque down to the bone.
15. Remove the fish to a serving dish and drizzle it with salad grade olive oil. If you wish, sprinkle on a little more salt and any fresh thyme leaves that you might have left over.
    

The Story:

Strangely, for a small island in the middle of the North Pacific, there is not an abundance of fresh local fish in the markets. Opakapaka, the Hawaiian name for pink snapper, is one of the few that we see regularly. So as not to be boring, I am always looking for new ways to cook opakapaka, and I came across a simple and simply delicious recipe on the myrecipes.com website. It didn't hurt that it brought back memories of lunch in Santorini one beautiful autumn day several years ago. I changed the recipe very little here, and I have also made a variation using fillets of opakapaka when I couldn't get a whole fresh one.