I like to buy local, sustainable fish and my fish vendor tells me that these King George Whiting are from the coastal Gippsland village of Port Welshpool.
The delicate texture of King George Whiting requires careful handling. These fish only need a little cooking, either on a grill or lightly pan-fried over medium to high heat, as I have done in this recipe.
Usually, I am happy to present the fish just with lemon. However, there may be times when an accompanying sauce for steamed, baked, grilled or fried fish will bring you greater compliments. I particularly like this Sicilian sauce with delicate tasting fish.
The sauce is called sarsa di chiappareddi in Sicilian and it is made with capers and anchovies. The sauce can be made well in advance and therefore can be particularly useful when having guests.
For me it is most essential to use quality, extra virgin, olive oil. This is especially important for cold sauces, – when the cold sauce hits the hot food, the fragrance of the oil will be strongly evident.
I like to use capers that are packed in salt rather than brine. These need to be well rinsed and then soaked for 30-40 minutes to remove the salt. If you are using capers in brine, drain carefully and only use ¼ teaspoon of vinegar.
Use a tall glass or narrow jug or jar.
Seafood News
The above recipe and photo were published in the November issue of Seafood News, a small, independent monthly publication dedicated to serving the commercial seafood industry. This Melbourne publication is distributed throughout Australia and reaches all sectors of the industry: markets, fishmongers and some restaurants. The publication will have one of my Sicilian fish recipes per issue. So far I have recipes in Aug-Nov issues.
One thought on “SARSA DI CHIAPPAREDDI (King George Whiting presented with a sauce made with capers and anchovies)”