Sea Bream Fish Baked Provençal Style (Dorade à la Provençale)

Easy French recipe for sea bream fish baked either whole or with fillets. Served Provençal style, simply roast in one dish with tomatoes, garlic, thyme and lemon for a taste of the Mediterranean.

I love the simplicity of this delicious recipe!

Cathy

What Kind of Fish is Sea Bream and How Does it Taste?

Sea bream is a saltwater fish found in the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and part of the Sparidae family. As it feeds mainly on shellfish and plants, as opposed to sea bass, it has a mild sweet flavour. It is often described as having a clean taste and not as 'fishy' as other white fish.

It's a real summer fish, at its best during May to October so lends itself to the summery tastes of Provence. However, it's also well in season over Autumn and Winter.

Other Names for Sea Bream or French Dorade

Popular in France, Dorade (or Daurade) is a roundish, flat fish known as sea bream but it has other names.

• Gilthead bream: the most common type of sea bream found in the Mediterranean.
• In France it's also called Dorade Royale.
• Also known as Kurali, Pandora, Becker, and Porgies. Its scientific name for the genus is Pagrus, that includes red snapper.

Red Snapper, however, is a different fish species. While they share some similarities in taste and appearance, they're not the same. Sea bream tends to have a slightly more flattened body shape compared to the rounder, more pinkish red snapper.

How to Cook Sea Bream

Sea Bream is popular in the south of France so it's ideal with the Mediterranean flavours of tomatoes, garlic and fresh herbs.

My favourite way to cook sea bream is to simply bake it in the oven in a tomato sauce, Provençal style like we do in the south of France. This fish recipe is based on a classic dish, Dorade à la Provençale, taken from my charming book, as if handwritten, Recettes en Provence by Andrée Maureau, who I had the pleasure of meeting many years back at the fête at Versailles' potager du roi.

What I love best about this recipe is there's no need to cover the fish in the oven. Baking the lemon slices intensifies the flavours - so ensure you eat a whole lemon slice to accompany your fluffy, white fish. Throw in a few wee new potatoes to soak up the juices.

Sea Bream Bones

To remove the central bone of the whole baked fish, slice off the top fillet above the bone and remove. Take care of slightly smaller bones towards the head.

Whole Bream vs Fillets

Traditionally, the recipe uses whole fish but fillets are easier to serve, already prepared with skin on. Just ask your fishmonger to clean and gut the whole fish or prepare the fillets for you, with the skin on to retain its full flavour.

Fillets: turn skin-side down in an ovenproof dish and coat with tinned tomatoes or passato strained for a thicker consistency. The taste is slightly different but this express version avoids dealing with bones.

Can I Eat the Fish Skin?

According to Healthline, as long as fish have been properly cleaned and the outer scales fully removed, sea bream skin is typically safe to eat. 

More Healthy Fish Recipes

The combination of simple ingredients isn't just tasty but it's so easy to throw together. Likewise, so are these healthy fish recipes:

• John Dory fish - pan-fried with white wine, shallots, butter and herbs
• Whole Baked Sea Bass
• Monkfish stew (Lotte à l'Américaine) - cooked with similar Provençal flavours, plus Cognac and white wine
• Smoked haddock fishcakes - spot the red herring (couldn't resist!), as it's Scottish made with fluffy potato. Try also this Cullen Skink, the famous soup.
• Pan-fried mackerel in French mustard - so simple yet delicious!
• Roasted fresh sardines - Mediterranean style, stuffed with garlic, lemon and breadcrumbs.