In the miniature Mediterranean port of Sanary-sur-Mere, which is fifteen minutes from our house, you can buy a red mullet right from the fishermen who catch it almost every day, but eating it still feels like a special occasion!
We have three ways of cooking the red mullet, or “barabul’ka” as we call it in Russian.
- The first is traditional. We choose small smooth fish, we ask the fisherman to clean their bellies and scrape off the scales. Add a little salt and pepper to the flour, mix, gently dip the red mullet into the mixture so that it covers them with a very thin layer. Heat a large heavy frying pan and add light vegetable oil (colza). When the oil is heated, we place the fish so that one does not touch the other. We turn the fish over when their eyes become “turbid”. Eat right away.
- The second method of cooking – grill. For this, you can choose fish that are a little larger, save the scales, but clean the stomachs. Fry on a hot grill on both sides and eat immediately. We do not salt and pepper this fish – the sea gives it enough flavors.
- The third way we learned from Veronica Kapnist. She puts red mullets, lightly rolled in flour, in a clay dish and places it in an oven heated to 180 degrees for half an hour.
We eat the red mullet without a side dish, this fish is so good and self-sufficient. We have not yet found a better companion than the pink Bandol Gran Nore, although we have been looking and are continuing to do so.
Barabul’ka played an important role in the development of our Cadiere household. The fact is that Al’ does not tolerate the smell of roasting fish, even red mullets. I had to build a summer (outdoor) kitchen, order a grill from the most famous blacksmith in Emilien Godan in Marseille and fry fish there.
We became friends with Emilien and now he is a frequent guest not only in our kitchen but also in the hunting spaces of our homeland – from Karelia to Siberia. And the red mullet cooked on his grill is inimitable.