Red porgy

Pagre

What it is

Pagre and daurade royale sit side by side on French ice but belong to different genera: Pagrus pagrus has a rounder head, rose-edged scales and a coarser grain. Pagrus is also the genus that gave Japan its madai, so the pagre is a closer relative of the Japanese celebration bream than of the royale beside it.

In the kitchen

Roast it whole on the bone at 200 °C, twenty minutes for a kilo, on a bed of sliced potato that catches the juices. The coarse flakes stay separate; filleted and pan-fried the same fish reads dry.

Goes with

Olive oil Potato Lemon Rosemary Garlic Picholine olive Thyme Tomato

Same species

Japanese red seabream (madai)

In season alongside

Gurnard Haddock John Dory Plaice Pollack Pollock

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