Gilt-head bream

Daurade royale

What it is

The gold band between its eyes gives it both its names — aurata in Latin, royale in French. It was sacred to Aphrodite, and the Romans farmed it in coastal ponds two thousand years before anyone used the word aquaculture.

In the kitchen

Bake it whole in a salt crust. The flesh steams in its own moisture and stays far juicier than any fillet.

Goes with

Lemon Olive oil Fennel Potato Thyme Garlic Tomato Salt

Also used with

Akazu Fig leaf Gagome kombu Gyokuro Junsai Ma-kombu

In season alongside

Dungeness crab Brill Caesar’s mushroom Arctic char Clam Crayfish

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