Grilled Fish, Greek Style

Some general principles

a) Never cook at high temperature (boil, sautee, fry, roast, pot roast, stew etc.) with green olive oil. Any sustained high temperature will destroy both the goodness and the distinctive taste.
b) Green olive oil is consumed raw or almost raw and is added only at the end in cooked dishes.
c) Avoid even low speed whipping. Green olive oil can turn bitter by the incorporation of oxygen induced by whipping. So no blender made mayonnaise with green olive oil. Even a Greek oil and lemon mix that is traditionally whipped with two forks is tricky.

If you want to give some zest to your mayonnaise and derivative sauces, the best approach is to use a mixture of two parts corn oil and one part green olive oil as your oil. Corn oil helps stabilize green olive oil.

Ingredients

A whole fish, cleaned and gutted. Make sure that it is absolutely fresh, preferably catch of the day. Greek style grilling requires a scaled fish, which produces a tasty charred skin. However, it is more difficult than the French method of grilling with the scales on. Use a white fish like a snapper or similar at least 400 grams in weight. Do not use flat fish. Fish steaks from white non oily fish (not salmon) can be done the same way.

Salt
Green olive oil
Fresh good quality lemons
Bitter dried herbs (oregano, thyme, marjoram etc) and chopped parsley, if desired

Preparation

Salt the fish heavily, mainly in the belly cavity. Leave it for half to one hour for salt to penetrate. Grill in preferred style. If the fish is big (usually above a kilogram) make two cuts from the gills to three quarters of the way to the tail, on both sides, down to the spine. The fish is ready when a knife goes through the thickest part without resistance and the juices run clear. The fire must be strong but not fierce. Use a double sided grill with a handle to turn the fish easily. Make sure the grill is carefully cleaned and hot when the fish is added. Try to turn the fish only once.

Once fish is ready, carve it and serve it immediately in individual plates. Toss with green olive oil, cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice on the fish. Add dried herbs and parsley if desired. Accompany with steamed greens (not of the spinach type) and steamed new potatoes.

This is a meal fit for a king. Get out your finest chilled white or a mildly chilled Mediterranean red. Bon appetite.