My favourite recipe from Cinnamon & Salt

Branzino al cumino, an easy, cured sea bass marinated with cumin

At the first bite of this sea bass, cured in sugar and salt, then sliced thinly and marinated in a curious mixture of lemon juice, honey and bashed cumin seeds and served over warm, garlic-rubbed, butter-slathered toasts, I had that sensation where your eyes roll into the back of your head and there is an explosion of delight as these flavours and textures glide and melt over your tongue. It was an absolute treat and within seconds, no words needed, my husband Marco was nodding in agreement — this had to go in the new book.

Among all the recipe testing and all the wonderful cicchetti and sweets and other recipes that were whittled down to finally appear in Cinnamon and Salt, this one remains my very favourite — and when others have tasted it I’ve seen that same, wide-eyed look of surprise and sensory bliss that I experienced.

If you’ve never cured your own fish before, this is really a simple one to start doing so. All you need is a couple of fillets of seabass (I leave the skins on), you just lay them to rest over a bed of sugar and salt, bury them under more sugar and salt and leave in the fridge for 24 hours. After that, rinse off and marinate for another day before serving, thinly sliced (removing the skin at this point, which is much easier to do now). It’s a fairly low maintenance recipe for such a magnificently delicious outcome.

This brilliant method is inspired by a recipe in the Slow Food-produced cookbook, Ricette di Osterie del Veneto: Quaresime e Oriente (published in 2002, it’s no longer in print but there are old copies to be found here and there, it’s a wonderful book of recipes from osterie — restaurants and trattorie — in the Veneto with plenty of history and commentary from each entry). It comes from the Ristorante Al Vecchio Marina on the Lido of Jesolo, a 15km long stretch of beach north-east of Venice.

I found the recipe so intriguing because of the use of cumin, which is so rare in Italian cuisine. I love it for its nod to Venice’s historical spice trade and find that it is so perfectly suited to this dish. Branzino, or sea bass, is prized in Venice for its delicate flesh and although curing it isn’t how you’ll normally find it here, it is traditionally roasted or boiled for very special occasions like Christmas Eve.

The original Al Vecchio Marina recipe has fresh lemon balm (melissa) leaves decorating it too, but I prefer to leave it just to the warm spices; a pinch of cumin and even some crushed pink peppercorn to decorate it is nice. It’s best to begin this recipe at least 2 days before you want to serve it (5 days, according to the original recipe, but I cannot wait that long).

Branzino Marinato al Cumino ~ Cured sea bass with cumin

Makes 20 cicchetti

1 × 1 kg (2 lb) whole sea bass, or 2 sea bass fillets, scaled but skin on, about 800 g (about 1 lb 12 oz)
120 g (4.2 oz or just under 1/2 cup) coarse salt
120 g (4.2 oz or 1/2 cup) raw sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed, plus a pinch for garnish
2–3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
20 baguette slices
1 garlic clove
butter, softened

If you are starting with fillets, skip to the next step. To fillet a whole fish, first make a diagonal slice that almost cuts the head off and follows the opening of the gills. From here you will cut the first fillet by locating the backbone and, using the spine as a guide, cut all the way along the length of the fish to the tail and pull out the first fillet. Now flip the fish over and repeat. You should be left with a head and bones and tail all attached — don’t waste them, it makes the most wonderful stock for a fish soup or a fish risotto, so set it all aside for boiling with a carrot, onion and celery, then strain – this freezes well too.

Gently run the fillets under cold water then pat them dry. Combine the salt
and sugar and sprinkle about half of this mixture in a glass or ceramic dish, place the fillets on top, skin side up, then cover completely with the rest of the sugar and salt mixture. Place in the fridge to cure for 24 hours.

The next day, remove the fish from the curing mixture, gently rinse and pat dry. Place in a new, clean glass or ceramic dish. Combine the lemon juice with the honey and cumin and pour this over the fish and leave to marinate for another 24 hours.

Remove the fish from the marinade and pat dry gently. Slice the fish on a slight diagonal; you want to do this as thinly as possible and then discard the skin. Dress the cured fish with a generous drizzle of very good olive oil and some crushed pink or black pepper, if you like, and another pinch of cumin. Cover and leave to rest until ready for serving. (It can be kept like this for at least 3 days in the fridge).

When ready to serve, toast the baguette rounds and rub each once with a fresh garlic clove before buttering them (generously), all while the bread is still warm. Place a slice of cured sea bass on top and serve immediately. Heaven.

From Cinnamon and Salt: Cicchetti in Venice: Small Bites from the Lagoon City by Emiko Davies (Hardie Grant 2022). Out now in Australia and UK and end of the month in the US!

Here are some more links related to Venice and Cinnamon and Salt:

• Some more recipes from my new book Cinnamon and Salt have been shared in the Financial Times How to Spend It (Sarde in saor, tuna tartare, insalata di aringa — smoked herring salad — as well as Carpaccio, Cipriani style, and Marco’s thick hot chocolate which is like the one from decadent, centuries-old Caffe Florian).

• A little interview on Instagram Live that I did with qbcucina (a wonderful online shop for Italophiles) about Cinnamon and Salt.

• In last week’s paid newsletter I describe what makes ideal cicchetti (historically and practically).

• One wonderful street in Venice, a mini guide to great wine bars and places to eat cicchetti in Cannaregio where I was often to be found ‘researching’ for Cinnamon and Salt.

• Another Venice cicchetti guide, part photo essay, part commentary on Venice post-lockdown, this weekend trip to Venice was what started the idea behind this cookbook!

• A list of favourites in Venice, from bookshops, museums, to the best gianduiotto gelato and of course cicchetti.

• A peek at what Renaissance paintings from Venice show us about eating habits — hint, you can see the cicchetti! (Paying subscribers only)

• An interview with Jane da Mosto of We are Here Venice about the future of the lagoon city and saving Venice’s lagoon. (Paying subscribers only)

• The history of and a recipe for fritole, Venice’s ancient and prized fried treats, from Cinnamon and Salt. (Paying subscribers only)