Bogue

Gopes are among the cheapest fish in a Greek market: small, silver, large-eyed and abundant, and historically what a fisherman kept back for his own family once the valuable fish had gone to the taverna. They are still sold in much that spirit, by the kilo and unsorted by size, and they are not a fish anyone tries to dress up.

The standard treatment is to scale and gut them, dust them in flour and fry them whole in hot oil until the skin crisps, then eat them with lemon and often skordalia alongside. Larger ones are grilled over charcoal instead, split down the back so that the heat reaches the thickest part of the flesh without scorching the skin.

The main objection to bogue is the bones, which are numerous and fine, and there is no technique that gets around that beyond eating slowly and picking as you go. The flesh is mild and a little softer than a bream or a red mullet, which is exactly why the crisp fried skin ends up doing so much of the work.