Sea Bream

Tsipoura, the gilthead bream, takes its name from the bar of gold colour running between its eyes, which is the quickest way to pick one out on a fishmonger's ice. Like lavraki it is farmed across the Aegean in enormous quantity, and the standard size sold, at around 400 grams, is deliberately judged as one whole fish per person.

The Greek treatment is charcoal, salt and nothing else until the fish comes off the grill, at which point it gets ladolemono and a scatter of oregano. Scoring the thickest part of each side down to the bone helps it cook evenly, and a fish that has been scaled properly will crisp against the bars rather than tear and stick to them.

Bream flesh is slightly sweeter and a little fattier than sea bass, which makes it more forgiving over fire, and it takes just as well to being baked whole on a bed of sliced potatoes. Check freshness the way any Greek shopper does: clear domed eyes, bright red gills, and a smell of clean seawater rather than anything stronger than that.