First cousin of the bream, the snapper is one of the most common fish on the Spanish Atlantic coasts. However, this seabream is not always as famous outside its usual fishing grounds.
Perfect for cooking on the grill or in the oven, although it can also be eaten on the grill when we remove its loins, this typical fish from the Strait is a authentic gastronomic gem that deserves more name than it has.
It is not that it does not have it, but it does deserve a little more recognition, especially if we then compare it with the sea bream, king of sparids, who has nothing to envy.
Today, so that you know more about the snapper, we let’s summarize how it is, how to prepare it, what benefits it has for health and a few recipes so that you can put it out in your homes without any complications, showing that it is a sensational baked fish.
Description and characteristics of snapper
The scientific name of the snapper is Pagrus pagrus and, as we said, it is a family of sparids or sparidae. caters to very different names in our countrywhich sometimes makes it difficult to identify them in the markets.
In Andalusia, at least in the western part, it is usually also call blackboiled, a term that is also frequent in the Canary Islands. In Asturias it is common as a pot or macho, in Cantabria as dentex, in addition to the other two terms, and in Euskadi it is very common to see it as abrota or gurbín, terms similar to those we see in Galicia, where it is also seen as open or how it opens.
In the Levant, from Catalonia to Valencia, passing through the Balearic Islands, the terms are more evident, seeing it as Págara, pagra, pagre or paguerawhich makes it more identifiable under the name snapper.
It is a fish oval, tall and compressed body, slightly convex at the end of the back and usually measuring about 35 centimeters. It has a large head and its mouth is very characteristic, full of teeth, which make the snapper a very voracious fish, which we usually see with weights between one and three kilos.
It is also very identifiable by its caudal fin, with a dozen hard rays and a dozen soft rays, almost like a soft crest. In addition, it has large pectoral fins and the caudal fin —the one on the tail— is forked.
Regarding colors, can be pink or reddish, but also silver, making the colors lighter in the area of the belly. It is a fish with scales, which have small yellow spots on the back, and on the head we find a dark band between the nape and the corner of the mouth, as well as a small yellow stripe between the eyes.
Between the most common snapper confusionswe find other sparids such as the urta or sama roquera (Pagrus charioteer), the dentex (dentex dentex) or the feather sama (Dentex gibbosus).
Snapper Fisheries, Habitat, and Distribution
It is a demersal animal, which rarely goes below 250 meters deep. It inhabits rocky and muddy areas close to the coast, being a bank animal when the bottoms are sandy. Carnivorous and predator par excellence, the snapper likes to eat crustaceans, molluscs and small fish.
Common fish throughout the Atlantic and on the shores of the Mediterraneanits presence goes from the British Isles to the African coasts on the eastern margin, while in America we can find it from the United States to South America.
Traditional fishing is longline and trammelwhich is the one that offers the best catches and the largest fish, contrary to what happens when trawling at height, which offers smaller specimens.
It is also often fished in recreation boats both rod and trolling. It is a traditionally wild fish, although there are examples of farmed snapper, easily recognizable for having sizes that rarely exceed one kilo.
Properties and benefits of snapper
Snapper, like all good fish, is a perfect source of high biological value protein, where it is estimated that about 19% of clean weight of fish corresponds to this macronutrient. However, it is a fish that depending on the season can be blue or white, depending on the amount of fat it has.
However, it is a semi-fatty fishso it never reaches the fat standards that sardines, anchovies or bonito can have, which is why it is much closer to white fish.
In addition to these virtues, snapper is also rich in certain micronutrients such as vitamin B12, selenium and phosphorus, in addition to potassium. Perfect for any type of diet, the snapper is a fish with large and easily identifiable spines that make it ideal for adults, the elderly and children.
How to prepare and cook snapper
Being a large-format fish, the most common is to cook roast snapper. It can be baked, grilled or grilled, but in general terms we will always see it in these presentations.
That does not mean that we can clean its loins and cook it on the grill or fried, but as more game usually gives it is roasted. We recommend that no cuts be made in the skin, to maintain the juiciness of the fish, since it does not have too much fat.
What can be done is a marinated with certain aromatics, not very powerful, citrus and olive oil with which to bathe the skin of the snapper before grilling it. In case of opening it, we recommend that it always be opened in the stomach part, where to add a touch of enough fat so that it does not dry out and where we can distribute the lemon slices.
In Latin America it is a relatively common fish for preparation of ceviches and raw disheswhich are also good alternatives when we have perhaps not so big snappers.
Four snapper recipes
At DAP we have worked with snapper on several occasions and they all give very good results, as they also allow us to make a bed of potatoes or vegetables with which to get the most out of it and make it a very strong main dish.
Baked snapper on its bed of potatoes
- Ingredients for 4 people. 1 kilo and a half snapper, 4 potatoes, stock or fish broth, 10ml of olive oil, coarse salt and an onion.
- Elaboration. To cook this snapper in one piece, -without opening or filleting- we will ask the fishmonger to clean and evisce it for us to roast in the oven. Since we are going to roast it on its bed of potatoes, we begin by peeling them and cutting them into slices of approximately half a cm. Once ready to cook, we distribute the potatoes in a baking tray trying to cover it whole and without mounting too much on each other. Sprinkle with salt and add a trickle of olive oil on them, as seen in the images. Bake at 190º C for about 15 minutes. Then add the fish broth without letting it exceed the height of the potatoes and place the snapper on the bed that we have made with the potatoes. If you want you can also add an onion cut into fine julienne strips and distribute it over the potatoes, which will be done while the fish is roasting. (I added it) We grilled the fish, letting it cook for 20 minutes, ten on each side. When you turn it over, it is likely that it will happen to you like me and that part of the beautiful skin of the fish will remain in the slotted spoon or in the tool that you use to bake the snapper on the other side.
Complete recipe | Baked snapper on its bed of potatoes, the easiest recipe (which you can also do with any other fish)
Salt snapper with green dressing and arugula salad
- Ingredients for 4 people. A snapper weighing a couple of kilos, 3kg of coarse salt, 2 egg whites, 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a sprig of parsley, salt for the dressing, 1 clove of garlic for the dressing and tomato and arugula as garnish .
- Elaboration. Dry the fish well and arrange it on the baking tray, lined with baking paper or with a Silpat. We beat the egg whites and mix them with the coarse salt, and cover the fish with the mixture. In doing so, we leave out the tip of the snapper’s tail, which will serve as a reference to know that it is already roasted, and we mark the silhouette in the salt crust with a knife, so that when we finish baking, it will help us to uncover the fish without having to break it much. Bake at 190ºC for 35 minutes, depending on the size of the piece. For a kilo piece, 20 minutes. For a kilo and a half, 28 minutes. For 2 kg, 35 minutes, for 2.5 kg, 40 minutes and for 3 kg, 45 minutes. A trick to know if it is ready is to pull the tail fin that we have left out and if it comes out easily, the fish is ready to take out of the oven.
Complete recipe | Salt snapper recipe with green dressing and arugula salad
Grilled snapper with vegetables
- Ingredients for 3 people. A one kilo snapper, assorted vegetables to cook on the grill, salt, pepper, lemon slices, a couple of onion slices and fresh herbs such as cilantro to fill.
- Elaboration. We prepare coal embers and wait until they are ripe, when they are well covered with a gray layer of ash. Meanwhile, we are preparing the fish. We start by removing the side fins, the lower ones and the crest on top to be able to handle it better. Season it well on the inside, put a few slices of onion and some aromatic herbs inside and make two or three cuts in the loin, putting half a lemon slice in each one as when we make baked sea bream. We prepare a besuguera and we put the fish inside, closing it carefully so that we can later turn it around without it opening and falling out. Once ready, we put the fish with the slits up on the grill and let it cook for approximately eight minutes, watching the cooking so that it does not dry out. Turn the snapper over and let it cook on the other side for another eight minutes. At five or six, we look to see if we already see it well done, proceeding to take it out to plate and serve, along with the grilled vegetables that we will have prepared in that time.
Complete recipe | Grilled snapper with vegetables recipe, the healthiest barbecue of the summer
Snapper with baked potatoes
- Ingredients for 5 people. A 2 kilo snapper, a leek, 4 large potatoes, 500ml of fish stock, 3 garlic cloves, a chilli pepper and a citronella.
- Elaboration. We peel the potatoes and cut them in slices. We put them on the oven tray and on them we accommodate our fish. I asked the fishmonger to prepare it for me, open in half, leaving the bone aside, as it serves as a reference to know when it is done. (When it separates without difficulty by pulling it) Chop the leek very finely and distribute it over the potatoes and also put a piece inside the fish. If you want a special touch, you can add a bit of citronella or lemon grass as I did, which with its lemon touch gives it a very special flavor. If you don’t have any, you can add some lime scratches or even a thin slice of lemon, placed between the potatoes and inside the fish. We also add 300 ml of fish broth, leaving it on the tray from the beginning. This is how the potatoes will cook while they evaporate. Then the potatoes will finish cooking by roasting together with the fish. We roast everything in a preheated oven at 200º for one hour, as follows: 15 minutes on one side, 15 minutes on the other and 30 minutes open to cook inside.
Complete recipe | Snapper with baked potatoes, the fish recipe to leave everyone speechless
Images | iStock
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