When a dish is made with very fresh and seasonal ingredients, it only needs a very simple preparation to be tasty, delicious and elegant.This certainly applies to any food but most of all to seafood!I come from a region, Puglia, in Southern Italy, where there is an abundance of sea bass. Every day local fishermen sell their freshly caught sea bass, straight from the boats or at the nearby fishmarket. This sea bass has a totally different taste than what you may find in the supermarket, which most of the times was farmed.My favorite way to prepare this super fresh sea bass is to bake it in sea salt crust. I don't add any flavor: no garlic, no parsley and most of all no lemon or olive oil (if you wanted olive oil please use the delicate one). The only ingredients I use are: sea bass and coarse sea salt.This recipe is very simple but it allows me to appreciate the freshness of this fish.Clean a 1lb 3 oz sea bass. Place a layer of coarse sea salt on the bottom of a large baking pan. Lay the fish on top of the salt and cover it with other coarse sea salt. Bake for about 25 minutes.Remove the sea salt crust and clean the sea bass.Serve immediately while still warm.Wine pairing: with this simple and elegant sea bass I like a very elegant white wine from Puglia, which is the Fiano Minutolo. This is a very ancient white grape that only a few wineries are preserving in Puglia, in the Lecce and Salento area.This is totally different from the Fiano di Avellino.My best wishes from the beautiful and sunny Puglia!Cinzia
