“Skip fish filets, which can fall apart over the fire if you’re not careful, for a whole fish. Bonus points if you catch the fish yourself.
‘I always leave the fish whole,’ says Chris Royster, executive chef and partner at Flagstaff House Restaurant in Boulder, Colorado. ‘Clean and then fill with fresh herbs and lemon, especially for trout. Cook over the lower heat side so the fish begins to get smoky.’
He’s not alone in his whole fish preference.
For the perfect fish, Daniel Morel, chef at Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello, has a few tips (plus the reassurance that all you need is some foil, lemon, garlic, rosemary, olive oil, twine, and salt). First, if you’re cooking your own catch, clean out the stomach and liver because it has a strong iron taste that’ll takeover. Fill the fish evenly with the herbs and spices, tie it shut, and wrap it twice in tinfoil. Cook it directly on the embers of a fire (around eight minutes each side for a decent-sized trout).”
