Orate all’Anconetana (Ancona style sea bream) is whole sea bream, marinated in white wine and herbs, then grilled over charcoal and served with a cold sauce made from anchovies, hard-boiled egg, bread soaked in vinegar, garlic, and olive oil. It’s a lovely summer dish and perfect for the BBQ.
Marche Sea Bream
Ancona sits on Marche’s Adriatic coast, and fish has always been central to its cooking. Orata (sea bream) is caught in great numbers in this area. It has firm, white-flesh, which is much less delicate than it looks, so this makes it perfect for grilling. But firs you need to marinate it for a couple of hours. The marriage penetrates the fish and gives it some extra flavour.
The sauce is what makes the dish. Anchovies, hard-boiled egg yolks, stale bread soaked in white wine vinegar, garlic, and olive oil go into a food processor and come out as a thick, sharp cream. The vinegar-soaked bread acts as a base that holds everything together, and the egg smooths it out. The result is savoury and acidic in roughly equal measure – sharp enough to cut through the char on the grilled skin, rich enough to stand up to the fish rather than disappear alongside it.
Orata is a good choice for anyone who finds cooking fish on a grill intimidating. Its flesh is naturally dense and firm, which means it holds together when you turn it and doesn’t fall apart the way softer fish would. It also tolerates a little variation in timing – a minute or two either way won’t ruin it. That makes it one of the more forgiving fish you can put on a BBQ.
Orate all’Anconetana Marinade
The marinade – white wine, olive oil, finely chopped onion, bay, and thyme – does three things. The mild acidity of the white wine helps flavour penetrate through the skin. The olive oil coats the surface and slows moisture loss during the high heat of the grill. The onion and herbs infuse the flesh with flavour it wouldn’t otherwise have. Pat the fish completely dry before it goes on the grill – any liquid left on the surface will prevent the skin from crisping.
You can serve Orate all’Anconetana warm, straight from the grill or at room temperature. The sauce is made ahead and served cold either way, which makes it practical for a summer meal where you don’t want to be finishing things at the last minute.
Frequently Asked Questions
Buon appetito! 🇮🇹
More Marche Recipes
- Vincisgrassi – Marche’s layered pasta dish with meat ragu, chicken livers, and bechamel.
- Risotto alla Marchigiana – a Marche risotto served with sugo finto, a meatless sauce that takes its depth from slow-cooked vegetables.
- Fava ‘Ngreccia – a Marche side dish of broad beans cooked with anchovies, capers, and garlic.
Orate all’Anconetana
Equipment
- Grill pan or outdoor grill
- Food Processor
- Large bowl or deep-sided container (for marinating)
- Kitchen tongs
- Chopping board and knife
Ingredients
Fish
- 2 orata (sea bream (gutted, scaled and rinsed))
- Marinade
- 125 ml olive oil
- 125 ml white wine
- half onion (very finely chopped)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of thyme
- salt
- black pepper
Sauce
- 8 anchovy fillets (salt-packed, rinsed)
- 4 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 clove garlic
- black pepper
- 40 g stale white bread (crusts removed)
- 40 ml white wine vinegar (or enough to soak the bread)
- 80 ml olive oil
Instructions
- Combine the olive oil, white wine, onion, bay, thyme, salt, and black pepper in a container large enough to hold both fish. Mix well. Add the fish and turn them in the marinade to coat. Leave to marinate for at least 2 hours, turning the fish every 30 minutes.
- Break the bread into pieces and soak in the white wine vinegar for 5 minutes.
- Squeeze the bread gently to remove most of the vinegar.
- Put the bread, anchovies, hard-boiled eggs, garlic, and black pepper into a food processor. Blend until smooth.
- With the motor running, add the olive oil in a steady stream until the sauce reaches a thick, creamy consistency.
- Remove the fish from the marinade and pat dry with kitchen paper. Discard the marinade.
- Heat a grill pan over high heat until very hot. Cook the fish for 8-10 minutes on each side, depending on size, until the skin is crisp and the flesh pulls cleanly from the bone at the thickest point.
- Serve the fish on a platter with the sauce in a bowl alongside.
