This is a great way to cook whole fish, sounds really quite scary but in actual fact is so simple, the salt is there only to cook the fish in its own little "oven" the salt isn't to be eaten!
My Fishandtips for this is, use whole fish, sea bass, sea bream etc, the fish must be gutted but not scaled or trimmed, this helps keep your fish moist and juicy, you can if you're feeling very flash, mix some lemon zest and chopped herbs through the salt mix, this gives a fantastic aroma and extra flavour to the fish
Shopping list
2 whole fish approximately 1kg
2kg of cooking salt
3 egg whites
1 lemon
Bunch of soft herbs, Basil, parsley, tarragon etc
Method
Heat the oven to 200c
Mix the egg whites in to the salt
Spread a layer of the mix on a roasting tin
Place the fish no top
Put some of the herbs and lemon slices in side the fish
Now carefully cover the fish with the remaining salt
Make sure there are no gaps
Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes
Remove from the oven, by now the salt will be rock hard! So give it a good whack
Lift the salt crust away
Place on a serving tray
Place in the centre of the table and let everyone dive in
I've served mine with some new potatoes and buttered samphire, but the choice is yours