Psari Plaki, Oven-Baked Fish with Onion and Lemon
A whole fish baked on a bed of melting onions, perfumed with garlic, parsley, lemon, and olive oil. A convivial dish, golden and generous, placed at the center of the table.
A whole fish baked on a bed of melting onions, perfumed with garlic, parsley, lemon, and olive oil. A convivial dish, golden and generous, placed at the center of the table.
On days when friends climbed my stairs — a few young men, a visiting poet — I would have a fine fish brought from the port, chosen that morning from the stalls. We laid it on the onions, bathed it in oil and lemon, and the kitchen oven perfumed the whole apartment. I served by lamplight, in the half-darkness I loved, and we talked of the Ptolemies and love until night. Beauty, believe me, can also be tasted at table.
- •Whole white fish (sea bass, sea bream, grouper) — one fine fish (centerpiece)
- •Onions — several, sliced (cooking bed)
- •Garlic — a few cloves (aromatic)
- •Lemon — two (acidity)
- •Olive oil — generous (fat)
- •Parsley — a bunch (herb)
- •Ripe tomatoes — a few (softness (optional))
Psari Plaki, Oven-Baked Fish with Onion and Lemon
A whole fish baked on a bed of melting onions, perfumed with garlic, parsley, lemon, and olive oil. A convivial dish, golden and generous, placed at the center of the table.
Why this dish? Alexandria is a sea city; fresh fish from the port fed Greek tables and was the dish served on reception days when Cavafy entertained in his salon on Rue Lepsius.
On days when friends climbed my stairs — a few young men, a visiting poet — I would have a fine fish brought from the port, chosen that morning from the stalls. We laid it on the onions, bathed it in oil and lemon, and the kitchen oven perfumed the whole apartment. I served by lamplight, in the half-darkness I loved, and we talked of the Ptolemies and love until night. Beauty, believe me, can also be tasted at table.
Ingredients (period version)
- Whole white fish (sea bass, sea bream, grouper) — one fine fish (centerpiece)
- Onions — several, sliced (cooking bed)
- Garlic — a few cloves (aromatic)
- Lemon — two (acidity)
- Olive oil — generous (fat)
- Parsley — a bunch (herb)
- Ripe tomatoes — a few (softness (optional))
Ingredients
- Whole sea bream or sea bass, gutted — 1 (about 1 kg) or 4 thick fillets (centerpiece)
- Onions — 3 large, sliced (cooking bed)
- Garlic — 3 cloves, chopped (aromatic)
- Lemon — 2 (juice + slices) (acidity)
- Olive oil — 5 tbsp (fat)
- Flat-leaf parsley — 1 bunch, chopped (herb)
- Tomatoes — 2, sliced (softness (optional))
- Salt, pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Preheat oven to 190°C. Sweat the sliced onions in olive oil for 10 minutes until soft, add garlic.
- Spread the onion bed in a baking dish, arrange tomato slices on top if using.
- Place the fish on top, season inside with salt and pepper, tuck lemon slices into the cavity.
- Drizzle with lemon juice and remaining oil, scatter half the parsley.
- Bake for 30–40 minutes (depending on size), basting once with cooking juices, until the flesh flakes easily.
- Scatter remaining parsley and serve hot, at the center of the table.
How it was made : "Plaki" in Greek refers to this oven cooking on a bed of onions and vegetables. In Alexandria, people often brought their covered dish to the neighborhood baker's oven, whose embers died slowly after bread baking — a common practice across the eastern Mediterranean where few homes had large ovens.
The contemporary twist : A splash of ouzo deglazed over the onions at the end, and the fish served on a slate board as a nod to Piraeus tavernas.
Constantine Cavafy · Charactorium
