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Red mullet escabeche with olive tapenade

Red mullet escabeche with olive tapenade

You’ll need to begin this recipe 1 day ahead.

“Travelling through the McLaren Vale last month, we stumbled across the delightful Fino. The red mullet escabeche blew us away. Would chef David Swain share his recipe?”
Anna Collins, Adelaide, SA

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Red mullet escabeche with olive tapenade

Serves 4
Cooking Time Prep time 10 mins, cook 1 min (plus marinating)
170 ml   olive oil
8   small red mullet (barbounia) fillets, pin-boned
1   carrot, thinly sliced widthways
1   golden shallot, thinly sliced
1 clove   garlic, thinly sliced
4   sprigs of thyme
4   bay leaves
8   whole black peppercorns
60 ml (¼ cup)   red wine vinegar
Olive tapenade
50 gm   pitted Kalamata olives
2 tsp   salted capers, rinsed
2   anchovy fillets
2 tsp   finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
30 ml   extra-virgin olive oil


1 Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over high heat, cook fish skin-side down for 30 seconds or until lightly golden, then transfer to a baking dish skin-side up.
2 Heat remaining olive oil in a saucepan to 90C on a thermometer, then carefully add all ingredients except red wine vinegar. Remove from heat, add red wine vinegar and stir to combine. Pour over mullet, cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-6 hours or overnight.
3 For olive tapenade, combine all ingredients except olive oil in a mortar and, using a pestle, pound to a smooth paste. Add olive oil and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper. Makes about ½ cup.
4 To serve, arrange fish fillets on plates and scatter with vegetables and herbs from marinade. Stir marinade to combine oil and vinegar, then spoon over fish and top with a teaspoon of tapenade.


RECIPE David Swain, Fino restaurant (Edited by Adelaide Lucas) PHOTOGRAPHY Teny Aghamalian STYLING Elodie Rambaud


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