Ingredients

Step by step

1. Light the campfire or barbecue, or if cooking at home, preheat the grill to medium-high.

   Tip

   Bear in mind that all the cooking times will vary, depending on the heat level of your campfire, so go by look and feel, as indicated in the recipe, rather than absolute timings.

2. Place the sea bass fillets on a large board and, using a sharp knife, cut 4 x 1cm deep slash marks on the skin side of each fillet. These help the flavours from the rub – and the heat from the fire – to penetrate.

3. Use a pestle and mortar (or a spice grinder) to crush the fennel and coriander seeds, the black pepper and salt together. Add the finely chopped bay and lemon zest and mix to combine. Drizzle the olive oil over the fish and rub this in, before scattering over the spiced lemony fennel seed mixture and rub this in too, making sure it gets into the slash marks on the skin side and apply to the flesh side too.

4. Place the bass fillets skin-side down onto the hot grill of a barbecue or a metal rack over the campfire (or skin-side up if cooking under the grill) and cook for 4-5 minutes on this side and 1-2 minutes on the other until cooked through. Be careful when turning the fillets, as you don’t want them to break up – a fish grill makes life easier as you simply turn the whole grill over, with the fillets inside. If the barbecue or grill is too hot you will burn the fish, so watch the heat closely. You can take the fish off and allow the embers to die back a little. Serve with lemon wedges, good bread and a salad, or the roasted butternut squash.