Instructions: Preheat the oven and roasting tray at the highest temperature.

Wash the bream inside and out and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Lay them on a board and score at an angle crisscross fashion about 20mm apart so that it looks a little bit like noughts and crosses do this on both sides (if filleted do the same but dont score quite as deep).

Pound or finely chop the garlic and basil or marjoram with a teaspoon of salt and stir in your balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Smear and rub this inside and outside your bream especially into the scorings with a twist of pepper.

Leave for 10 minutes.

Place the fish and any extra marinade on a tightly oiled tray and roast for about 12 minutes.

Leave to rest for 1 minute allowing all the lovely milky juices to relax back into the flesh.

To check that the fish is cooked try to pull away the thickest part of the fillet from the bone.

If it comes away easily it is done.

Fry off some thinly sliced garlic and marjoram leaves until crisp and sprinkle over the fish.

Serve with roasted cherry tomatoes boiled potatoes and a salad

Red bream and royal bream are easily and cheaply available at all fishmongers and supermarkets these days. Ask your fishmonger to gut and scale the bream if it has not been done already. You could even ask him to fillet it for you if you dont like bones. Bream is an interesting fish to eat as it is quite flaky and very delicate in flavour. I think the sweetness of the balsamic vinegar and marjoram works extremely well with the bream.

Serves 4

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