Baked salmon "tarator" style

Maeve o’ Maera shares this special fish recipe as a tribute to the late Australian-Lebanese chef Greg Malouf, once known as Australia's “godfather of Middle Eastern cuisine”.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  6-8

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1.6–2 kg side of salmon, skin-on, cleaned
• Salt and black pepper
• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• ½ medium red onion, finely chopped
• 1 long red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
• 75 g toasted, skinned walnuts
• 1 cup coriander leaves, chopped
• ¼ cup mint leaves, finely shredded
• 10 g sumac
• Baked kipfler potatoes, baby cos lettuce leaves, to serve

For the dressing  

• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 250 g natural yoghurt
• ¼ cup (60 ml) tahini
• Lemon juice, to taste

Resting time: 20 minutes 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C. Remove a length of foil and baking paper long enough to completely enclose the fish. Place the foil on a large baking tray large enough to fit the fish, then top with the baking paper sheet. Drizzle the baking paper with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper (this will season the underside of the fish).
2. Top the baking paper with the salmon, then sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 2-3 tbsp olive oil, then fold the baking paper and foil around the salmon to enclose to a parcel. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes, or until medium-rare.
3. Remove from the oven and open the parcel to stop the cooking process. Allow to cool to room temperature.
4. To make the dressing, combine the garlic and salt in a mortar and pestle. Crush to a thick paste, then stir through the yoghurt and tahini. Add lemon juice to taste. Refrigerate until required.
5. To make the herb salad, in a large bowl whisk the remaining oil with the lemon juice and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Add the onion, chilli, nuts, herbs and sumac and gently mix to combine.
6. Carefully lift the salmon from its parcel, using a large spatula at each end, and transfer to a large serving plate. Spoon the prepared yoghurt dressing over the top, then top with the herb salad. Serve the salmon with baked potatoes and lettuce leaves on the side.

Note

This recipe was Greg’s take on a Lebanese classic called samke harrah which uses white fish and is heavy on the tahini. Greg lightened it up by mixing tahini with yoghurt and finessing the herb topping. As a handy tip, use a metal spoon to ‘cut’ portions of the salmon at the table. See the baked salmon recipe Greg originally shared with Maeve here.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.