Mackerel on the barbecue

Ingredients

• 2 oven-ready mackerel (about 350 to 450 g each)
• 1 organic lemon
• 4 sprigs of rosemary or thyme
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• Salt, coarse pepper

Method

1. Heat the barbecue for medium, direct heat. The embers should no longer be flaming.
2. Rinse the mackerel, pat them dry and score the skin diagonally three or four times on each side, down to just above the flesh.
3. Fill the belly cavities with herb sprigs, halved garlic cloves and a few lemon slices.
4. Brush the fish thinly with oil. Better to use too little, so that hardly anything drips into the embers.
5. Put the mackerel in an oiled stainless steel fish basket or on a clean, well-oiled grill rack.
6. Grill them for about 8 to 10 minutes per side, depending on their size and the embers, and turn them only once.
7. Doneness test: at the thickest part, the flesh comes away from the bone easily and is no longer glassy.
8. Only now season the mackerel with salt and pepper, drizzle lemon juice over them and serve them straight away.

Tips

• With a fish basket you can turn the fish without the skin sticking to the grill rack.
• Instead of rosemary, fennel fronds or dill also work well. Serve with fresh bread and tomato salad.
• Mackerel tastes best fresh, which is why many anglers put it on the barbecue on the day they catch it.

Atlantic mackerel: profile