- 1 litre of water

- 100 g of salt

- 1 lemon zest

- 1 10cm piece of kombu

Dissolve the salt in the water, add the other ingredients and leave for a couple of hours. Make sure the solution is very cold, even add a few handfuls of ice. Submerge the fish in the solution for around 30 minutes, then take out rinse and pat dry.

- Olive oil

- 1 bass head

- Central frame of fish

- 1/2 bottle Krone sparkling wine

- 1 leek

- 2 shallots

- 1 handful thyme

- 1 handful bay leaves

- 6 cloves of garlic

- Kombu (optional)

Clean the head and bones of gills, eyes, blood, you really don’t want any blood. In a pan, heat a good dollop of olive oil, add the fish head and frame, pop the lid on and steam for a moment, add garlic, thyme, bay leaves, chopped up leek and shallots. Steam again with the lid on. Add a piece of kombu about 10 cm long. Then add the wine, reduce for 5 minutes and then water, just enough to cover the fish head and bones. Let simmer gently for 45 minutes. Strain the stock through muslin, then simmer again to reduce by half.

Take the whole side of the fillet and pat dry again. You want that skin lovely and dry. Gently lay the whole fillet skin side down on the grill. Cook until the skin starts to crisp up nicely, then turn over and grill the other side, about 8 to 10 minutes on each side. Leave to the side. When you press it with your finger it should give gently. It all depends on how large the piece of fish is. Make sure it doesn’t burn.

Take 2 ladles of the reduced stock and heat in a flat pan. Bring to a boil then using a wire mesh sieve, whisk in 70 ml of olive oil. Season with salt, black pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Keep whisking with the sieve. This should be an amalgamated sauce.

- 2 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced

- 1 bunch of dill picked and chopped finely

- 2 tbsp of small capers, or if larger 1 tbsp chopped up

- Maldon salt

- Black pepper

- Vinaigrette

- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

- 1 ½ lemon juice

- 70 ml extra virgin olive oil

Shake or whisk together. Mix the cucumber, capers and dill together and mix enough vinaigrette to gently dress the salad. Serve with your fish.

Serve with some boiled new potatoes, cut in half tossed in olive oil and grilled on the braai until they are a nice colour, season and squeeze with a little lemon can also be a very good addition.

I would suggest a lovely bottle of Krone Twee Jonge Gezellen Blanc de Blancs 2021 with this. It will bring a lovely refreshing sparkle to your grilled meat.