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St. Lucia · Spanish Mackerel

St. Lucian Creole Fish

Creole Fish

Friday night at the Gros Islet jump-up smells like this: steaks of fresh fish seasoned with green herbs, browned, then simmered in a bright Creole sauce of tomato, peppers and thyme.

  • Prep 20 min + 30 min marinating
  • Cook 30 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Easy
Photo: 女子 正真 · Pexels
Served with: St Lucian Green Banana Salad ↓En Español

Ingredients

Tap each item as you gather it.

For the fish

For the Creole sauce

Method

Step by step, the way it is done on the island.

  1. Season the fish. Rub the steaks with the lime juice, then the green seasoning, salt and pepper. Marinate 30 minutes in the fridge.
  2. Brown the fish. Scrape off most of the seasoning (save it), dust the steaks with flour and fry in the oil over medium-high heat 2–3 minutes per side until golden. Set aside.
  3. Make the sauce. In a wide pan, cook the onion, peppers, garlic and celery in the oil 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, hot pepper, saved seasoning, water and salt. Simmer 10 minutes.
  4. Simmer the fish. Lay the fish in the sauce, spoon it over, cover and simmer 8–10 minutes until cooked through. Finish with the lime juice.
  5. Serve. Serve hot with green fig salad and a little extra sauce on the side.

On the side

The side dish that belongs with it, full recipe included.

Photo coming soon
Saint Lucia

St Lucian Green Banana Salad

Green Fig Salad

In Saint Lucia green bananas are called figs, and this creamy salad of boiled green figs is the island’s answer to potato salad. It sits on every Friday-night fish fry plate in Anse La Raye.

  • Prep 20 min + 30 min chilling
  • Cook 20 min
  • Serves 6
  • Level Easy

You need

  • 8 green (unripe) bananas
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil (for the water)
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • ½ small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
  • 1 small carrot, grated
  • ½ green bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley
  • Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it

  1. Peel. Rub your hands with oil (green bananas stain). Cut off the ends, slit the skins lengthwise and peel them off.
  2. Boil. Boil the bananas in salted water with the oil and half the lime juice for 15–20 minutes until tender. Drain and cool.
  3. Cut and dress. Cut into ½-inch (1 cm) rounds or cubes. Mix the mayonnaise with the rest of the lime juice, salt and pepper.
  4. Combine and chill. Fold in the bananas, onion, celery, carrot, pepper and parsley. Chill at least 30 minutes before serving.

More ways to cook Spanish Mackerel

Same fish, a different corner of the sea.

Sesimbra, PortugalPortuguese Grilled Mackerel with Green Sauce
Esmeraldas, EcuadorEcuadorian Coconut Fish Encocado
Essaouira, MoroccoMoroccan Chermoula Grilled Mackerel