In her later years, my mother gladly delegated almost all cooking chores to me. Naturally, our cooking styles were quite different, and she was usually gracious enough not to complain about the meals I presented to her.
The one dish with which she simply couldn鈥檛 make her peace, however, was grilled fish. She liked to eat it, but fretted about its prep. 鈥淚t鈥檚 done so fast that it鈥檚 like it鈥檚 going backwards in time,鈥 she grumbled to me one evening, when I set down a platter of grilled whole rainbow trout stuffed with lemon slices and lavish amounts of dill. 鈥淪o much trouble to fire up the grill just for that.鈥
Bosh, I said. Pretending to rebuke her, I said, 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 have to lift a finger. Now just shut up and eat.鈥 She laughed and dug in.
As a little girl, I was afraid of fish, having once gotten a bone stuck in my throat. Then, my father taught me how to lift away the fillets delicately and easily from a whole fish. 鈥淔ollow the line along the side,鈥 he said, tracing it with the tip of a knife. 鈥淢ake a cut there, and then you can lift the fillets away to expose the bones. They鈥檙e easy to remove then.鈥 He was right about that, as he was about almost everything he taught me.
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These days when I grill fish, I often marinate them in the fragrant Moroccan herb paste called chermoula. It鈥檚 quick and easy to make 鈥 its only fussy step is toasting the cumin and coriander seeds briefly, and that鈥檚 hardly painful.
Because it keeps for several days in the refrigerator, one batch of chermoula often ends up on fish, lamb, or chicken as well. Sometimes I stir a tablespoonful into a basic vinaigrette, just to give it some luscious oomph, or into rice or steamed couscous that sides something more basic. It鈥檚 a surprising addition to mayonnaise for sandwiches, too.
Chermoula-grilled salmon
Makes about 3/4 cup chermoula, enough to marinate and grill 4 salmon steaks or fillets
Chermoula, the Moroccan spice paste, is also a great marinade and grilling sauce for chicken, lamb, and firm mild fish. If you happen to have preserved lemons on hand, substitute 录 preserved lemon, pulp discarded and rind coarsely chopped, for the lemon zest and juice. If you don鈥檛 have preserved lemons, see the note below if you鈥檇 like to make a quick batch.
Ingredients
1 陆 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 陆 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 陆 cups coarsely chopped cilantro, smaller stems included
1 cup coarsely chopped parsley, smaller stems included
录 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves
1 陆 teaspoons lemon zest, plus 1 陆 tablespoons juice (or more to taste)
1 陆 teaspoons orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon juice
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
录 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 saffron threads, optional but highly recommended
陆 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper
4 salmon steaks or fillets
Preparation
In a small skillet over low heat, toast the coriander and cumin seeds, swirling the pan, until the seeds are fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Transfer the seeds to a spice grinder and whiz until the seeds are finely ground.
In a blender or food processor, combine the ground coriander, ground cumin, cilantro, parsley, mint, lemon zest and juice (or preserved lemon), orange zest and juice, garlic cloves, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, saffron, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. Whiz until the mixture is a thick paste.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to three days.
To prepare the salmon, place steaks or fillets in a shallow dish. Divide the chermoula in half. Use half to marinate the fish for up to four hours in the refrigerator. At cooking time, preheat the grill or broiler. Arrange marinated fillets on an oiled grill grate or broiler pan and brush lavishly with remaining chermoula. Cook until fish just barely flakes when prodded with a fork and remove from heat.
Serve immediately.
Note: Traditionally, Moroccan preserved lemons take a month or more to cure. If you need some on a shorter time frame, try this method.
Use Meyer lemons if possible. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Scrub, trim off both ends and cut four lemons into sixths lengthwise. Place them in a baking dish and scatter over them four tablespoons of coarse salt.
Stir in about a cup of fresh lemon juice. Bake for three hours, stirring occasionally. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Transfer the lemons and their brine to a glass jar with a snug-fitting lid. Refrigerate and use within two months.
