I took delivery of this beautiful and responsibly fished Silver Kob from Greenfish and decided to give it Weskus flavour by stuffing it with wild sage and fennel – perfect for the braai.
The question of where to find fresh fish during lockdown has been one of the more popular inquiries I’ve been receiving. Fortunately, there are a number of businesses that have begun delivering to the public. One of them is Greenfish. Previously having only supplied the restaurant industry, Greenfish now delivers their responsibly-caught catch of local fish (usually Carpenter, Cape Bream and Yellowtail) directly to your door. Best of all they deliver to areas outside of the City Bowl too, meaning little me over in Bloubergstrand can enjoy fresh fish too! Arriving packaged neatly in a watertight bag with ice packs to keep the fish cold, my Kob was bright-eyed and sea-scented. Exactly how one wants fish to be.
This Silver Kob – handlined by local fishers off Struisbaai – was given a little Weskus flavour with the addition of wild sage, fennel and lemon before being grilled over the coals. Known to get up to 2 metres in length, Kob is an excellent eating fish, but what with stocks dwindling due to commercial trawling, it’s advised to only purchase from a reputable retailer that specialises in hand-lining their catch. As Greenfish maintains:
Greenfish is proud to be a part of the global solution to overfishing by encouraging more sustainable seafood choices from responsibly managed legal sources that are environmentally sound. We commit to ensuring that all of our seafood offered will be sourced from legal fishing operations and traceable back to its point of origin. Every single package includes information about the species, origin, and production method (fishing gear used, or wild-caught/farmed).
In short, Greenfish delivers a product they are passionate about that is both fresh and responsibly caught – aiding in creating livelihoods for fishers in coastal towns all along the Western Cape.
Whole Silver Kob with Wild Sage & Fennel
Wild sage or wilde salie (Salvia chamelaeagnea) is a pungently aromatic herb that is found all along the West Coast. If wild sage can’t be found, substitute it with fresh rosemary. Stuffing the kob with a bouquet of wild sage and fresh fennel tops gently flavour the fish, whilst cooking it over indirect heat in a kettlebraai results in tenderly juicy flesh.
Prep time: 10 mins /Cook time: 40 mins to 1 hour /Serves: 4
- 1 large silver kob, roughly 2-3kg, cleaned and left whole
- A large sprig of wild sage or rosemary
- 3-4 sprigs from a fennel top
- 1 large lemon, sliced
- Coarse ground sea salt and black pepper
- Olive oil
Use kitchen towel to pat the kob dry. Rub a little olive oil inside the cavity of the fish and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the fish with two to three lemon slices, the fennel tops and the wild sage and using kitchen string, truss the kob closed. Rub the outside of the kob with olive oil to prevent it from sticking to the grid.
Grill the kob over indirect coals with the lid of the kettlebraai closed for 30 to 40 minutes. Depending on size, the fish may need to cook for longer. The kob is ready once the flesh is no longer translucent. To serve the kob, remove the string, head, tail and stuffing and butterfly the fish, taking out the spine. Serve with roasted sweet potato wedges, green salad and extra lemon.
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