Sea bass:Steely in colour, with bright eyes and dark heads, sea bass are some of the handsomest creatures on any fishmonger's slab, writes Hugo Arnold
Buy a good one and its skin will grill to a crisp finish, a perfect foil for the dense and chewy flesh. Or you can stuff it with whatever's to hand: fennel fronds and lemon, perhaps, or bay leaves and garlic.
The best sea bass are wild ones, but fishmongers are currently not allowed to sell wild sea bass. This you would have to get directly from a friendly fisherman.
Well-farmed sea bass are excellent, but too many are farmed badly, to give flavourless flesh and a skin so devoid of character it is not worth grilling. Beware of uniformly sized fish with flabby, fatty stomachs, as they could well have been forced to live lazy lives. Svelte fish are what you should buy.
Sea bass is sweeter if you leave it on the bone - just cut it into two or three pieces if it's a large fish. If you are grilling it whole, cut three slits in each side, through to the bone. As well as looking good, it helps the flesh cook evenly.
Keep partners simple. Potatoes, fennel and root vegetables all play to sea bass's sweetness . A little salsa doesn't go amiss; nor does a touch of chilli.