Psari Plaki (Ψάρι-πλακί)
Jun 27th, 2008 | By Peter Minakis | Category: Baking, Fish, Greek, Herbs, Vegetables
Both of my parents come from towns in the Prefecture of Florina, about 2 1/2 hours NW of Thessaloniki.
My dad comes from a town call Amynteon and my mom’s from the neighboring village of Agios Panteleimon. Although I go by Peter in English, my Greek name is Pantelis, which is the patron saint to which my mom’s village got it’s name from.
Both parents grew up in the mountains (rather than the sea), a rich bounty of fresh water fish was available from rivers and mostly Lake Vegoritida.
Lake Vegoritida is the deepest lake in Greece and local fishermen claim that sometimes (when the lake is clear) they can see the ancient Via Egnatia (Ἐγνατία Ὁδός) that was built by the Romans on the lake’s deep bottom.
The folks on my mom’s side knew their way around fish and this next dish is a Psari (fish) Plaki dish that my remembers being prepared for the family from when she was a child.
There are many variations (ingredient-wise) to a Plaki dish but basically it’s a baked fish dish with an array of vegetables. This is my family’s take on it and whole fish (bone in) is recommended.
If you don’t have a large fish available, lay smaller whole fish and serve each person their own whole serving.
With today’s Psari Plaki, I used red snapper as it’s a family favoutite and it was the freshest of the large fresh fish. A large European sea bass like Lavraki (Loup de Mer) also would work wonderfully here.
The interesting facet of this recipe is the use of a “slurry” made of olive oil, flour and paprika. Many Greeks who have had Psari Plaki will attest that sometimes the sauce that’s formed from the baking of the fish and vegetables can resemble more of a pool of liquid than a sauce.
The paprika mixture seems to solve this issue, forming a thicker sauce and undeniably more flavour.
Bread lovers…Psari Plaki is a perfect meal for those lovin’ the dunkin’…dip that bread in this lush sauce and enjoy this baked fish, the Greek way!
Psari Plaki (ΨάÏι πλακί)
(for 4)
1 large whole fish, scaled & gutted
1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
2 Cubanelle peppers, sliced into rings
5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 medium tomato, diced
1 medium tomato, halved & cut into slices
4 medium sized potatoes, cut into wedges
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano (half the amount, if dried)
3 heaping Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1 cup water
salt and pepper
Pre-heated 350F oven
- In a large baking dish, lay the bottom with the layer of chopped parsley and followed by your wedges of potatoes, pepper slices, diced tomatoes and garlic and oregano.
- Season the fish (inside & out) with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with some garlic, parsley and oregano. Now place the fish on your bed of herbs and vegetables and arrange the slices of tomatoes around the fish.
- In a large measuring cup add the olive oil, flour and paprika and whisk to incorporate with a fork. Now pour the slurry over the fish and then pour the cup of water over all the surrounding herbs & vegetables.
- Season with sea salt and ground pepper and place in the middle rack of your oven for 40-45 minutes.
- Carefully remove the fish from the baking vessel and serve each plate with a bed of vegetables, a fillet of the fish and spoon over some sauce.
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© 2008 – 2010, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
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This sounds wonderful Peter. I will have to try it soon. I am Greek on my Mom’s side. My maternal grandparents were both from tiny villages near Thessaloniki. I don’t know the names of the towns. Maybe one of my cousins would know.
I am very happy to have discovered your blog a couple of weeks ago and have been enjoying the recipes and your writing.
Oh, lovely! I think paprika is a very under-used spice. That looks fab.
That slurry idea is quite interesting. Will have to try that.
In our case, a dosh with such a great sauce would be eaten with white rice! ;D
First; I love your name in greek:Pantelis, is nice!!!! and this fish look wonderful and the pictures too. You know Peter always when I see your fishes Im REALLY hungry!!! in any time!!! Gloria (Love your parent’s history)
Beatiful, Peter! I especially like the before-and-after shots.
Damn the typo!
That’s DISH, not “dosh.”
=D
That’s a very interesting dish, so is your family’s home town. It is so pretty I’d love to visit some time.
Ooh, that looks really great, Pantelis (I almost typed Panties, teehee).
Now that it’s hot and summery, I think I fish and veggies is where it’s at. Maybe I’ll lose a few of the pork pounds while I’m at it! :D
Oooh! This is one of the exact same dishes that I had in Tarpon Springs a few weeks ago. I loved it then, and I love it now! Beautiful!
Seems like there’s as many different versions of fish plaki as there are greek families. This looks like a terrific version and, like Lulu, I liked the before and after pictures.
Now that fish looks good! Love all the ingredients (sweet paprika, oregano etc)….Mmmm YUM!
Ha ha 25 hours till take off – Lot’s of yummy Greek food for me! See you when I get back – then it won’t be long for your hols!!
nice bit of armchair travel in this post
Looks mighty good, Peter. I’m guessing that a fish like mullet would work reasonably well, too?
I know what you mean by the pool of liquid not being exactly a sauce, but that has never bothered me before. I actually look foward to dipping some bread :D. That part is as important for me as eating the fish itself.
Your photos are making me HUNGRY! Could you send some over for a late brunch? :)
That looks really good Peter! You need to divulge your fish source for me!!!
Wonderful post — I feel like I’ve had a mini vacation to Greece now. I love red snapper and this looks like a lovely presentation.
a tractor! how glorious! i honestly haven’t seen a single one since i moved from va to ny. i miss ‘em, and the farmers atop ‘em. :)
i enjoyed learning a bit about your background! :)
WOW That fish looks happy to be eaten:-) I love your cooking style, Its so hearty and inspiring, The cake looks great too. Thank you for sharing:-)
X M
This looks like a fantastic dish! I’ve wanted to do a whole-fish style prep for some time now, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it. I’ll have to try this!
This looks like a fantastic dish! I’ve wanted to do a whole-fish style prep for some time now, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it. I’ll have to try this!
This looks like a fantastic dish! I’ve wanted to do a whole-fish style prep for some time now, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it. I’ll have to try this!
This looks like a fantastic dish! I’ve wanted to do a whole-fish style prep for some time now, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it. I’ll have to try this!
This looks like a fantastic dish! I’ve wanted to do a whole-fish style prep for some time now, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it. I’ll have to try this!
This looks like a fantastic dish! I’ve wanted to do a whole-fish style prep for some time now, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it. I’ll have to try this!
This looks like a fantastic dish! I’ve wanted to do a whole-fish style prep for some time now, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it. I’ll have to try this!
This looks like a fantastic dish! I’ve wanted to do a whole-fish style prep for some time now, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it. I’ll have to try this!
This looks like a fantastic dish! I’ve wanted to do a whole-fish style prep for some time now, but I’ve never gotten around to trying it. I’ll have to try this!
Hi Jen & welcome…please ask which towns your family’s from…Im curious.
Ferdzy, paprika is a must-have in my pantry.
Ts, it made for a falvourful thickener.
Gloria, efharisto (thank you) and I hope to cook for you one day.
Lulu, thanks…red snapper is a perty fish.
Ben, this town has nice tavernas righ on the lakefront…great place for a meal but it’s otherwise a sleepy town.
Heather, what say you…throwing panties at me like a silver-haired fan of Tom Jones?
Sticky, I’d love to hear all about your trip to Tarpon…spill it!
Laurie, indeed there are ans evidenced even from cookbook to cookbook but the giagia here knew what she was doing.
Jan, have a wonderful holiday, have a dip in the sea for me, sip an ouzo and eat well!
Maria, gotta show off the horio, right?
Forkful, red mullet would be wonderful…just place more of them in the baking dish.
Lore, if you like it more brothy – fine, we just like it more to be a sauce.
Judy, I’ll tell ya all the fish joints when you’re here.
Lydia, I try & incorporate a little sightseeing with the food…a nice backdrop.
Grace…my mom & dad’s towns are agrarian…corn, potatoes, lake fish and reknowned for fabulous wines.
Matin, welcome and thank you…enjoy the dishes and comment back often.
Mike, you’re in FLA…go for it…yellow tail snapper…local and fab fish.
So thats how you got that lucious sauce. Your fish dishes are always so amazing .
What a feast! Looks delicious.
Oh my, that looks so tempting… and I really enjoyed the before and after photos, too.
I love this dish Peter – red snapper is a wonderful lookign fish, and baked fish and veg – how could one go wrong?
You can count me as one of those dunkin’ people, Pantelis ;)
a good recipe for cooking fish for summer
We are dunk’rs here! You might just have me buying a whole fish yet. This looks really, really good. BTW, have you ever seen the movie Eleni (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089079/)? I’m going to sound like a total dork, but I always think of this movie when I visit your site. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies.
xoxox Amy
Everytime I see a whole fish, my first instinct is to grill the piece of beauty. Have to suppress this instinct and start doing the opposite, especially since this looks so delicious.
you can totally see the paprika in the sauce. i love the idea of using this.
number 4,505,032 awesome fish recipes from peter the great!
Fabulous!
I am also first generation (but in the US) and your blog makes me remember my Yaya and her fantastic cooking.
Thank you again!
Glam, it’s all due to the good quality fish.
Emi, I really do enjoy fish & seafood.
Ann, I like showing the transformation from raw to good eats.
Cake, when the fish is fresh, it’s hard to go wrong.
Maryann, I know a Paisana like you is into dunkin’!
Gunther, Plaki is wonderful summer or winter.
Amy, go for it…whole fish is so much more falvourful and moister. As for the movie Eleni, I first read the book, then watched the movie and finally, had the privelege to meet the author, Nicholas (Gatzoyiannis) Gage.
JS, I too prefer grilled but this baked method is also so flavourful and a wonderful treatment for a whole fish.
Neverfull, that red sauce is evident isn’t it? Thanks for your ringing endorsement of my fish dishes.
Welcome SuperGreek and I’m glad you found my blog and I’ve triggered so fond memories of giagia.
A true Greek classic fish dish! When i was growing up we would have this at least three times a month! I love it!!! And you are so right about the bread dipping, the sauce is always so rich… :)
This looks wonderful! The tip about the slurry is really helpful.
Stunning pictures, and great post!
I will make this just for the bread dunking potential!
Love the vibrant colors and the history.
this is a beautiful dish. I am hoping it tastes half as good as it looks. thanks for sharing the recipe.
Good to see Florina, I am from Ptolemaida..Small world
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