If there is a food that I don’t *normally* like being served, or well, serving to myself, this is it right here.
A fish – cooked whole.
There is something about them that I *normally* find particularly unappealing.
I think it’s that to me, it looks like a carcass. ESPECIALLY after the flesh has been removed. Then that’s all your left with. A head, a tail and a bunch of bones. Speaking of which… I can’t stand bones. Not in my fish, not in my chicken, not in my meat. – Period – Well, alright. There is but one tiny little exception: Rib Steaks. Ya gotta love da bone on a ribsteak! That’s the best part! But I barely ever eat those anymore, so technically, they don’t even count.
Alright, enough about bones… Back to the fish, shall we?
For some reason, there was something about this particular fish that I found exceptionally pretty. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it, and then I had a real hard selecting my favorites!
So brace yourselves, your gonna see its face… A LOT!
My special attachment to this lil’ fella is probably due to the fact that he was given to me by one of my co-workers, who happens to be an avid fly fisherman, but who doesn’t really care much for fish. Once in a while, he’ll go on a fishing trip and bring me back a few yummy delicate trouts or an immongous, tasty salmon.
I feel sooooo privileged when he does that! I’m telling you guys, it doesn’t get any fresher than this. Or better tasting!
Or better looking! 
Grilling a whole fish isn’t really all that complicated you know. In fact, I don’t think there is an easier way of cooking fish. It’s so easy, you don’t even need a recipe.
First, you want to preheat your grill to a nice, cozy medium heat, around 350-375F.
Then, all you need to do is grab your fish and sprinkle the cavity quite liberally with salt and pepper, then stuff it with a bunch of fresh herbs, such as thyme, oregano, dill, rosemary, marjoram or even fennel.
Then, you can add a few slices of lemon, lime or even oranges, a few cloves of garlic, a few slices of onion if you’d like, or even a few dried chilis, why not?
You can basically stuff your fish with whatever aromatics tickle your fancy. Hey, if you want to use cinnamon, be my guest! I promise not to tell anyone!
So long as you keep it healthy, knock yourself out. Have fun and improvise!
Once your fish is all good and stuffed and ready to go, sprinkle a little bit more salt and pepper on top of it, then flip it around and season the other side as well.
You may also want to lightly brush the skin with a little bit of olive oil to help it not adhere to the grill. For the record, I chose to skip that step, for I feel trout is already fatty enough as it is, and still managed to lift that fish in one piece!
Now throw your fish on the grill (not literally… be delicate, you know. That fish didn’t do anything to you!) close the lid and cook until the skin gets nice and crispy with beautiful grill marks on it and the flesh starts to turn opaque. Whatever you do, DON’T move your fish. You’ll only end up breaking the skin and delicate flesh. You may gingerly lift a corner to check for doneness, but no more.
When the fish is ready to be flipped, it should detach easily from the grill. Carefully flip it over and continue cooking until the flesh is cooked all the way through.
Cooking time varies greatly depending on the size of your fish, but as a general rule of thumb, you’re looking at around 10 minutes per inch of thickness, so that’s usually about 5 to 10 minutes per side.
Carefully transfer your fish to a serving plate or cutting board.
And there you have it, a beautiful, whole grilled fish (wait a minute, did I just use the words beautiful, whole and grilled fish together in the same sentence?) all good and ready to serve. Just look at that gorgeous, tender and juicy flesh.
YUMMERS!
And yes, that IS white rice you see. Please, don’t judge me too harshly, I was feeling lazy that night and the kids had made some for themselves, so I stole a little bit… beggars can’t be choosers…
I have to admit that this method of cooking fish not only conveys an unbelievable flavor to the flesh, but it also keeps it deliciously moist and allows you to not waste any of it. You can literally strip your fish down to the bone and consume every last ounce of meat.
I think I’m a made me a believer!
You with me?
I was just about to ‘leave’ to get ready for about 12-15 nonstop hours of the Olympics [after this morning's fabulous Opening Ceremony: got up at 5.30 am for that
!] The Brits DO have style!! Could not believe Her Majesty had such brilliant sense of humour!! Roared ‘Hey Jude’ along with the world! Hmm, yes, and then I saw your brilliant fish photos. So sorry, Sonia[;!] we disagreed on breakfast and here we shall disagree again 
I think the trout and the way you have cooked it, is brilliant and I wish I had the plate right here! Love whole fish, love ALL kinds of bones: you should see me with chicken legs and lamb riblets – attack them fingers and all and chew them cleaner than any pup does 
! Hope you are well: I’m off where every Australian [just about] already is!!
Once again, thank you very much Eha. Your comments never fail to make me smile, even if we’re not always on the same page. Thanks for saying my fish is brilliant, I’m sure he would’ve been happy to hear that!
Enjoy the Olympics (I plead guilty to not having even caught a glimpse as of yet… too many things on my plate!)
I love trout! I bet with the smoke from the grill it tastes wonderful! I don’t have a bbq, but simply frying it in a pan also works very well. It’s my favorite fish, at the moment
. Great recipe and bon week-end 
Thanks a bunch Elana! I think you should definitely get your hands on a BBQ. I know I really couldn’t be without mine. Wish I could use it year long! It makes food taste so much better!
Bon week-end to you too!
I thought you should know that after reading this on Saturday morning, I went out to buy a whole trout for dinner! Cooked whole trout is one of my ultimate favourite meals, it feels so nourishing and delicious! I cook mine in a foil parcel with fennel, a splash of white wine, lemon thyme and lemon slices. Love the photos of yours – it’s always hard to make cooked fish with the head on look pretty rather than creepy, but you’ve done it!
Oh, thank you so much for saying that, Elly. Your comment put such a huge smile on my face. I totally agree, whole cooked fish usually look creepy. Your agreeing with me that this one actually is pretty is music to my ears. Glad I inspired you to go out and buy a fish! Yours sounds delicious too, bet it turned into quite a feast!
Mmmmmmmmm… you are having a great fish run! So are we and loving it! I haven’t done a whole fish in ages and now with your inspiration I’m going to give it a go (after I fill my barbeque propane tank again – I’ve been using it so much). As usual, Sonia, you present for us a winner
Cath
Thank you so much Cathie… I wasn’t too sure about this. Not everybody loves fish, you see… glad to hear it pleases you! Your comment is just so kind, too. I truly appreciate it.
Oh, and go ahead and get that tank filled already! Summer is way too short for empty propane tanks!
Beautiful job on the fish. Looks like you cooked it perfectly. That is exactly how we like to prepare whole fish. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Griffin! Coming from you, I take that as a hell of a compliment! I am such a grill novice…
Thanks for dropping by, always appreciate your visits! Oh, and by the way… I’ve got a grilled fruit salad coming up soon. Thought you, as a person who throws everything on the grill, might like that…
With a stunning fish like that, I can’t believe you are a novice. Can’t wait to see the grilled fruit salad.
If ya promise not to tell anybody, I’ll share a secret with you.
When it starts to cool off this fall and winter, I got some grilled soup recipes I’ve been dieing to try out. No, really, grilled soup. I’m not joking. Seriously.
Funny you should mention that, Griffin… I also recently made a Cold Grilled Vegetable Soup, which will of course be making an appearance on this site shortly.
But grilled SOUP?
Hmmmm… you definitely got my attention! You better nudge me when you get those out!
And really… I’ve only got a few summers of grilling experience to my name! That doesn’t add up to too many hours…