My son Danny goes to Grimsby fish market most weeks. What comes back depends on what's good that day. We met last week at the Parador de Mojácar, as we do every August — he drives south from Cleethorpes with his wife and daughter, ferry from Santander, two weeks meandering through Spain — and he told me about this turbot. Whole fish, scored across the bone, grilled hard on both sides, finished in the oven with white wine vinegar, capers and parsley. I've been thinking about it since.

This is a whole turbot recipe that requires almost nothing from you beyond buying a decent fish and not flinching at the heat.

Why Turbot?

Turbot — rodaballo in Spanish — is one of the finest flatfish in the sea. Dense, sweet white flesh, bones that conduct heat evenly through a whole fish, skin that chars and crisps in a way that adds rather than detracts. It's expensive, which is why Danny's method makes sense: minimal interference, high heat, a handful of capers and a splash of white wine vinegar at the end. Nothing competes with the fish.

In Spain, rodaballo is a fixture in good fish restaurants and increasingly in home kitchens — I buy it regularly here in Andalucía, and I've written about cooking it before. If you want to see how I cook it, my pan-fried turbot recipe takes the same fish to the pan rather than the grill.

Grilled Turbot — Danny's Method

Danny cooks bone-in fish the same way every time: hot grill for crust and caramelisation, medium oven to carry the heat evenly through to the bone. A probe thermometer tells him when to pull it. It's a sound technique — the grill does what only dry fierce heat can do to skin, and the oven finishes the job without drying out the flesh. The white wine vinegar goes in during the oven stage with the capers, and again as a dressing at the table. It cuts through the richness of the fish cleanly.

Danny's wife and daughter don't eat fish, so this is effectively a dish for one — written here as serves 1–2 depending on the size of the fish and your appetite.

Danny's Whole Turbot Recipe with Capers and Parsley

Serves 1–2 | 35–40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 whole turbot, gutted and cleaned (ask your fishmonger to score it across the bone for you, or do it yourself with a sharp knife — 4–5 diagonal cuts each side, down to the bone)
• 2–3 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, plus extra to finish
• 1½ tbsp capers, drained
• A small handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method:

Heat your grill to its highest setting and let it get properly hot. Pat the turbot dry, rub all over with olive oil and season well on both sides.

Grill the fish for 5–6 minutes on the first side without moving it — you want deep colour and some char on the skin. Turn carefully and grill the second side for 5–6 minutes.

Transfer to an ovenproof dish. Splash the white wine vinegar over the fish, scatter the capers around and over it, and place in an oven preheated to 180°C. Cook for 10–12 minutes, using a probe thermometer to check — you're looking for 55–60°C at the thickest point, just behind the head.

Remove from the oven. Scatter the parsley over, add another small splash of white wine vinegar, and drizzle generously with olive oil. Bring it to the table in the dish.

The flesh will lift cleanly from the bone in sections. Eat it as it comes.

Danny applies the same minimal approach to everything he cooks from the market — his Cornish hake with potatoes, capers and samphire, his roasted monkfish with cherry tomatoes and capers, his grilled John Dory with capers, parsley and garlic, his tandoori halibut with cucumber and herb yoghurt, his cataplana with cod, clams and chorizo, and his roasted cod with beluga lentils, asparagus and endive are good examples.

For a different approach to the same fish, my pan-fried turbot recipe takes the same fish to the pan rather than the grill.

This whole turbot recipe is part of my Fish & Seafood Recipes hub — fish and seafood dishes from the coast and the kitchen.

Find more recipes and food adventures here.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef