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Trout Baked in Clay

“Then came trout fresh from the river, baked in clay; her prince helped her crack open the hard casing to expose the flaky white flesh within.” (I:251)

Trout Baked in Clay

Our Thoughts:

Creating these fish was tons of fun! True to our belief in the importance of utilizing local agricultural resources, we baked rainbow trout and brook trout that were caught locally by a friend. They were absolutely phenomenal.

The clay acts as kind of a dutch oven for the food, keeping the moisture inside the fish. When the first clay fish finally cracked, we were surprised and delighted to find the flesh perfectly cooked and flaking off the bones. It was creamy and tender, with a wonderful, clean taste.

Half of the fun in this recipe is molding the clay around the fish. We chose to make them look like actual fish (many thanks to  Aidan’s artistic “talent”), which would be an impressive addition to any dinner table. Cracking the clay fish open on the table certainly adds a level of drama to the meal.

Trout Baked in Clay

Baking fish in clay is a very old method. Encasing fish in terracotta for baking is found largely in the southwestern cultures in the US. Using sandy clay from riverbanks is more prevalent in the northeast, simple due to the local soil composition. We’ve used terracotta because we could not find any raku clay in our area.

Cook’s note: If you happen to be a very lucky fisherman, and cannot consume all your fish in one sitting, here is a great way to preserve the fresh taste of your fish: clean and gut the fish as usual, and remove the head if you prefer. Do not wash the natural “slime” off the fish before pooping it in the freezer. That’s what gives it that fresh-caught flavor when you take it out to cook later!

Ingredients:

  • Fresh caught and cleaned trout
  • Lemon,thinly sliced
  • Sage
  • Tarragon
  • Non-toxic clay – raku or terracotta
  • Non-toxic leaves (corn husks, banana, ramson, myrtle, or burdock leaves)
  • Kitchen twine
Properly gut and clean the fish. Cutting the head off is optional, personal preference. Place lemon slices and herbs inside the fish, wrap in leaves, and tie closed. Roll out a portion of clay, as you would pastry dough, and wrap around the fish, sealing it completely. You can mold the clay to look like a fish, or leave it as is. Place clay encased fish on a plank and place on the edge of a cookfire, or directly on embers. The plank should eventually start to burn, cooking the fish on the bottom as well as the top. Allow to cook for about 45 minutes, or until clay cracks. Remove from the fire (carefully), and crack the clay with a spoon. Remove clay and leaves and enjoy!
You can also bake the fish in an oven, at 400 F for about an hour.

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18 Responses

  1. jfeldt says
    June 7, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    Hehe he he ‘pooping’ it in the freezer… This is an amazing post, I never would have thought about baking my little rainbow trout in clay. Thanks :-) (and if the typo wasn’t funny i swear I wouldn’t have brought it to you attentino lol)

    Reply
    • ChoppedGinger says
      June 7, 2011 at 1:51 pm

      I might just have to leave that in there…

      Reply
      • Ben Hawkins says
        August 4, 2011 at 9:24 pm

        Thanks I appreciated it!

        Reply
  2. Cindy says
    June 7, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    You mention the leaves in the ingredients list and in the serving line, but not what to do with them when preparing the fish. Do I wrap the fish in leaves, then in clay?

    Thanks for the great recipes! I can’t wait to try more of them!

    Reply
    • ChoppedGinger says
      June 7, 2011 at 2:02 pm

      You do indeed! Clearly I didn’t write the recipe down when I cooked it…

      Reply
  3. duckchick says
    June 7, 2011 at 8:05 pm

    Excellent looking recipe, I can’t wait to try it! Thanks so much for all you do here, it’s amazing!!

    Reply
  4. saminacooks says
    June 7, 2011 at 11:35 pm

    Wow, that is so cool!

    Reply
  5. Rosanna says
    June 8, 2011 at 12:12 am

    That’s pretty cool! You guys didn’t taste any dirty or clay residue, did you? XD
    I can’t wait to hear you guys on Podcast of Ice & Fire (I read through twitter)!

    Reply
  6. Ben Hawkins says
    August 4, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    This sounds great and I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
  7. Mike says
    February 25, 2012 at 9:03 pm

    I’ll be doing this tonight on the grill. I’ve got 50 pounds of clay,spanish makerel,pompano and red snapper. I’ll post results soon. Pretty excited about it. : )

    Reply
  8. Meredith says
    May 1, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    I’m reading the book right now, just got to this part and was curious enough to google it. Definitely going to try this out during grilling season. Kudos for the info ^.^

    Reply
  9. Jason says
    October 22, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    Has anyone tried grape leaves?

    Reply
  10. David Marcenaro DeBernardis says
    October 24, 2012 at 2:16 pm

    I love you ladies for making this amazing blog and cookbook! I wish this recipe had been in the cookbook too!

    Reply
    • Needs Mead says
      October 24, 2012 at 2:35 pm

      Our pleasure! And we’d have to save something for the next cookbook… ;)

      Reply
  11. Jan says
    January 21, 2015 at 10:16 am

    I had an aunt from France who would make a flower/water clay to bake our trout on the campfire. She would put sliced lemons inside the fish and then just put the clay around them and put them on a grate over the fire. When the clay was dried and starting to crack, she would “whack” the fish on a rock or hard object, holding it by the tail, and the clay (with skin) would fall off, revealing a perfectly cooked and very moist fish inside. I’ve never forgotten this but never had the courage to try it. Now that I see your recipe, it’s given me hope that maybe I could replicate her great feat!

    Reply
    • Chelsea M-C says
      January 21, 2015 at 4:20 pm

      That’s so neat! I hope you get to try it again some day!

      Reply
  12. Amanda says
    February 7, 2021 at 3:41 pm

    What brand of terracotta clay did you use to cook the fish in?

    Reply
    • Chelsea M-C says
      April 13, 2021 at 2:10 pm

      It’s been so long that I couldn’t say! I believe it was pretty standard craft store variety, though.

      Reply

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