In the good old days when kitchens were for cooking in and one actually ate in dining -rooms, when houses smelt strongly of scented wood-polish and vaguely of kerosene fumes, people had more time (or maids) to do things like making marmalades, candying peel and salting fish.
The truth is that the old-fashioned methods not only preserved food magnificently but gave it a whole new taste, which relieved the monotony. Putting fresh lampuki – beady eyes glistening, back and belly a dazzle of yellow and blue sequins – under salt, may seem scandalous to some. But wouldn’t you think of putting some aside if there was a glut and freezers didn’t exist? That’s why people began to preserve fish by salting it or smoking it.
Salting lampuki is the simplest of tasks, but the fish have to be fresh out of the water. The fishmonger can do the filleting, and you can use the heads for stock. You will need at least one kilo of fillets, a couple of good-sized bags of rough salt and some large, very clean jars.
Cut the fillets across into pieces of not more than 6cm in length. Make alternate layers of salt and lampuki in the jars. The layers of salt should be 1cm high and you should not overlap the fish pieces or lay one on top of another. The final layer must be of salt and all the fish must be completely covered in salt. The next day you will notice that the level in the jar has sunk and that the bottom layers are watery. Just top up the jar with salt, shut it tightly and leave it for at least three months.
When the time has come to eat the salted lampuki, use metal utensils to pull out the required amount. The fish will have changed considerably in appearance but will still smell faintly of the sea. Soak the pieces in water for at least four hours, changing the water a couple of times. Cut them up into little bits and place them in sterilized jars with a little olive oil, to eat with hobż biż-żejt.
You could also try making salted lampuki alla Messinese. The name derives from the method used to cook dried cod or bacala, a Sicilian favourite.
500g (weighed before soaking in water) of salted lampuki, 600g of tomato pulp, 200g of potatoes (diced), one onion, two cloves of garlic, a splash of white wine, olive oil, black pepper
two tablespoonfuls each of: black olives, capers, raisins, pine nuts (or shelled pistachios), a good pinch of saffron dissolved in a little water, NO salt.
Soak the salted lampuki for four hours, then if you wish, peel off the skin with a sharp knife. Sweat the chopped onion and the crushed garlic in olive oil.(This means cooking it gently in olive oil over a very low flame in a heavy-bottomed, covered pan.) Remove the garlic. Add the fish and allow it to colour all around. Pour in the wine, add the tomato pulp, stir and add enough warm water to cover. Bring to a slow boil; add the potatoes and a grinding of black pepper. Transfer to a baking-dish and put in a moderate (gas mark 5) oven. After 45 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients, chopped or whole as you prefer. Cook for a further ten minutes. Serve warm, with bread to mop up the juices.