Whole bream, gutted, salted and dried, Veladis

This bream is gutted before drying, and the bitterness that sometimes makes people put a dried fish down after the first bite goes away with the innards.

The meat is pale and firm and comes off the backbone in flakes. The taste is slightly sweet, the salt moderate, the freshwater note faint. There is less fat than in an ungutted fish of the same size: some of it goes with the belly.

To clean it: break off the head, open it along the back, then continue by hand. The bones are large and come out whole.

With a pale beer or black tea.

Sold by weight. Store in a cool, dry place, ideally in paper or cloth: in a sealed bag, dried fish sweats and spoils.