In my time whole fish almost always outperformed fillets when cooking for family – not because it was harder, but because it asked family to slow down. En papillote is the technique I reach for when I want to introduce home cooks to whole fish without intimidating them. I ran this dish at the Seafood 101 Masterclass at Glenelg – looking out over the beachfront with a whole snapper in front of every participant – and watched the room change once they scored the skin and smelled the fennel and lemon hitting the oven. Follow Jamie on Instagram @j_p_steele

⏱️ Preparation Time: 20 minutes
🍳 Cooking Time: 40-50 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 6

👩‍🍳 Cooking Method: Combi oven, Moisture Plus oven, Conventional oven

📝 Ingredients:

• 1 whole snapper, 1.2–1.5kg, cleaned and scaled
• (allow approximately 30% for bones and skin – a 1.2kg fish yields around 840gm of flesh, or 140gm per person)
• Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 fennel bulb (approximately 200gm), very thinly sliced
• 2 shallots (approximately 60gm), thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 lemon — half thinly sliced, half juiced
• 15gm fresh parsley, dill, or fennel fronds
• 150gm cherry tomatoes, halved
• 30gm capers, rinsed and drained
• 60ml dry white wine
• 30ml extra virgin olive oil
• 30gm unsalted butter (optional)
• For the parcel
• 1 large sheet baking paper, at least 70cm × 60cm
• 1 large sheet aluminium foil, same size – wrapped over the outside of the baking paper

👩‍🍳 Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Moisture Plus oven: 200°C with 1 burst of steam on insertion, shelf position 2. Combi Steam oven: 200°C at 30% humidity, shelf position 2. Conventional oven: 200°C Fan, shelf position 2.
2. Pat the snapper dry inside and out. Using a sharp knife, score each side 3-4 times diagonally across the thickest part of the flesh, cutting down to the bone. Cross-hatching lets heat reach the centre and draws the aromatics past the skin. Season the cavity and scored skin generously with salt and pepper.
3. Combine the fennel, shallots, garlic, cherry tomatoes, capers, lemon juice, olive oil, and herbs in a bowl. Toss to combine.
4. Lay the sheet of foil flat on the bench. Place the baking paper centred on top of it — foil on the outside, paper on the inside. Spread the vegetable mix in the centre of the baking paper.
5. Lay the snapper on the vegetable bed. Stuff the cavity with the lemon slices and a few extra herb sprigs. Dot with butter if using, then pour the white wine around the fish.
6. Fold the baking paper up and over the fish first, crimping the edges tightly to seal. Then fold and crimp the foil over the outside to form a second, fully sealed layer. Transfer to a baking tray.
7. Bake for 40-50 minutes (size dependent). The fish is done when firm to a press through the parcel. To confirm, open at the thickest point – the flesh should be opaque and lift cleanly from the bone. Internal temperature at the bone behind the head should read 60°C.
8. Rest the sealed parcel for 3 minutes. Carry it to the table sealed and open there – the steam release belongs at the table, not at the bench.
9. You know if it’s cooked after removing the first side, you pick up the tail, lift and slide toward the head – the spine should come away cleanly.

🥣 Serving Suggestions:

1. Serve directly from the paper – the cooking juices pooled in the base are the sauce. A wide, flat bowl handles the liquid better than a flat plate.
2. Roasted chat potatoes with sea salt and rosemary, or a green salad dressed with lemon and olive oil.
3. Pair with a Clare Valley or Eden Valley Riesling – the acidity cuts through the butter and sits well against the fennel and lemon.

📝 Notes:

• Cross-hatching the skin is the most important step. Whole fish without scored skin steams unevenly – the skin acts as a barrier and the centre can be undercooked while the outer flesh is done. The cuts also act as guides when portioning at the table.
• The foil wraps on the outside of the baking paper, not the inside. Paper in direct contact with the oven air at 200°C will scorch at the crimped edges. Foil on the outside stops this.
• The temperature stays at 200°C regardless of which oven you are using – Moisture Plus, Combi, or conventional. What changes is the function and humidity, not the heat.
• This technique moves directly across to fillets. See Geoff’s Fish en Papillote for the fillet version with barramundi, coral trout, gurnard, or flathead.
• Flavour directions: replace the fennel and herb mix with ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime, and fish sauce for a Southeast Asian direction; or miso, sake, and sesame oil for a Japanese one. The parcel method stays the same.
• Sustainable alternatives: nannygai, barramundi, or coral trout all suit this method equally well. Source through Fair Seafood for traceable seafood.

Download Recipe Recipe

🧊Storage:

Fridge Friendly Instructions:

Assembled but uncooked parcel keeps in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking. Cooked fish keeps for up to 2 days in a sealed glass container.

Cold leftovers need no reheating – flaked cold snapper in a sandwich with mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon is one of the better reasons to cook this dish. To reheat: steam oven at 70°C for 8-10 minutes; conventional oven at 150°C for 10 minutes covered loosely with foil.

Freezer Friendly Instructions:

Not recommended. Whole cooked fish degrades in texture on freezing and thawing.

🥗Nutritional (6 servings, amount per serving):

• Calories – 235
• Kilojoules – 985
• Total Fat – 12gm
• Saturated fat – 3gm
• Monounsaturated Fat – 6gm
• Polyunsaturated Fat – 1gm
• Trans Fat – 0gm
• Cholesterol – 55mg
• Sodium – 290mg
• Potassium – 560mg
• Total Carbohydrate – 5gm
• Dietary Fibre – 2gm
• Sugars – 3gm
• Protein – 21gm
• Vitamin A – 6%
• Vitamin C – 20%
• Calcium – 4%
• Iron – 5% 

*The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie / 8370 Kilojoule diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie/kilojoule needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated.