Cream Dory Baked in Foil

by Justine C. Tajonera

Recipe taken entirely from my Dad, Augusto Ch. Camacho

Cream Dory Baked in Foil

What you'll need:

• 2 fillets of cream dory (likely 1/2 kilo)
• a clove of garlic
• a bulb of white onion (chopped, but not finely)
  
• tomato (sliced)
  
• 5 calamansi (Philippine lemon)
  
• sliced ginger
  
• dried parsley
• dried basil
  
• rock salt (to taste)
• foil (enough to wrap the entire fish and the other ingredients)
• butter
• olive oil
  

Procedure

1. Wash the fish thoroughly with water. After draining the water, rub down the fish with calamansi.
2. Lay the fish on the foil and spread some butter over the fish. Afterward, put a little olive oil.
   
3. Season the fish with rock salt (to taste).
4. Cover the fish with parsley and basil (not too much, just enough to season the fish).
5. Spread the pieces of garlic, onion, ginger and tomato over the fish evenly.
6. Put in the oven (or toaster oven) and put on the high setting. Leave in the oven for 30 minutes. You can occasionally test whether the fish is cooked with a tooth pick (if the flesh comes with the tooth pick, it's still not cooked).
   

Preparation time takes around 15 minutes. All in all, you will have the baked fish in 45 minutes.

Sundays with Dad

This was the first meal my Dad cooked for us after retiring so it was a treat! He told us that we wouldn't be eating out anymore because he had to watch his expenses now that he's retired. And we totally didn't mind. It would give us an excuse to still meet up at his house and it would give him the excuse to indulge in one of his passions: cooking.

My Dad loves to cook. He's the kind of cook who experiments. Sometimes, it doesn't turn out well but more often than not, his cooking is really, really good. I think it's because he really puts his heart in it. And that's what matters when you're cooking.

I have a sister and a brother who cooks. And I think they take inspiration from my Dad. I was resisting it for the longest time, telling other people that my family has enough cooks. But that's not really true. There's always room for another cook in the family. As long as there are hungry stomachs and love to go around, there's always room to cook.

So, to all those who say that cooking isn't for them. Think about it. Imagine that you're cooking for someone (or a lot of someones) you love. You don't have to be an expert. You just need an open mind and heart.

Image of a fish in foil from http://www.flickr.com/photos/hirefrank/15404211/in/photostream/