DICENTRARCHUS LABRAX

Sea bass

Greek name: Λαυράκι
Scientific Name: Dicentrarchus labrax
Market Name: Sea bass
French Name: Bar, loup de mer
German Name: Wolfbarsch
Italian Name: Spigola
Japanese Name: Hata
Spanish Name: Lubina
Common Name: European sea bass, Mediterranean sea bass, branzino, bar, loup de mer

Cooking methods

Baked

Grilled

Fried

Sautéed

Sashimi

Ceviche

Cooking tip

Since sea bass is low in fat, the best cooking practices would be steaming, oven – baking or sautéeing. These cooking methods draw out all the rich but subtle flavors of this healthy and tasty fish. If oven roasting is prefered, we would suggest that the sea bass is tightly wrapped up in foil first, so the flesh doesn’t dry out while it’s being cooked. Oil, vegetables and citrus can be added to the foil to enrich the final flavor.

Weight classifications

200-300 (gr.)

300-400 (gr.)

400-600 (gr.)

600-800 (gr.)

800-1000 (gr.)

1000-1500 (gr.)

1500-2000 (gr.)

2000-3000 (gr.)

Available forms

Fresh, chilled on ice

Whole

Frozen

Gutted and scaled/fillet

Nutrition values per 100gr

Sea bass is an excellent source of protein and it’s filled with the highly beneficial N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. It is a rich source of vitamins A, B6 and B12 and provides a generous amount of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, zinc, magnesium and selenium.

Sea Bass, often marketed by U.S chefs under the Italian name branzino, is distinguished for its external silver grey color, silvery sides and stomach and has almost cylindrical body structure. Sea bass meat is pinkish when raw and cooks up to opaque white. The finely textured, flaky meat is lean, with a sweet and mild flavor.

Health
claim

Health claim

Since October 2010, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA Journal 2010; 8(10): 1796: pages 29-30) gave a positive opinion on the submitted health claim indicating the following:

The consultation of cultured sea bass and sea bream twice a week, as a rich source of highly unsaturated omega 3 fatty acids (EPA, DHA) and as part of healthy lifestyle has been proven to assist in the maintenance of normal cardiac function, maintenance of normal blood pressure and maintenance of normal (fasting) blood triglycerides and blood LDL- cholesterol concentrations.