Salt-baked fish with lemon-olive relish

Ingredients:

• 2 whole red snappers or groupers, 1-1.3 kg each, scaled and gutted (gills and fins removed)
• 1 bunch of fresh parsley
• 0.5 cup fennel seeds
• 2 packages of 1.3 kg coarse salt (about 17 tbsp.)
• Grated zest of 2 lemons + 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 cups egg whites (about 680 g)
• 1/3 cup Castelvetrano olives or other sweet green olives, pitted, finely chopped
• 0.5 cups extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:

1. Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 230°C (430°F). Rinse the fish inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with black pepper inside and out. Finely chop 2 tablespoons of parsley and set aside. Spread the remaining parsley in the cavities of the fish.
2. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the fennel seeds until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Grind the toasted fennel seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle; set aside 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds and transfer the rest to a very large bowl. Season with salt and lemon zest, then whisk in the egg whites until the mixture resembles wet sand.
3. Spread a thin layer of the salt mixture, slightly larger than the size of the fish, on each of two rimmed baking sheets. Place a fish on top of each layer of salt, then completely cover the fish with the remaining salt mixture, patting it into the shape of the fish. Before completely covering the fish with salt, mark the thickest part of each fish behind the head with a knife and make a small hole in the salt mixture (this is where you'll insert a thermometer).
4. Bake the fish until golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the marked areas reaches 140°F (60°C), 40-50 minutes. Remove the fish from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the relish:

   
   Toss the olives with olive oil, lemon juice, the reserved 2 tablespoons parsley and 1 tablespoon ground fennel, 1 tablespoon water, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper. Set aside until ready to serve.
   
   
   To remove salt, crack the crusts around the perimeter of the fish with a small knife; discard the salt crusts. Insert a spatula under each end of the fish and transfer to a platter or cutting board. To serve, trim the top fillet of each fish with a butter knife or spoon; remove the skin. Remove the bone and discard the bone and head. Remove the skin from the bottom fillet. Serve with lemon-olive relish.