Easy Baked Fish - En Papillote

This easy baked fish recipe is perfect for a beginning cook. It employs a special technique that gets a fancy French name, but actually it is really very simple. You wrap up each fish filet along with zucchini slices in aluminum foil and bake it. You can serve it in its wrapper as well. Your family will enjoy unwrapping your creation and even more they'll enjoy eating it!

What does papillote mean?

Papillote has several different meanings in French. In our recipe it refers to a technique where you wrap up whatever you want cooked along with a little liquid, then place it in the oven to steam itself.

But a papillote is also a candy treat, usually a chocolate or a fruit jelly, that is wrapped in pretty paper with the ends twisted. They are popular at Christmas time and sometimes they come with a very small firecracker.

A papillote is also a technique for curling hair, where each tress is tied with a small piece of cloth.

Here we use aluminum foil for our easy baked fish papillote but consider that the French might use:

Parchment paper. They can get quite fancy cutting and folding, creating pyramids, and even boxes!

Plant leaves. Including banana leaves, cabbage leaves and leek stalks.

The most popular fish in France?

Tuna, of course. But salmon, trout, cod, sole, sardines and herrings are also very popular.