The healthiest way to cook fish this summer doesn't call for a single drop of oil - it calls only for salt, lots of salt. Sea bream in a salt crust is a technique as old as Mediterranean cooking, and the result is fish that's juicy inside, tender, and with a clean flavour that nothing covers up.

You'll need: one larger sea bream (or two smaller portions), 2 kilos of coarse sea salt, two eggs, mixed aromatic herbs and lemon zest. When you buy the fish, ask the fishmonger to leave the scales on and to clean the inside through the gills - that layer of scales protects the fish from the salt.

First heat the oven to 200 degrees, with top and bottom heat. In a large bowl, put the salt, add only the egg whites (keep the yolks for something else), then add the herbs and lemon zest. Mix everything by hand until it binds - the egg white makes the salt stick and form a hard crust.

On a tray, put a layer of salt as a base, lay the fish on it and cover it completely with the rest of the mixture, pressing well. Bake for 30 minutes for a fish weighing around a kilo. The fish is done when the eye turns completely white and opaque. Remove the crust right after baking - if it stays on, the fish keeps cooking and dries out.

The tricks are simple: moisten the salt with egg white so it holds better, press firmly when you cover the fish, and don't be afraid of the amount of salt - it doesn't seep inside, it just creates an oven in which the fish cooks in its own steam. Serve with a little lemon or a light sauce. Simpler and healthier than this - hard to find.