Roasting a Turbot

1. Rinse the turbot inside and out with cold running water, removing any blood spots. Pat it dry with clean paper towels. For a neater appearance, use kitchen shears to trim away all fins except the tail. Leave the head on or remove it as you wish.

2. Brush or rub the turbot's skin lightly with oil, then season the fish inside and out with salt and pepper. If you like bold flavors, slash the skin in a few places and rub it with spices. The flavors will find their way into the turbot through the slashes. For subtler flavors, fill the body cavity with fresh herbs and place more beneath the turbot in your roaster.

3. Transfer the whole turbot to a rack in a roasting pan, with the pale side down and meatier dark side facing up. With the head on, that's the side containing the eyes. If you don't have a roaster with a rack, coarsely chop celery, onions and carrots and rest the fish on top of those in a pan or casserole dish or on a baking sheet.

4. Roast the turbot at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 to 35 minutes, depending on its size, until the skin turns crisp and blistered and the flesh appears opaque at the bone in its thickest section.

Baking the Turbot

1. Rinse any blood spots from the turbot's body cavity, and remove the head and fins if you wish. Dry the turbot inside and out with clean paper towels.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Place the turbot in a large casserole or baking dish, with the pale side facing down. Pour in enough fish or vegetable stock, milk, white sauce, tomato sauce or other liquid to cover it halfway.

3. Cover the dish with its lid or a sheet of aluminum foil and bake it for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. It's done when it's opaque at the bone, in the thickest part of the fish.