Sultan Ibrahim — Pan-Fried Red Mullet with Garlic and Lemon

Sultan Ibrahim — the red mullet — is the fish of the Beirut corniche. Named after Sultan Ibrahim I of the Ottoman Empire, who was said to have prized this fish above all others, the species has been hauled from Lebanese coastal waters since Phoenician times. In Beirut's Ain el-Mreisseh fishing quarter and along the Dbayyeh coast north of the city, fishermen sold sultan ibrahim from portable frying stations well into the late twentieth century: the fish went from net to hot pan in under an hour, with nothing but olive oil, coarse salt, and a squeeze of lemon. The ritual was inseparable from the corniche evening walk — a paper cone of fried mullet eaten standing at the railing, watching the sunset over the Mediterranean. Unlike larger fish that require careful filleting and elaborate sauces, sultan ibrahim is eaten whole, bones and all, starting from the tail and working toward the head. The bones of small mullet are fine enough to eat; they give the dish a minerality no boneless fillet can replicate. Lebanese Heritage Kitchen families in Marseille — home to the largest Lebanese community in France — treat sultan ibrahim as the taste of return: the fish is abundant in the Mediterranean, the technique translates perfectly, and cooking it in the kitchen of a Marseille apartment brings the corniche back without a single word.