Future
What’s Red and Green and Served All Over?
An imposing whole fish painted with bright red and green sauces graces almost every table at Contramar, a big, airy restaurant in the chic Roma Norte neighborhood of Mexico City. When I ate there recently, a server set the platter down and then …
An imposing whole fish painted with bright red and green sauces graces almost every table at Contramar, a big, airy restaurant in the chic Roma Norte neighborhood of Mexico City. When I ate there recently, a server set the platter down and then paused instinctively, waiting for me to take a picture — as all the other guests do, he said.
Butterflied, grilled and adorned with a verdant parsley sauce and a smoky red adobo, this photogenic dish, pescado a la talla Contramar, has become synonymous with Mexico City, and with its creator, the chef Gabriela Cámara.
Recipe: Pescado a la Talla (Red and Green Grilled Red Snapper)
Contramar has become a destination restaurant in Mexico City, primarily because of its famous fish.Credit…Benedicte Desrus for The New York Times
But you don’t have to visit Contramar to eat the fish. You can enjoy versions at restaurants across the world, none of them run by Ms. Cámara and many not even Mexican — in Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Brooklyn, even Manchester, England, and Antiparos, Greece.
A take on a coastal Mexican classic, Contramar’s pescado a la talla has become one of the world’s favorite restaurant dishes, inspiring dozens of homages and even more Instagram posts. It is this moment’s miso black cod or Cronut — a dish whose distinctive technique and presentation have given it staying power well beyond the usual 15 minutes of social-media fame.
