A Mediterranean Fish Supper Worth the Fight

As told by Captain John Blenker

By the time a day on Tampa Bay is done right, you’re sun-cooked, half deaf from the wind, and your hands smell like fish no matter how many times you rinse them. The boat’s finally quiet, tide’s easing out, and on the cleaning table lie the proof—sheepshead with teeth like a convict, snapper still glowing, or grouper thick as a dock piling.

That’s dinner.

I’ve been around long enough to know this: a fish that fought hard deserves better than being drowned in sauce or burned in a fryer. If it came out of Tampa Bay today, it already knows how it wants to be cooked.

This recipe comes from old coastlines and hard men who didn’t have time for nonsense. Mediterranean food isn’t fancy—it’s survival food made beautiful by salt, sun, and olive oil.

Fish With Some Backbone

This is a recipe for fish that earn their keep:

• Sheepshead – ugly as sin, sweet as a secret, and tougher to fool than most people
• Snapper – clean, honest, and always in the right place at the right time
• Grouper – heavy, stubborn, and built like it knows it’s going to feed a crowd

If your fillet doesn’t still smell like the tide, save this recipe for another day.

Captain Blenker’s Mediterranean Fish

What Goes In the Pan:

• 2 fresh fillets of sheepshead, snapper, or grouper (1–1½ lbs)
• Extra virgin olive oil—the good stuff, not the grocery-store regret
• 3–4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 lemon (juice squeezed hard, slices tossed in)
• Cherry tomatoes, halved and bleeding juice
• Kalamata olives, pitted
• Capers if you’ve got ’em
• Fresh oregano or parsley
• Coarse sea salt & cracked black pepper
• A splash of dry white wine (or whatever survived the ride home)

How It’s Done on a Dock, Not a Cooking Show:

1. Heat the oven to 375°F, or get the grill hot enough to make you squint.
2. Lay the fillets down and drown them in olive oil like you’re preserving something important.
3. Salt and pepper generously—this fish lived in salt, don’t insult it.
4. Throw the garlic, tomatoes, olives, and capers over the top without measuring.
5. Squeeze the lemon like it owes you money, add the slices, and splash in the wine.
6. Finish with fresh herbs and another lazy pour of olive oil.
7. Cook uncovered 18–22 minutes, until the fish flakes easy and the pan smells like the Gulf of America.

No breading. No cream. No hiding mistakes.

Why This Works

This is food for people who trust the ocean. Olive oil keeps the fish from drying out. Lemon cuts through the richness. Tomatoes and olives bring bite and salt, like the sea reminding you who’s in charge.

Sheepshead turns flaky and sweet. Snapper stays bright and clean. Grouper holds together like it was built for this exact pan.

The Part That Matters

At Five O’Clock Charlie Boat Tours & Charters, I tell folks all the time—the trip doesn’t end when we tie up. It ends when you’re standing over a plate, fork in hand, realizing that fish didn’t come from a menu.

It came from a bent rod, a tight drag, and a little respect for the water that gave it up. The outdoor experience.

That’s Mediterranean cooking.
That’s Tampa Bay.
And that’s how a captain eats when the day’s done.

Fair winds, tight lines, and don’t overcook it,.