Baked Sea Bass Stuffed with Shrimp Stuffing (Farofa)

Prepare the marinade by rubbing the fish, inside and out, with a mix of garlic, seasoned salt, pepper, lime juice, parsley, and basil. Let the fish marinate in the refrigerator overnight (approximately 12 hours).

Ask the fishmonger to butterfly the sea bass along the back, creating a large cavity for the stuffing while keeping the belly section intact.

For the farofa stuffing, melt the chopped bacon along with the butter over low heat to render the fat without burning the butter.

Add the chopped onion and chili pepper to the skillet, sautéing over low heat until completely translucent, followed by the minced garlic; do not allow anything to burn.

Increase the heat, add the pre-cleaned shrimp, and season with a little salt. Stir continuously until the shrimp changes color and turns reddish.

Turn off the heat (or turn it very low) and gradually add the yellow cassava flour (farofa), incorporating well so that it absorbs all the flavor and moisture from the released liquids.

Add the chopped herbs (parsley, scallions, basil, culinary lavender) to the farofa, mix quickly, and set the stuffing aside to cool slightly (become warm) before stuffing the fish.

Make diagonal slits along the sides of the marinated sea bass to help with even cooking, and insert pieces of the marinated herbs inside these slits on both sides.

Stuff the fish cavity with the prepared shrimp farofa, filling the space created by butterflying the back. When closing, secure the stuffing and tie the fish with butcher's twine to keep the stuffing in place during cooking.

Create a bed of onion slices in a baking dish (or on a grill rack) and place the tied fish on top. Drizzle with olive oil and distribute slices of the lemon (with rind) over the fish.

Place the stuffed fish in a preheated oven at the highest possible temperature to ensure it bakes quickly, rather than cooking slowly. Total cooking time is approximately 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.