A Basque Fish Dinner: Hake & Txakolina Wine

Ever since Eric Asimov mentioned New York sources of Txakolina, the impossible to pronounce, but utterly beguiling Basque white wine, my head has been filled with memories of our trip to San Sebastian. We were seduced by its people, scenery, architecture, food and wine. We had a high-end, intriguing meal at Azrac, a superb lunch at the Guggenheim Museum Restaurant in Bilbao, and several delightful snacks of pinchos at a café around the corner from our hotel. No matter where and what we ate, we drank the local Txakolina. Light, young and refreshing, the wine fitted right in.

When we returned New York, the wine was unavailable in wine stores. Fortunately that has changed and, thanks to Asimov’s information, I hunted down several of them. Question was: “now what?”
I toyed around with idea of giving a pinchos party. But, because of the limited space of our apartment that was totally unrealistic. Then I thought of hake, that delectable, delicate fish we had so enjoyed during our Basque visit.

Hake is not always available. Luckily, I found it at Citarella.* (In a pinch, use scrod.)

Menu

Tomato Salad
Lightly Puffed Pan-Fried Hake
Roasted Potatoes
Wine: Xarmant Arabako Txakolina
Dessert: Ice Cream

Recipe**

¾ lb hake cut into 6 portions
1 tablespoon flour
Salt and white pepper
1 egg, white and yolk separated
1 tablespoon olive oil

Season the hake with salt and white pepper; dredge each piece in flour and shake off excess flour. Beat
the egg white until foamy, then whisk in the egg yolk.In a sauté pan, heat the oil. Dip the fillet pieces into
the egg mixture and drop them into the pan. Sauté for 3 minutes per side, less or more depending on the thickness of the fish.

The Txakolina, of course, had us reminisce about our visit to the Basque country. What a delight!

*Citarella ((212) 874-0383
http://www.citarella.com/
**Adapted form Teresa Barrenechea’s “The Basque Table”