merlu

Merluccius merluccius. Also known as colin, colinet, colinot or bardot (like Brigitte!) and popular in soups and fish fingers.

Hake is a popular fish in the Basque country, where fancy restaurants serve hake cheeks: the tiny, tastiest, most delicate bits under the eye of the fish, with a gelatin-like substance that makes a delicious sauce.

Merlu koskera is a classic springtime recipe, in this case using hake fillets or darnes (steaks), cooked in a terracotta cassole (as used for making cassoulet), topped with wild asperagus, peas, garlic, piment d’Espelette and parsley, and an egg cooked at low temperature or hard-boiled; some cooks add mussels or clams.

Other names for dish are merlu Koxkera, merlu à la Koskera, merlu basque, or merlu à la sauce verte.