Hake is a member of the cod family and swims happily in the Atlantic. Absolutely delicious. HG first encountered hake in a nautical themed, upscale Madrid restaurant. After an appetizer of very lush (and expensive) baby eel (so slim and garlicky they resembled a bowl of vermicelli) HG was presented with a platter of hake gently sauteed in the best Spanish olive oil. The fish was adorned with capers, chopped parsley and garlic chips. It was surrounded by a melange of peppers, onions and fried potatoes. Oh, my! Flaky, juicy fish. Much flavor.
HG met hake again in Barcelona where the fillets floated on a bed of roasted tomatoes. Equally good.
Here on Prince Edward Island the hake is super fresh and is a staple of the HG/BSK table. Never encountered it at the Whole Foods fish counter and have never seen it on a New York menu. Must question Daughter Victoria, the brilliant restaurateur, about this piscine puzzle.
Just had hake fish, fried, on a sandwich in Harare, Zimbabwe. Never heard of the fish before was surprised by its delicious taste.Went back to my hotel room and looked it up. It’s an ugly fish! I live in southern Ohio, is there any place in US to get this ugly looking fish
A culinary oddity is that HG devours a lot of hake on Prince Edward Island. Gobbled it up in Barcelona and Madrid. Don’t see it in the United States. Why? A fishy mystery.
I found it at Costco, and it’s very delicious. It’s wild caught not that farm raised crap. Good luck on your search.
Thanks, Aaron. Obviously, my fears about hake disappearance were baseless.
Costco. I buy it in the large bags of individually frozen portions. I had not seen it since I left England. The Costco frozen fish is very good and cut from larger fish. In North Carolina it is very difficult to buy fresh fish. (go figure)
Go figure,indeed.
I live in Maryland and have been a pescetarian for over 20 years. In my experience Whole Foods’ seafood department stands alone in its product supply, and variety, its customer service, (knowledge and expertise), and for me the icing on the “hake” is as most of their fish it comes in fresh every a.m. to be beautifully filleted and cut to order. I agree it is UGLY but it is FANTASTIC. A pescetarian is one who eats only fish, no meat and I got the spelling from a new edition of the Websters dictionary.
Agree with you about Whole Foods. I live in Santa Fe and my happy day is when they fly in Petrale sole from the west coast.
Costco sells it in bag frozen individually wrapped. Tried as sample & loved it. Now we get instead of halibut. Grills great on bar b que.
Good news. Grill hake.Saute it. Bread it and fry it. Always great.
I just purchased it frozen at Costco. Baked it in the oven in fresh orange juice and covered. Quite good.
Mancy’s Bluewater Grille in Maumee Ohio (northern) has it on thier menu
Trader Joes has caught on. Found it in the freezer section.
Good news. Thanks.HG will lok for it.
Wow I never knew that hake fish is taste as good as it is not until I bought it in cape town resturant in south africa
Yes, Hake is a fine finny fellow–good sauteed, fried or baked.
The way to do it guys is to roll it in paprika-powdered flour after salty seasoning, then have it jump into the hot oily frying pan, yumm. It is so popular with us Hungarians in the summer by our lakes, many think it’s local & freshly caught.. 😉
My husband has just cooked hake for the five of us, with saffron, in olive oil and a little lemon. Bought at local fishmonger about £13 per kilo. Served with home made gnocchi with an fried sage, salsa made by my cheffy youngest son, broccoli and petit pois. Hake is a delicious, flaky, delicate fish. We oven baked it at a very low temperature but it is also very good lightly pan fried.