Pastel de Cabracho - Rock fish cake

[Maestro Tomberi]

This dish; popularized thanks to the great Juan Mari Arzak, is a classic in the Asturian cuisine (altough hails from Basque cuisine) as well as probably the most typical starter.

INGREDIENTS:
100gr. of rock fish (clean)
100gr. of hake (clean)
1/5 leek (can be added more)
1/5 onion (can be added more)
1/5 bay leaf (can be added more)
200ml. milk cream
tomato (at will)
2 eggs
1/5 brandy glass
salt
white pepper
butter to grease up the mold


Cook the rock fish and hake along with the diced leek, the onion in quarters and the bay leaf during 15 minutes and once done, take away the skin and fishbones (notice the final quantity must be the double of rock fish than hake, maybe a little less).


Afterwards, in a hollow recipient, pour the fish along with the cream, the tomato sauce (enough to leave it with a colour like the salmon meat), the eggs, the brandy, salt and pepper. Triturate until a fine dough is done (preferently with a whipper).

Preheat the oven at 200ºC. Pour the mix in a plum cake mold previously greased up with butter. Put it in the oven at 150ºC during 45 minutes. If the mold hasn't got a coverer, make sure to cover it up with aluminium paper in order to avoid the upper part to get burnt. The plate must be placed at a medium height inside the oven.

The cake will be done when it acquires a "paté" texture and it's not liquid. You can try if it's done introducing a knife. If so, the knife will get out almost clean and the mark of the stab will .

Serve cold along with toasted bread and mahonesa or salsa rosa, and enjoy .
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Maestro Tomberi, creador de fantasía y surrealismo

[Art]

Hello, MT, thanks for posting that. I hadn't tried it until this last summer. It really is tasty!

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Hola, MT, gracias por publicarlo. No lo había probado hasta este verano pasado. ¡Es realmente delicioso!

[Bob]

One queston. There are quite a few species that are called rockfish here in the EEUU. What is rockfish in Spain?

[Is]

My cousins are really into this pastel de cabracho. But it's a bit too rich for my taste, too much cream in there. I'm not saying it's bad and it tastes great with cider. But it can get tiring after a few mouthfuls.

Bob, I think M.T. probably means what Asturians call 'pescao de pedreru', the species that are found (or used to be found before stocks were depleted) along the Asturian coast where the waves crash. It could be llubina (seabass), congriu, chopa, tinosu...

[Maestro Tomberi]

Aaaah... I should have clarified the kind of rock fish from the beginning.

It's tiñosu mostly, since it also helps with the colour.
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Maestro Tomberi, creador de fantasía y surrealismo