Recipe: Roasted Line-Caught Hake Riviera Style

1- Prepare your hake, open the belly for 10cm and empty it through the gills, rinse the inside under cold running water, insert inside your fleur de sel and combava mixture, trim the tail and fins a bit.

2- Remove your baking sheet from the oven and preheat it to 200°C (gas mark 6+).

3- Place your hake on your sheet, make deep incisions lengthwise every 3 cm or so then insert half lemon slices into them, in the belly add some salt, pepper, lemongrass, and the green parts of your new onions, salt and pepper, place some branches of lemon thyme, then arrange all your garnishes around, salt and pepper, drizzle everything (fish and garnish) with a good glug of olive oil.

4- Bake at mid-height for 12 minutes, then turn off the oven, cover with aluminum foil and using a cork, leave the oven slightly ajar for 20 minutes.
Place your sheet on a trivet in the middle of the table and serve on hot plates.
Make a small cut down the middle of your fish, cut 2 portions by lifting along the bones with a spatula then pull out the backbone and serve the 2 other portions, arrange your garnish around each plate with a little juice, and a grind of pepper with a hint of lemon juice.
You can make this dish with other garnishes such as zucchini, eggplant etc, in truth what is most important remains the freshness of this inexpensive and delicious fish.
The exceptional fleur de sel* mixture from the salt marshes of Pays Blanc, the Gahins salt works and combava from Madagascar brings to the fish flesh a truly incomparable fragrance.
*"La Fille de L'air" www.fille2lair.fr
* Hake, young hake, are known by their true names Merlus, Merluches and Merluchons
If you pass through the La Pallice market (La Rochelle) on Sunday morning, don't hesitate to go buy from