angulas a la bilbaína — Spain

Angulas a la bilbaína, called angulak bilboko eran in Basque, are baby eels cooked very briefly in hot olive oil with garlic and chili, a preparation linked to the Basque Country and to Bilbao in particular. Because baby eels are themselves scarce and expensive, the same preparation is very often made with gulas, a surimi-based substitute cut and shaped to resemble them. The dish is reported as a fixture of Basque cooking, served in bars and restaurants around Bilbao and beyond, usually in small portions given the price of the main ingredient when eels rather than the substitute are used. To prepare it, slivers of garlic are browned in plenty of hot olive oil in an earthenware cazuela, ideally one that has been well seasoned by previous use. Small green chilies, cut into rounds, are added along with the garlic, and once everything turns golden, the eels or gulas go in for a very short time, just long enough to heat through, no more than a minute or two. The dish is brought to the table still in its cazuela, bubbling hot, and eaten immediately with a wooden fork rather than metal, since metal cutlery is thought to carry a taste that interferes with the delicate eel.