Bilbainito

Bilbainito is Bilbaino, from Bilbao in Bizkaia, and it belongs to the Basque pintxo counter: a slice of bread, a little mayonnaise, boiled egg, a cooked prawn, and an olive, held together with a toothpick. It is small, exact, and gone in one bite. That is the point.

The method that decides it is not clever cooking. It is balance. The egg must be fully set but not chalky, the prawn cooked just until firm and sweet, and the bread cut thick enough to carry the mayonnaise without turning soft. Build it too wet and it collapses before anyone reaches for it. Build it cleanly and it behaves.

If you are far from Bilbao, no hace falta haber pisado Espana. Use small cooked prawns or good frozen raw prawns you poach yourself, and use firm green olives, not sweet stuffed ones if you can help it. A Spanish kitchen would rather make a plain good pintxo than dress a poor one up. Grate a little yolk over the top at the end. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.