Brocheta de Gambas Donostiarra

Brocheta de Gambas Donostiarra is Basque, from the pintxo counters of Donostia, where the skewer is small, direct, and carried by the quality of the prawn. It is not a dressed-up seafood kebab. It is prawns cooked hard and fast on a plancha, set over bread, and finished with ajo y perejil, garlic and parsley, in good olive oil.

The method that decides it is the heat. The prawns must hit a very hot surface and cook in minutes, just until the flesh turns opaque and still springs under your finger. Leave them too long and they tighten, and no sauce will give back what the pan took. Salt them just before cooking, oil them lightly, and let the bread do its quiet job underneath, catching the garlicky juices.

If you are far from Donostia, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use large raw prawns or shrimp with the shells already off, 16 to 20 count if you can find them, and thaw them slowly in the fridge if frozen is what your market gives you. Frozen raw prawns are honest enough here; just dry them well or they'll stew instead of sear. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.