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Aquitaine
At the foot of the Aldudes, a former mill converted in 1965 still feeds its ponds from the Arpéa spring, and has been rearing for three generations a trout protected by no label — but which the table of the Hôtel du Palais was enough to establish.
Seafood from Aquitaine.
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In Banca, the first village of the vallée des Aldudes in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Jean-Baptiste Goicoechea took over a former village mill in 1965 and converted it into a fish farm: the pure, crystal-clear waters of the Arpéa spring, which had previously turned the mill wheel, now fed the ponds. The young trout produced were then sought after by restaurateurs and private customers across the Pays Basque. The fish farm still exists today, led by three generations of the Goicoechea family.
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Between 1980 and 2000, a new direction was set for the farm with the drafting of specifications for 'Truite de Banka': low-density rearing in the ponds, without antibiotic treatments or vaccines, and high-quality feed respecting the natural diet of the fish. This standard comes with a cost in time — it takes three to five years for a trout to reach 5 kg, twice as long as in intensive farming —, for a production deliberately capped at 60 tonnes a year. Every stage, from fry rearing to smoking, takes place on site, between the ponds and the processing workshop.
In the 1990s, the idea of smoking the trout propelled the product onto the finest tables: the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz was the first major gastronomic establishment to showcase it in this way. This fish, described as 'semi-wild', remains sought after by many chefs, and inspired food critic François-Régis Gaudry, on France Inter, to create a gravlax-style recipe for truite de Banka. To share this savoir-faire with the public, an educational trail was created in 2010 alongside the ponds: it retraces the different stages of the trout's life, from fry to adult.
Appearance
Trout sold fresh, white or salmon-pink, whole, in steaks, large fillets or carpaccio.
Taste
A flavour that varies according to the season — a trait the fish farm embraces rather than masking with uniform smoking.
Texture
Delicate, lean flesh, low in fat and rich in protein.
whole, in steaks, large fillets or carpaccio, white or salmon-pink.
the version that established its gastronomic reputation in the 1990s.
fillets in olive oil and lemon, or à la basquaise.
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from a closed-circuit hatchery fed by pure borehole water, to provide the fry with optimal growing conditions.
in ponds fed by the Arpéa spring, without antibiotic treatments or vaccines.
high-quality feed respecting the natural diet of the fish.
three to five years to reach 5 kg, twice as long as in intensive farming.
sorting, filleting, salting, curing and smoking, carried out on site in the fish farm's workshop.
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Sold fresh at the fish farm, truite de Banka can be prepared as steaks, large fillets or carpaccio, simply grilled à la plancha or pan-fried in lemon butter; its delicate, lean and protein-rich flesh took several decades to win recognition, reaching all the way to the kitchens of the Hôtel du Palais.
Truite de Banka is not protected by any official quality mark. Between 1980 and 2000, the Goicoechea family fish farm developed its own rearing specifications (low density in the ponds, no antibiotic treatments or vaccines, quality feed respecting its natural diet, production capped at 60 tonnes per year): an in-house, private approach that has never been certified by an official mark.
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