Basque Country gastronomy - Basque Country tourism
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Basque Country Information: The Love of good food - BASQUE COUNTRY GASTRONOMY |
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Here, eating means much more than simply covering a basic need. Gastronomy forms an important part of the everyday life of the Basques, who discuss, negotiate and get to know each other better over a meal. Excellent traditional cookery, based on only the best of ingredients, and the innovating author cuisine now well known beyond our borders, mean that the visitor can and must choose from a variety as wide as it is delicious. Donostia-San Sebastian has the highest number of Michelin stars per square metre in the planet, although the entire Basque Country offers any amount of opportunities to delight the palate, whether in the big restaurants or in the more modest establishments. The Basque Country was already internationally famous for its delicious traditional cuisine when a group of new chefs decided to take a number of these dishes and renew them on the basis of their imagination. This movement, which was soon to become known as Basque nouvelle cuisine, was moulded in the mid-70s by a series of young chefs whose point of reference was the French cookery of the same name. Participants in this said culinary revolution were local restaurateurs including Subijana, Irizar, Fonbellida, Castillo, Argiñano or Juan Mari Arzak, undisputed number one of a style that has caused an upheaval in Basque restaurants, and particularly in Gipuzkoa, with new aromas, textures, combinations and methods of preparation. This said, modern restaurateurs continue to base their dishes on the two secrets of traditional Basque cuisine: high quality ingredients and seasonal products. Today, those young chefs are maestros of renowned prestige, whose creativity falls under the title of so-called "author cuisine". Despite their high social standing, the top restaurateurs still lead a surprisingly practical life. It's not unusual to see any of these figures of world-wide renown in the gastronomic field doing their own shopping at the market, passing on some of their recipes in the media or rubbing elbows at the cookery schools with the new generations of restaurateurs, with an end to ensuring the continuity of this delicious new gastronomy. A country of fish lovers In addition to this said phenomenon of author cuisine - which visitors will have to taste for themselves, always of course keeping in mind that quality has its price - is the ever-popular Basque traditional cuisine, which continues to employ the ingredients responsible for its fame, high quality products from the surrounding areas and simple but delicious meals. The star of local cuisine is fish from either the Basque coast or from the far-off fishing-grounds which the local arrantzales or Basque fishermen have been working for centuries. Hake, bream, bonito and cod, all prepared in different ways, are the main fish used in local recipes, which nevertheless also contemplate the more humble species, such as sardines or anchovies, or others like turbot, monkfish or sea-bass. A number of basic, light sauces, such as the delicate "green" or pil-pil sauces, extract the essence of the fish without altering either its texture or its flavour. The Basques have always known how to make the most of the products offered by the earth and the sea, hence the incorporation to their cuisine of kokotxas - the small, gelatinous, smooth flavoured barbel of hake, the cogote, or top half of the fish, also of hake, or the ventresca or underside of bonito. Squid, cooked in its traditional and highly original black ink or sauteed with onion and peppers a 10 Pelayo are classic dishes in Basque restaurants, as is the greatly appreciated spider crab. Meat is to be found most often in the recipes of Alava, the best known province for its delicious lamb dishes. In Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia, most people prefer the T-bone steak, and even more so if it happens to be ox. Barbecued, with a crisp coating on either side and red and juicy on the inside, this is the star of rural cuisine. Vegetables are particularly delicious in Alava, where juicy stews are made with a whole range of greens. Other dishes of this kind are vainas (green beans) or porrusalda (leek and potato soup) and pisto (fried vegetable hash). Perhaps the most typical product of Basque market gardens are kidney beans, particularly from Gernika-Lumo and Tolosa. Mushrooms, highly appreciated in the Basque Country, are likewise found in a number of delicious dishes. Delicious wines These succulent dishes have the perfect complement in equally delicious wines. Despite its relatively small size, the produce of the Rioja alavesa is perfectly capable of competing with the best wines in the world. Reds from this area are denominated crianza, reserva or gran reserva depending on the amount of time they spend in oak barrels. Another local beverage is txakoli, a young, fressh and fruity white wine which has recently started making a name for itself outside of the Basque Country. But we mustn't forget the cider which we can taste at the cider houses themselves. Astigarraga, Hernani and Usurbil, in Gipuzkoa, are the villages with the highest number of these raucous establishments. |
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