Knowledgeable Sardines

I stumbled upon a blog by a true conossieur of both gastronomy and photography. Brett, the author, has an unique sense of humor also.

He was in the Basque Country just recently and posted three entries detailing his experience with Basque cuisine.

Here you have the links, and a little excerpt of each one of them:

San Sebastián: Introduction

I am currently in San Sebastián, known in the local Basque language as Donostia. San Sebastián is renowned as a gastronomic wonderland, with more Michelin stars per capita in the immediate vicinity than any other city. Arzak and Martín Berasategui lead the pack with the maximum three stars, Akelarre and Zuberoa with two each and Mugaritz, Fagollada and Miramón Arbelaitz with one a piece.

However, as I've mentioned before, my personal interests lie more in becoming acquainted with the traditional, regional cooking of Spain. San Sebastián has much to offer in this category of dining, too. First, it is the capital of pintxos (roughly pronounced peen-chos), the Basque version of tapas that are reputed to be the best in Spain (although some in Andalucía would no doubt dispute that claim). Second, being a port city on the Atlantic, San Sebastián and, more famously, the nearby town of Getaria are renowned for their restaurants that specialize in freshly caught fish grilled over an open fire. Third, the local men take their traditional cooking so seriously that they have organized gastronomic brotherhoods and compete annually to decide who is the best.

San Sebastián: "Hay Sardinas" en Getaria

I had been agonizing over which of the two well-known seafood restaurants I would have my lunch at in the small port town of Getaria, a half-hour bus ride from San Sebastian. Both share nearly identical menus, specializing in fish grilled outside a la parilla (also known as a la brasa), over an open fire. Kaia Kaipe offers a great portside location and the opportunity to eat on their terrace -- but what if that meant it was touristy? Elkano, up the street away from the port, is reputed by some to be slightly better.

Then I spied the sign. "HAY SARDINAS." That alone was enticement enough for a sardine-lover like myself. Then when I learned I could have the table with a clear view of the grill, the last available table on the terrace, I knew Kaia Kaipe was the right choice. I think the waitress was amused when I opted to dine facing the outdoor grill rather than the supposedly more desirable view of the port.

San Sebastián - tiny, tasty pintxos

Despite the presence of a veritable constellation of Michelin stars in San Sebastián, I mainly came here to eat pintxos, the local form of tapas. The Basques, and in particular the Donostiarrans, have elevated these small dishes to an art form. Pintxos at the finest bars are haute-cuisine in miniature, tiny culinary jewels akin to the amuse-bouche that begins a meal at the finest restaurants. In fact, their intent is to serve a similar purpose, to whet the appetite before you move onto a sit-down meal at another restaurant. To accompany your pintxos, you generally order a glass of the local txakoli wine or a zurrito, a 6-oz. pour of draft beer.

So, there you go, mouth watering posting at Blogotitlán.

And don't forget to check his series of photographs related to the posts that he is hosting at Flickr.

Eskerrik asko Brett!

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