We have been talking politics for the last couple of weeks.
So what about a bit of Basque culture, specifically its reknown cuisine?
Well, here you have this nice article from Bloomberg:
Michelin Stars, Male Cooking Clubs Make Gipuzkoa Food Heaven
April 11 (Bloomberg) -- It may come as a surprise that one of the world's highest concentrations of gourmet restaurants is in Gipuzkoa, a Basque autonomous province in northern Spain.
San Sebastian, its capital, is a city of just over 180,000 inhabitants, with a perfect shell-shaped beach called La Concha and 15 Michelin stars scattered among a handful of restaurants whose very names make the mouth water.
``For the Basques, everything revolves around food,'' said Elena Arzak, daughter of Juan Mari Arzak, whose restaurant has held on to its three Michelin stars since 1989. ``No one really knows why, but eating and cooking has always been very important to the Basques. The result is a culinary culture the likes of which you can't find anywhere else in the world.''
Arzak is a small place with a waiting list of up to six months. When Juan Mari Arzak took it over from his parents, it was a local eatery catering to weddings and first-communion celebrations. Yesterday, London-based Restaurant magazine named it the world's ninth-best restaurant.
``You have to have passion and you have to love food,'' Arzak, 64, said in an interview. ``I don't have any favorite dishes. The one I cooked last is the one I like best.''
His creative cuisine is based on fresh local food that Arzak and his team reinterpret, creating new taste combinations like scallops in a marinade of rose hips, raspberries, olive oil, ginger and powdered liquorices.
Flavor Bank
His source of inspiration is what he calls the Flavor Bank, a small room off the test kitchen in which more than 1,000 spices are stored in containers on shelves that line the walls.
Posh restaurants are only part of the picture in Basque society, where men can't seem to get out of the kitchen. In the capital alone, there are more than 400 gastronomic societies called Txokos. These are cooking clubs traditionally run by men.
In recent years, the rules have relaxed and members may invite women, though the men still do the cooking.
``One reason may be that Basque society is characterized by strong women,'' said Hans Harms, a sociologist living in San Sebastian. ``The men were sailors and, in their absence, a strong matriarchy developed. When they returned, they were strangers to their families so they founded societies where they could cook and eat what they liked, away from the women.''
Whatever the reason, societies flourish. Artzak Ortzeok consists of an open restaurant-style kitchen, a small wine cellar and six trestle tables. The men quench their thirst with Txakoli, a dry white wine grown near the town of Getaria. The pale wine is served in tumblers and poured from a height to aerate it.
Jolly Cooks
The noise level rises as the cooks work their way through the menu. Along with endless glasses of Txakoli, they nibble fried chorizo sausages wrapped in paper-thin sheets of dough, anchovies, olives and fried green peppers.
The meal features hake sauteed in green sauce, and beef cooked in red wine and Pacharan (Basque sloe-berry liqueur.) Six jolly Basques cook for 25 members and guests.
Dessert is fresh Idiazabal cheese (made of the milk of Basque Latza ewes that graze the hills), jellied quince and walnuts. Then after several more bottles of local red, they indulge in another great Basque tradition, choral singing.
I stumbled out into the sunlight, my head still vibrating from the last strains of a song sung by 11 enthusiastic rotund Basque would-be-Placidos. With memories of the aromas of braised meat, olive oil, anchovies, hake, parsley and guindilla peppers, I'm ready for the next Basque challenge: pintxos.
Rita Hayworth
In the Basque country, that great Spanish institution tapas becomes pintxos. This isn't just a Basque translation. Pintxos are far more varied, complex and exciting than tapas. One, inspired by Rita Hayworth has become a classic called ``Gilda.'' It's made of anchovies, olives and hot peppers.
A poteo is a bar crawl. The narrow streets of San Sebastian are home to some bars specialize in only one sort of pintxo: mushrooms or sea food. At Ganbara, a shoe box of a bar, the specialty is wild mushrooms. The grilled porcini with a drizzle of olive oil are divine.
Pintxos are displayed behind glass cases or attractively arranged on plates on the bar. Local specialties include stuffed baby squid in ink sauce or the tiny tarts filled with txangurro (spider crab) seasoned with brandy, olive oil and leek.
Basques drink red Rioja Alavesa from Alava. The wine of the upper Ebro valley is made of tempranillo grapes. Txakoli is a dry slightly sparkling white wine made of hondarribi zuri grapes. Cider is consumed in cider houses where it is poured directly out of a cask, or kupela, and served with a variety of hearty dishes.
Top restaurants in and around San Sebastian include: Arzak, with three Michelin stars. Tel. (34) (943) 27-84-65. Martin Berasategui, three stars. Tel. (34) (943) 36-64-71. Akalare, two stars. Tel. (34) (943) 31-12-09. Mugaritz, two stars. Tel. (34) (943) 51-83-43. Zuberoa, two stars. Tel. (34) (943) 49-12-28. Miramon Arbelaitz, one star. Tel. (34) (943) 30-82-20. Alameda, one star. Tel. (34) (943) 64-27-89. Fagollaga, one star. Tel. (34) (943) 55-00-31.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Richard Vines in London at rvines@Bloomberg.net.
No comments:
Post a Comment