Basque Food and Drink

The Basque cuisine is rated highly, both nationally and internationally.
The secret of Basque cooking is the use of excellent quality raw materials cooked in a simple way. Among these products fish is the essence of Basque cuisine prepared in a variety of ways and served with different sauces, the following fish are recommended: hake, cod, tuna, sea bream, sardines, anchovies, sea bass and monkfish.

Local produce also includes sheep and ox, broad beans, leeks, cabbage asparragos, and peas. All these are highly recommendable.

The most important cheeses are made from sheep’s milk. Idiazabal cheese is perhaps the most significant among basque cheeses, although there are also many other home-made cheeses including one made by monks from Belloc Abbey.
A good wine from la Rioja Alavesa or a good “txakolí” (wine from green grapes) make a great combination!.

Dishes

Pinchos (or Pintxos) : These are an assortment of home-made snacks that can include virtually anything from fish, meat, cheese, pastry etc. The counter of almost every bar in the Basque country is full of these snacks sometimes making it, in some occasions, difficult to find a space to put down your glass. San Sebastian has the best reputation for these miniature delicacies.

Bacalao al pil pil. This is a typical Basque dish. Pil pil is a gelantine sauce made by thickening olive oil with the serum from fried fish. This sauce is also used with hake.

Kokotxas. Kokotxas are part of the fish’s head. Hake and cod are usually used, these pieces are shaped like a V and are gelatinous.They are prepared in different ways using the pil pil sauce or a green sauce. Hake and cod are the most commonly used fish in basque cuisine.

Chipirones en su tinta . Literally “Squid in its ink”. The sauce that accompanies this dish is black; the ink from the squid is mixed with tomato, garlic and onion.

Angulas. Elver (baby eels). To prepare the sauce fry olive oil ,garlic and a chilli pepper. Elver have become scarse lately, thus, prices have soared.

Marmitako . This is a typical Basque fisherman’s stew.The basic ingredients are tuna fish, potatoes, and pepper. The name comes from the word “marmita”, the dish/bowl where the stew,which is offal from the fish, is prepared on board. As it is a standard recipe there are many different ways of preparing it.

Txangurro a la Donostiarra. Txangurro’s main ingredient is spider crab. The cooking process is simple the spider crab is boiled with onion, leek and tomatoes

Desserts

Cuajada. This is a Basque dessert par excellence made from sheep`s milk.

Pastel Vasco. Pastry,in most cases, with custard filling but also cherry or apricot jam or any kind of jam.

Goxua. The basic ingredients for this dessert are: sponge cake,cream and caramalized custard.

Nouvelle Cuisine

In the 70`s a new trend in Basque gastronomy came into being. It was based on innovation and creativity. A group of prestigious Basque chefs began to experiment and today are still at the top of this trend. Among them Arzak, Subijana, Berasategui. This new cuisine is based on traditional Basque cookery but also adds aromas, ingredients and ways of preparation inspired by the French haute cuisine.

Drinks

The three classic drinks from the Basque country are: wine, cider and txakoli.

Wines

Rioja Alavesa, is without doubt the best wine that the Basque country can offer, it is known both nationally and internationally. The Tempranillo grape is used as a base in the processing of red wine although other grapes are used such as: Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. White wine, not as well known as red, is processed using the following grapes: Viura, Malvasía and white and rosé Garnacha.

Txakoli Is a young fruity white wine (a small amount of rosé is processed). As green grapes are used in the process it has a slight acidy taste. To enjoy the highest quality, this wine, like cider, should be drunk in the same year it is produced.

Cider

Basque cider is a processed mixture of different types of apple. It is completely natural no additives are used. The only difference being in the type of apple. There are cider bars (Sagardotegia) all over the Basque country allthough there are more abundant and more traditional style in Guipúzcoa. In these places cider is served straight from the barrel.
A typical menu to accompany cider is a cod omelette or cod with peppers and a T-bone steak.
The cider bar season is February and March. The rest of the year cider lovers must satisfy themselves by drinking bottled cider.