View of the moon-shaped Playa de la Concha from Monte Igeldo
Considered the gastronomic capital of Spain and located at the Atlantic coast of the proud Basque country (Euskal Herria), San Sebastian is a city that is proud of its cuisine. Taking inspiration from both French and Spanish sides of the Basque, the local environs and, most importantly, the season, Basque food is famous for highlighting the best ingredients from the area and of the season and manipulating it into real masterpieces, often impressive to look at and even better to taste.
Being that it was my second time to visit the city (having been there for a few days a couple of years ago), I had an idea about what I was plunging into - an amazing pintxos culture in La Parte Vieja (Old Town), a wide selection of seafood (some of which are not found easily in the Mediterranean) and the Spanish penchant for wine and enjoyment but little did I know that I would be in for much more. Having refined my choices on where to go (both from experience and from the internet), I was in for a weeks' worth of treats!
In this post, I'll chronicle mostly my adventures with Basque cuisine, in the more general sense, and particularly with my encounters of Basque dishes in restaurants - I'll reserve my review and selection of pintxos (an even more elaborate aspect of Basque cuisine) on another post.
Being that it was my second time to visit the city (having been there for a few days a couple of years ago), I had an idea about what I was plunging into - an amazing pintxos culture in La Parte Vieja (Old Town), a wide selection of seafood (some of which are not found easily in the Mediterranean) and the Spanish penchant for wine and enjoyment but little did I know that I would be in for much more. Having refined my choices on where to go (both from experience and from the internet), I was in for a weeks' worth of treats!
In this post, I'll chronicle mostly my adventures with Basque cuisine, in the more general sense, and particularly with my encounters of Basque dishes in restaurants - I'll reserve my review and selection of pintxos (an even more elaborate aspect of Basque cuisine) on another post.
Being sandwiched by the rich Atlantic coast teeming with fish and seafood (including Basque favorites such as monkfish, salted Atlantic cod and spider crab) as well as the rich mountains of the Basque countryside, San Sebastian receives the best of both bounties and the local Basque cuisine definitely highlights the best of what the region and the season has to offer.
Probably the most famous form of sampling real Basque cuisine is by going for pintxos, really upscale Basque-versions of the humble tapas found in other parts of Spain but beyond this, local restaurantes/jatatxea and tabernas (or simple restaurants and taverns) as well as sagardotegi (Basque cider houses) also offer the savvy visitor authentic glimpses and bites of local food culture.
I had the misfortune of missing the cider season in the Basque country (which lasts from January to April, just about the time that the fall apple harvest are pressed into new cider and cider from last year has finished maturation). Barrels with the matured cider are opened and people are invited to enjoy them by catching a small cider stream from the container using their own glasses - the messy local tradition of txotx. Basque cider is said to be natural as it is still (and not sparkling) and is prepared without extra additives such as sweeteners - the result is something that is more tart and acidic than one would expect from cider but indeed reminiscent of green apples, fresh from a harvest. After the cider season, the remaining cider is bottled for longer storing and bottled cider is one opportunity to sample Basque cider all-year round (as I did).
Their tart acidic cider would go well with richer and meatier dishes such as entrecot/txuleta (steak) and bacalao (cod), which are typical fare in the local cider houses. Fellow carnivores would delight at the fact that the Basques (like the rest of Spain, I believe) know how to eat their steak right - a punto (medium-rare) and well-rested with a nice crusting of salt. I have the impression that the French would prefer theirs slightly more rare and Italians don't always get it right (I sampled steaks around Naples and got anything between well-done and unrested rare/bloody).
Other items on the richer side of the scale in typical Basque menus are foie gras (liver of force-fed fattened ducks/geese), duck (usually in the form of duck leg confit) and hongos (wild mushrooms). The wild mushrooms one can sample are special and luxurious things with distinct taste that one really doesn't expect and which should really be highlighted and respected. I got surprised when I got a scrumptious plate of creamy scrambled eggs and mushrooms in a restaurant once - I was expecting something common and pedestrian but, instead, got something lovely as the mushrooms really just exude a nice level of earthiness or umami with even slight notes of truffle (which I just love).
Gourmands and foodies will also find that the Basque do not scrimp on their use of foie and that one would actually get quite a bit of foie on anything on the menu where it's written - a fact, I guess, that makes the French next doors crossover just to eat and sample. While one could get paté de foie gras in any Parisian bistro, it pays to travel the distance just to get the real deal as pan-seared or grilled foie gras is just scrumptious goodness (not to mention that high quality foie gras is often left whole for cooking and not turned into terrines or patés). The outside would be seared and caramelized while the inside will remain slightly rare (to avoid melting all of the fat) and the typical Basque pairing would be with some lovely apple compote (again from the bounty of the region) instead of the onion jam (which is more French). Nothing could probably top this... well, except getting foie gras and the hongos together, which I actually had... in a pie below!
And then there's the seafood. Having experienced the nice Mediterranean bounty of frutti di mare in my beloved Napoli, I found that there were still a lot to try that were not back home here in San Sebastian - lovely vieras or scallops (as nice as they can get from the Atlantic coast), txangurro or spider crab (often served baked in its own shell and seasoned with spices), fishes like hake and monkfish and, of course, one of the deities of Basque culinary polytheism - the salted cod or bacalao. While one could find the latter in a number of cuisines, one would be hard pressed to find any cuisine which really worships it like the Basque - beyond the normal bacalao frito (fried cod), one could find it served in various other ways... in omelettes for a typical pintxo, with the classic Spanish combo of garlic and peppers (or al pilpil) and as stuffing for this and that.
And the common stuff that one just can't really ignore - fresh shrimps, lovely mussels and clams (with all their Spanish names) and the quirky angulas or baby eels (which really taste like chinese noodles to me)... all of which one would find elevated in form and preparation if one tries to venture into this other world of pintxos... the subject of my coming post.
Probably the most famous form of sampling real Basque cuisine is by going for pintxos, really upscale Basque-versions of the humble tapas found in other parts of Spain but beyond this, local restaurantes/jatatxea and tabernas (or simple restaurants and taverns) as well as sagardotegi (Basque cider houses) also offer the savvy visitor authentic glimpses and bites of local food culture.
I had the misfortune of missing the cider season in the Basque country (which lasts from January to April, just about the time that the fall apple harvest are pressed into new cider and cider from last year has finished maturation). Barrels with the matured cider are opened and people are invited to enjoy them by catching a small cider stream from the container using their own glasses - the messy local tradition of txotx. Basque cider is said to be natural as it is still (and not sparkling) and is prepared without extra additives such as sweeteners - the result is something that is more tart and acidic than one would expect from cider but indeed reminiscent of green apples, fresh from a harvest. After the cider season, the remaining cider is bottled for longer storing and bottled cider is one opportunity to sample Basque cider all-year round (as I did).
Their tart acidic cider would go well with richer and meatier dishes such as entrecot/txuleta (steak) and bacalao (cod), which are typical fare in the local cider houses. Fellow carnivores would delight at the fact that the Basques (like the rest of Spain, I believe) know how to eat their steak right - a punto (medium-rare) and well-rested with a nice crusting of salt. I have the impression that the French would prefer theirs slightly more rare and Italians don't always get it right (I sampled steaks around Naples and got anything between well-done and unrested rare/bloody).
Other items on the richer side of the scale in typical Basque menus are foie gras (liver of force-fed fattened ducks/geese), duck (usually in the form of duck leg confit) and hongos (wild mushrooms). The wild mushrooms one can sample are special and luxurious things with distinct taste that one really doesn't expect and which should really be highlighted and respected. I got surprised when I got a scrumptious plate of creamy scrambled eggs and mushrooms in a restaurant once - I was expecting something common and pedestrian but, instead, got something lovely as the mushrooms really just exude a nice level of earthiness or umami with even slight notes of truffle (which I just love).
Gourmands and foodies will also find that the Basque do not scrimp on their use of foie and that one would actually get quite a bit of foie on anything on the menu where it's written - a fact, I guess, that makes the French next doors crossover just to eat and sample. While one could get paté de foie gras in any Parisian bistro, it pays to travel the distance just to get the real deal as pan-seared or grilled foie gras is just scrumptious goodness (not to mention that high quality foie gras is often left whole for cooking and not turned into terrines or patés). The outside would be seared and caramelized while the inside will remain slightly rare (to avoid melting all of the fat) and the typical Basque pairing would be with some lovely apple compote (again from the bounty of the region) instead of the onion jam (which is more French). Nothing could probably top this... well, except getting foie gras and the hongos together, which I actually had... in a pie below!
And then there's the seafood. Having experienced the nice Mediterranean bounty of frutti di mare in my beloved Napoli, I found that there were still a lot to try that were not back home here in San Sebastian - lovely vieras or scallops (as nice as they can get from the Atlantic coast), txangurro or spider crab (often served baked in its own shell and seasoned with spices), fishes like hake and monkfish and, of course, one of the deities of Basque culinary polytheism - the salted cod or bacalao. While one could find the latter in a number of cuisines, one would be hard pressed to find any cuisine which really worships it like the Basque - beyond the normal bacalao frito (fried cod), one could find it served in various other ways... in omelettes for a typical pintxo, with the classic Spanish combo of garlic and peppers (or al pilpil) and as stuffing for this and that.
And the common stuff that one just can't really ignore - fresh shrimps, lovely mussels and clams (with all their Spanish names) and the quirky angulas or baby eels (which really taste like chinese noodles to me)... all of which one would find elevated in form and preparation if one tries to venture into this other world of pintxos... the subject of my coming post.
It should be mentioned that Basque cuisine, while standing on its own in its classic and traditional form, has also experienced some revisiting and revival upon the arrival of cuisine nouvelle movements and San Sebastian has its own heroes in this respect with chefs like Martin Bersategui and Juan Mari Arzak making names for themselves and keeping the standards of their Michelin-starred restaurants (San Sebastian has the most number of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita in Europe), which in their own right are tourist attractions of their own. Being that I'm still not rich enough to have the luxury of spending 80-120€ per meal in one of their signature 8-10 tasting courses, however, I can't really pretend to know enough about that world - though these modern techniques in plating and cooking will forever interest me.
Anyway, right now, I'm left satisfied and content after enjoying my Basque meals.
Anyway, right now, I'm left satisfied and content after enjoying my Basque meals.
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