Food is such an important aspect of Basque life and nothing defines the role of food better than the pintxo, that small morsel that you find on every counter in every bar throughout the Basque Country. As I mentioned earlier, in my most recent trip to the Basque Country, my friend Gonzalo Aranguren took me […]
My friend, Gonzalo Aranguren, who wrote this Nor Naiz, Gu Gara entry, has a fascinating history. He is one of those rare people who is American-Basque, rather than Basque-American. That is, his mother is American, but he was born and raised in the Basque Country, though he has spent a lot of time in the […]
Just in time for Christmas, I’ve completed the house keeping on the main subject pages, the pages that are linked to in the menu on the left. I changed the format and cleaned up the links. If anyone sees any important links that are missing or has comments about the new look of those pages, […]
Delphine Pontvieux, author of Estimated Time of Arrest and featured in this interview, has a new book out combining Basque music with Basque cuisine. A collaboration with Fermin Muguruza (of Kortatu and Negu Gorriak fame), the book has recipes, all of which are in English, Spanish, French, and, of course, Euskara. From Delphine: Wondering what […]
Nor Naiz, Gu Gara (Who I Am, We Are) is a series aiming to explore the meaning of Basque Identity around the world, both within Euskal Herria as well as in the diaspora. For an introduction to the series, look here, and for a list of the previous entries, look here. I have an unusual […]
Jaialdi is more than just a gathering of the Basques of the US. It is also an excuse and reason for people from the Basque Country to come and visit the US. So it was for my dad’s brother, Antonio, who, with his wife Eli, made their first trek to the United States, to partake […]
This article in the UK’s Guardian introduces 10 different Basque Cider Houses, or Sagardotegiak. If you haven’t sampled Basque “Apple Wine” (the literal translation of sagardoa), you need to do yourself a favor and head to one of these Sagardotegiak. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit two Sagardotegiak, one outside of Donostia when I spent […]
If you haven’t ever heard the txalaparta, you are missing out. Originally an instrument of communication, the txalaparta has become a central part of modern Basque folk music. The txalaparta is a set of planks, often about 5, that two people play together. As such, it is billed as the only instrument in the world […]
A nice video on the Basques, touching on a number of aspects of Basque culture, including their maritime history, bertsolariak, txalaparta, and pilota.
The title of this post may strike some as romantic, but really it’s just that it has been so long since Jaialdi and taken me so long to do this post, that indeed I’m working on memories, and I don’t have the best of memories in the first place… For those that don’t know, Jaialdi […]
