Press Release: November 14, 2011, (ALICANTE, SPAIN): Chef Martín Berasategui has announced the winners of the 2012 3rd Sammic Scholarship with BasqueStage at Lo Mejor de la Gastronomía in Alicante Spain. The winners are Ruth Selby and Elisha Ben-Haim, and they will join the kitchen of Restaurante Martín Berasategui, ranked in the San Pellegrino World’s […]
If you’ve never been to the Basque Country and are considering your first visit, you might have no idea of where to start your tour. Or if you’ve been several times to see family, you might want to break out of the routine of visiting the family baserria and find something new. Rick Steves, “America’s […]
I just stumbled onto this by pure accident (sometimes, spending too much time just surfing the web does lead to serendipitous discoveries). Basque Stage is part project, part contest, with the goal of teaming up young chefs with world-renowned chef Martin Berasategui, owner of his signature restaurant in Lasarte-Oria, Gipuzkoa. Basque Stage will award two […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
It is that time of year again! Time to celebrate the fiesta of San Blas, or Saint Blaise! In the Basque Country (and maybe elsewhere), Feb 3, the fiesta of San Blas, is celebrated with a special cake. In towns like Abadiño, Bizkaia, where the day is one of the town’s festival days, you’ll find […]
Anyone who has visited the Basque Country, or even attended a Basque celebration in the US, knows the central role that food occupies in the culture. Today, the Basque Country is famous for its “new Basque cuisine,” which I did have an opportunity to try at a restaurant in Donosti (and, it was very good). […]
Here are a few links I’ve run across that I thought were worth sharing. Pelota is immensely popular in Euskal Herria. Most evenings I was there, a match was being shown on the TVs of most bars. Even though cesta punta — jai alai to the rest of the world — is the most flashy […]
You can tell the story of who people are by what they eat — stated Colleen Asumendi Fillmore, PhD, RD, LD All who know the Basques know that food is an immensely important aspect of their culture. Colleen Asumendi Fillmore knows this better than most, having studied the dietary culture of the Basques of Boise. […]
