Review: Basque Country: A Culinary Journey Through a Food Lover's Paradise

Basque Country: A Culinary Journey Through a Food Lover's Paradise by Marti Buckley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Basque Country, which straddles the Northwest corner of the Pyrenees in Spain and France, is home to a unique culture and linguistic heritage and truly delicious food. My husband is part Basque and I'm lucky to have traveled in the Basque country more than a few times and to have enjoyed their cuisine. One of the things I love about Basque food is the emphasis on simple, flavorful preparations reflecting seasons, and the fact that processed food is virtually unheard of in this region. It's easy to eat gluten-free! Buckley gives the reader an introduction to the Basque country and offers up sections with simple recipes, offering context on these foods in the Basque culture. Buckley's book focuses on the Spanish Basque Country. She offers only a brief discussion of Ipparalde, the French Basque provinces which she describes as less authentic for various geopolitical and economic reasons than the Spanish Basque regions.

Pintxos (Pinchos en español), which are, according to Buckley, distinct from Spanish tapas,* are a bite size bit of food pierced with a toothpick, and are miniature cuisine items, often punches of flavor combinations. Zopak (Sopas) are soups and Buckley offers a variety of simple soups and more traditional seafood soups including soups with bakalao (bacalao- salt cod) or hegaluze (bonito del norte- albacore tuna). After the appetizer recipes, there are a selection of Barazkiak eta Haragiak (pescados y mariscos- fish and shellfish, staples of the Spanish coastal diet) recipes followed by a similarly lengthy section of Barazkiak eta Haragiak (carne y veruduras- vegetables and meat) in which you can find some of the classic Basque lamb dishes and stews. Here you can find dishes like the classic Pil Pil preparations or Marmitakoa, a tuna and potato stew. Gozoak (postres - desserts) in the Basque country often tend to be either dairy-based or tartas/tarts, flour-based and less sugary than those in France, or from the Arab influence in the south of Spain. The recipes are, by and large, very easy to prepare. Sourcing ingredients may be more of a challenge for those living in areas without an authentic Spanish grocery store (you might want to check out any Portuguese groceries, too) but Buckley has you covered with a list of online stores. Buckley also provides a handy translation guide for the English, Basque, Spanish and French names of the dishes.

No book on the food of the Basque country could be complete without mentioning Txakoli (pronounced Chá-ko-lee, accent on the first syllable), the unique wine of the region first referenced in the sixteenth century. It's a crisp white wine with a sour and sometimes salty flavor, that is a common apertif in the warm season. The uninitiated may be shocked by the unusual flavor. Pair it with a bit of chorizo, tortilla or some pintxos on a hot summer day and you'll begin to get why it's so popular. Txakoli is one of the most iconic Basque items in this book and a must try for the adventurous.

Many of the dishes offered in this book can be found throughout Spain and I'm sure many a Spaniard would argue vigorously that these are Spanish dishes and frankly, because of the cultural permeation of classic Spanish cuisine from one province to another, it's pretty hard to say some dishes are exclusively Basque versus say, Galician, Asturian or Cantabrian. There are strong regional associations for the origins of some dishes, though. For example, you can get paella in Á Coruña, a northwestern province of Spain, even though it's a classic Valencian dish. Valencia is a province on the East/Mediterranean coast of Spain.) Some dishes, for instance fried Gernika peppers with salt, simply have variations in traditional Spanish cuisine based on regional peppers like the Galician Padrón peppers, prepared in the same style. I don't think many will argue that Pil-Pil dishes or Marmitakoa are Basque! In any case, this book is a visually pleasing introduction to the Basque culture and the Basque food ethos, which is a diet rich in flavor, and good quality ingredients.

Basque Country released on September 11th and is worth a look if you are interested in delicious food with relatively simple preparation to your table. Along the way you'll learn about one of the most fascinating regions of Spain.

Map of the Basque Country showing historical and present day regions of Euskadi, the Basque Autonomous community in Spain, and Ipparralde, the French Basque region.

*I predict howling about this statement from the Spaniards in my and my husband's families.

I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from Artisan Imprints, via Net Galley.

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