Restaurant of the week: Topa Sukaldería, the union between Latin America and the Basque Country
Saint Sebastian it's the jungle pintxo , of the madness to find a place at the bar and taste, bite after bite, bar after bar, the elaboration that will make us return home with a silly smile from ear to ear. The search for the ultimate and ultimate flavor. The blessed glory (edible). Everything. So when someone dares to break with the status quo, it's intriguing to see what they have to offer.
Taco talo of cod ajoarriero enchilada de Topa Sukaldería
Just what the great did Andoni Luis Aduriz , owner and lord of irrevent Mugaritz and creator of Topa Sukalderia , restaurant that combines the Basque and Latin American traditions on the plate (relationship that saw its peak in the nineteenth century, with migrations from both sides of the ocean). Something that, surprisingly, no one had stopped to admire, replicate and cover.
This is how "the Biscayans" settled in countries like Colombia, Peru, Chile or Uruguay, resulting in numbers like the more than 10 million Latin Americans of Basque descent or to the 15 million surnames of Basque origin that were established in the regions. And the food? What happened to the food of those Basques who left their homes to go to unknown lands? And what happened to them when they returned to Spain with new recipes and knowledge under their arms?
that's fair the starting point taken by chef Jordi Bros s, with the support of Aduriz and his IXO Group, to create a new style, a way to have fun, to get out of the norm and offer something different to those who set foot in San Sebastián. Basque cuisine in the area abounds (not too much), but fusion cuisine is scarce and maybe this is the proof –with a bar that does not stop rotating clientele and a fun and informal room (even kid friendly) that does not have a hard time finding reservations– that the public wants and demands it.
Sukalderia Topa Bar
The result of all this concoction of ideas and influences translates into a letter that was created from the team's trips to Latin America, influenced by the similarities they saw in both kitchens and the ways to unite them in the same place, nourishing one from the other and vice versa .
Work that became reality in a simple and complete letter which includes dishes such as anchovies tiradito , served with a spicy, cold and acid sauce. A Peruvian recipe taken to Basque territory by being inspired by the quintessential pintxo, the gilda , using the same products as the basis for the recipe: anchovies, piparras and olives.
Another of the essentials of the house is its MacOndo hamburger, a tribute to Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez. Macondo being the fictional town in which many of the stories in his novels take place, the hamburger would come to be a tribute to them as **symbol of a (magical) reality** more, made with Iberian pork from two montaneras of Arturo Sánchez, with bread The Loaf Bakeries , hot sauce and Topa tartar sauce.
MacOndo Burger from Topa Sukaldería
There are also no lack nods to Mexico with micheladas or guacamole (Served in a molcajete and with instructions for the diner to prepare it to their liking at the table). There are also Basque al pastor tacos, with cod in chilli sauce and topa cheese quesadillas with Iberian ham.
The empanadillas, off the menu and offered by a waiter in costume and "leading" the head of a bull, are filled with ossobuco and impregnated with a reduction of kalimotxo.
Basque shepherd tacos from Tupa Sukaldería
With the desserts , Spain and Mexico join with churro with orange and lime ; the flan arrives with corn cream and the rice pudding is served with coconut. Venezuela is also present with the chocolate quesadillas
After two and a half years of running, What does the future hold for Topa and Andoni? The ambition to reinvent itself in other parts of the world with a internationalization project underway , so we have no doubt that we will soon be able to see, once again, the migration of the Basque essence across borders to the other side of the pond.