basque country
When we think of the gastronomy of the Basque Country, the mind begins to relate concepts directly to pintxos . But his kitchen goes much further.
"Basque cuisine is a cuisine divided by the border between the sea and the mountains, marked by the grill and perfumed with garlic, salt and parsley. It is a home kitchen, but one that has been renewed thanks to the numerous and wonderful chefs who are dedicated to it. It is an authentic kitchen, always informed by history and what is (and was) around, "says ** Marti Buckley .**
Buckley is an American expatriate (from Alabama) based in San Sebastian since 2011 and the author of the book ** Basque Country: A Culinary Journey Through a Food Lover's Paradise (Artisan Books) :** the new bible for the foreign reader who seeks to investigate and replicate the recipes of the area in your home.
"My need to write a book like this arose because, So far I haven't found anything like it. . Before coming to live in Spain I wanted to immerse myself as much as possible with information about everything I had to see and try in the area, but I found very little and no book managed to gather and tell the story that I wanted. When I finally came here, I was amazed at everything and I learned, little by little, about the depth of cuisine and tradition . That made me feel even more the need to tell."
Marti Buckley Kilpatrick, author of the book Basque Country
And so she did, becoming the founder of pop-ups like _ The International Society for the Enjoyment and Preservation of Vermouth _, in which she extols ** the pleasure of vermouth at aperitif time at various points of Saint Sebastian **.
Even in Madrid, within the premises of the Arima Basque Gastronomy restaurant, on Ponzano street. She founded Pololo , with which she distributed artisan ice cream from a cart. From a bicycle too, this time with cookie , distributed ice cream sandwiches, cookies and donuts (made by her) at a time when the cupcake did not even appear in Spanish palates.
In the book, she brings together 94 recipes that she considers to be the fundamental (and traditional) pillars of Basque cuisine, from the seven provinces. "I have organized them in a way that gives the reader context, including the history of each recipe, an introduction about each region, with short essays on the most important cultural points of the Basque culture and global introductions about its cuisine and Euskadi", affirms us.
The recipes are designed so that anyone, even someone who has not had contact with this type of cuisine, can replicate them . And always with an eye on the sea and mountain dishes, as well as in desserts.
Thanks to this last section, the book has become a viral phenomenon but it has also been the section where Marti found her biggest challenge in terms of research and elaboration.
"The thing about the ** cheesecake ** was not only because of my book, but also because of its fame with the tourists who come to Donosti from Asia and because of the daily work of The vineyard . Plus, it's super easy to make, which makes people like it even more."
Meanwhile, the difficulty came with the txantxigorri cake. "I had to go where they make it because there are no good recipe references anywhere. I love your humility as a dessert, a cake made with pork fat, cinnamon and bread dough. It's one of the richest desserts out there, I'm very fond of that recipe."
For Marti, the first thing to highlight in Basque cuisine is the importance it gives to the raw material , since the climate of the area and the richness of its nature have never had the need to use spices, to hide or to dress things up too much. "Thanks to this, there has been a kitchen that has been defined by its simplicity, by its delicacy and light hand, as well as for their knowledge of the product. When you combine this with centuries of history and a closeness to great French cuisine, you have the recipe for something magical," she continues.
As pintxos do not occupy much space within the Basque Country, their pending subject already has a project in sight. I am in the process of starting a book dedicated to them . I knew that this chapter was going to be very short and it is a topic that provokes a lot of interest. Even so, there is no format where the stories of the people who have cooked and served them behind the bar are told correctly, "she tells us.