Bermeo: the port (of the) beautiful
Bermeo is a port with a very pretty town and not the other way around. What one day gave it the glory and prosperity necessary to be the capital of Vizcaya today continues to be the heart of everyday life, the place where children run around, adults work and the elderly stroll. And where, inevitably, the visitor drops by; as the surrounding slopes get steep enough for gravity to take care of the rest. It may be that it has lost color, the tinsel of more prosperous times, when huge whalers and tuna boats docked at its docks to the brim , but it's still the center of the canning universe and, therefore, the best place to make a Gastro Rally that tastes and honors these foods.
Let's go step by step. The first and the eternal: the sea. Its impact on the town is so great that the coat of arms of Bermeo represents an illuminating scene: four brave oarsmen guide a fifth sailor who, armed with a harpoon, tries to catch a whale. That moment was everything. Success meant prosperity, fame and tranquility for the brave. Beyond the Moby Dick moments with a combat without defined rounds between man and beast, the Cantabrian Sea was a gold mine whose The most coveted nuggets were tuna and anchovies. And all the Bermeo families knew this and assigned their best men to fight the waves or to earn a wage working in the port. Part of this history, of the legends and of the eternal link with the tides are kept in the Ercilla Tower. That the most important civil monument of the town be used as fisherman's museum it is symptomatic. And visiting it serves, and a lot, to whet your appetite, to add part of the epic to the delicacies to come.
Bermeo Fisherman's Museum, Moby Dicks and wandering sailors
After so much promise, so much photography and so many memories, one expects the port to be immense, endless and unfathomable. Nothing is further from reality. Before the eyes rises a small sheltered bay with sailboats and small fishing boats. It is what has remained after negotiations of fishing quotas and other derivatives of joining the EU. In the past, it housed more than 250 boats. Today the number has decreased, but Bermeo is still the largest fishing port in the world with more tuna boats owned by companies based here. In other words, the tuna capital of the world. And in case there was any doubt about his seafaring glories, the Aita Guria , a whaler-relic of the past where the long voyages to Newfoundland and Greenland in search of a bicharraco that was beginning to be scarce in the Bay of Biscay are recalled.
But this story cannot end on the shore. The huge amount of fish that arrived generated another business: that of the canneries that, like Zallo, open their doors to all kinds of curious . But is it attractive? Man, it's still a factory, but several conclusions can be drawn from your visit. Broadly speaking, they are the following:
1. There are many kinds of tuna and, to be cool and cool, you have to call each species by its Latin name two. The smell of anchovies, or pull back, or like it.
3. The bonito is a handsome fish. Four. The tuna belly is the kobe meat of the sea, but cheaper.
5. It may sound sexist, but it is a job for women, who traditionally earned a fixed wage for the family while the man spent long periods at sea. Another more flowery argument is the one that attributes a pianist's skill to female hands. 6. If the world is ending and you are a 'Wall-E' type survivor, go desperately to his warehouse, there is food to feed you for a lifetime, and without expiration!
7. It should be punishable by law to put anchovies on pizzas. 8. The tasting afterwards does not disappoint and yes, the tuna belly gets all the praise as it melts in the mouth accompanied by an exquisite but non-invasive olive oil.
Zallo canning workers
And finally the desired moment arrives, that of a village bar with the flag of Athletic and pintxos with all the flavor of the sea. The good thing about Bermeo is that here even the most dry land knows how to distinguish a good piece, a good preserve. And without a doubt they show it by squeezing supply with their selective demand. The Torrontero bar It is not just the typical tavern that one can expect near the port. It is also the **cathedral of the botakarra (needle)**, a very rare fish that the people of Bermeo keep for your enjoyment as an aperitif. From here a large reward is promised to whoever finds this delicacy more than 30 kilometers from this place.
Let's continue with the Rally, turn to stop at Beti Ondo . This tavern is a tribute with cheers to the pretty canned and, what is better, to the beautiful and forceful portion. In ** Artza ** what you have to do is arrive, greet and ask without hesitation the fish of the day, and not with that trembling voice with which he asks himself in the daily service station menus, no. Here you have to do it with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that it is going to be good, fresh and well cooked, which is not a small thing. The same thing happens in ** San Pedro **, a VIP restaurant, but not because it's prim, but because what they offer is the fish of the fishermen's brotherhood and they shine. They are not going to throw stones at their own roof.
Port of Bermeo