ONE OF EUROPE’S GREAT FOOD CULTURES

Basques embrace their ‘cult of good eating’ at home

For many food lovers, the Basque Country holds a special sway. From bartops brimming with pintxos (small bites) to Michelin-starred restaurants, the region is known the world over for its innovative, ingredient-driven cuisine.

But for a true glimpse into the Basque “cult of good eating,” it’s time to look past the exquisite tasting menus and bustling bars, author and cook Marti Buckley says.

Unlike the home cooking-restaurant divide that exists in food cultures around the world, cooks in this small area spanning the France- Spain border exercise their culinary creativity in distinct ways.

A category of “other restaurants,” chief among them the dining society (txoko), “are even more foundational than restaurants,” Buckley writes. These centrally located private clubs are outfitted with professional kitchens and long communal tables where members cook meals for their friends. Traditionally restricted to men, more txokos have started admitting female members.

“You have all of these other places where food is at the forefront, like dining societies and cooking competitions that happen at festivals,” says Buckley, an Alabama native living in Donostia (San Sebastian in Spanish) for close to a decade.

When it came to writing her debut cookbook, Basque Country (Artisan, 2018), Buckley says it was important for her to offer a faithful representation of the most traditional recipes from across the greater region’s seven provinces.

“The longer I live there, the more I really get excited about the traditions. When you first move there, you’re wowed by the pintxos and the Michelin stars, but what I really love now is going to a village that I’ve never visited before.

“And if it’s on the coast, seeing the fishing boats come in and then seeing those fish going up the street to the restaurant or bar that I’m going to have lunch at.”