San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
A delicious briny bite with your gin
Boost a martini with a gilda — a skewer that reigns in Spain
One of my favorite things to eat in life is a skewer that consists of a briny pickled pepper, nutty green olive and salty anchovy combination. Together this holy trinity of umami forms a gilda, a type of pintxo, or small snack served in virtually every bar and tavern throughout San Sebastian, Spain. Not to be confused with its tapas counterpart, which are also appetizers but can be served on plates elsewhere around Spain (think patatas bravas or albondigas), pintxos are served on toothpicks (the literal translation is “spike”).
It’s said that the gilda was invented at Bar Casa Valles in 1946 and eponymously named after a certain Rita Hayworth film that debuted the same year; however, a gilda is simply a subset of pintxos, according to San Sebastianborn Andoni Luis Aduriz, legendary chef of the Michelinstarred Mugaritz in the Basque country.
“Prior to pintxos, there were banderillas … and before bars existed as we know them, there were many little bodegas where wine stood out where there was basically very little cooking done,” Aduriz told me in an Instagram message.
Operators would put together provisions they had on hand — different types of pickles, olives and saltcured anchovies — and place combinations of them on sticks or skewers. These colorful creations were reminiscent of banderillas, which are the decorated darts used by bullfighters.
I’ve consumed plenty of pintxos in San Sebastian, and I can’t wait to go back once I can safely get on an airplane. My favorite place to grab a gilda in San Francisco is Verjus — I also can’t wait to go back there.
One recent quarantined evening, I was making myself a shelteredinplace martini (quarantini?), a drink whose origins are said to have been right here in San Francisco during the Gold Rush era at the defunct Occidental Hotel. As I was threading my third olive on my brass cocktail pick, it dawned upon me: I’m just two ingredients away from a gilda garnish.
I added an anchovy fillet and pickled pepper to the skewer and threw in a quick splash of olive juice, pickled pepper brine and anchovy oil to accompany the dry gin and vermouth in my usual martini; the Gildatini was thus born.
To build a gilda of San Sebastian precision, you’ll want to seek out manzanilla olives, pickled piparra peppers and Cantabrian anchovies — a canned version from northern coastal Spain that are meaty, salty but not too salty and perhaps the finest little fish I’ve ever tasted. All of these provisions can be easily secured at the Spanish Table, one of my favorite specialty grocery stores; it has locations in San Francisco, Berkeley and Mill Valley.
There are so many unique products at the Spanish Table, which is owned and operated by husbandandwife Andy and Tanya Booth. Before relocating to California, the Booths lived in Spain and cooked together in San Sebastian at Arzak (an experimental avantegarde restaurant widely considered one of “the best” in the world). Every time I visit the Clement Street location, I discover something new: some sort of special vinegar I’ve never heard of, a brand of tinned fish I’ve never seen, or even an item I’ve never cooked with like squid ink or bottarga. This novelty is no accident as it turns out. “If I find something that’s difficult for me to locate and cook with, I try and source it for the stores,” says Tanya Booth.
Once you’ve procured the proper provisions for the gilda, make sure you find dry gin and dry vermouth — you’ll need its strength to stand up to the acid and salt of the other components. After stirring, add as many or few drops of anchovy oil as you desire; it lends more texture than flavor, looks cool and leaves a nice fatty film on your lips.
Unlike James Bond, I prefer my martinis stirred, not shaken. The result is a stronger, less diluted drink with a silkier texture. Also unlike Agent 007, I prefer to sip my martinis out of coupe cups, which feels much classier than its inverted cone cousins. But these are just my preferences — do as you please.