1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,520 Hi everyone, welcome to potluck food talks. This is Bas Country part two with Phil Walter. 2 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:16,920 So what did we talk about last time we talked about pinchos, we talked about grilling. What 3 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:21,220 else what else do you think is important to mention? You mentioned Persebes last episode, 4 00:00:21,220 --> 00:00:27,120 but I don't think we elaborated on what Persebes actually are. Sure, go ahead. Well, Persebes 5 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:33,040 are for me anyway, they were very unique products to like that region, you know, that I've never 6 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:38,520 seen before. And their delicacy, their goose barnacles, they're like, we can't really call 7 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:44,560 them shellfish, can you? But the seafood that grow as barnacles on rocks out in the ocean 8 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:49,400 that then get boiled, and then you basically peel them and suck the meat out of them sort 9 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:54,040 of similar to a clam, kind of like a razor clam, actually, if you think about it, the 10 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:59,240 flavor and texture wise, yeah, I agree. But they look completely different. They look 11 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,000 completely different. They look really freaky. If you've never seen a goose barnacle, they 12 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:11,720 look kind of like an alien. I was going to say an alien. Yeah, but they're really, really 13 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:18,240 tasty. And they are a delicacy. I mean, they are very notoriously difficult to harvest. 14 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:22,840 And goose barnacles are big business in the Bas Country, because, you know, people go 15 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:27,160 out and gather them, but it's very dangerous. So not everybody does it. But you can sell 16 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:32,280 them for a lot of money. You know, fair amount of people die each year trying to get them. 17 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:39,800 You also have this whole culture around mushrooms when they're in season. Yes. And my favorite 18 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:47,280 mushroom dish is the one you get at Gambara. Yeah. Which is just grilled boletus. Boletus 19 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:53,880 is the same as porcini sliced, grilled with an egg yolk. And that's it. And it's amazing. 20 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:58,600 It's so good. It's just so extremely simple, you know, and then you get the raw egg yolk 21 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,840 in the center that you kind of break and dip the mushrooms into. And it's I mean, it's 22 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:08,400 amazing. I mean, it's crazy. If you're in the Bas Country, especially around that season, 23 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:14,920 you know, you have to go eat the Gambara mushrooms at least once. Like, it's a little bit shocking 24 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:20,600 because a plate of mushrooms costs you like 20 quid, I think. Yeah, around that. Yeah. 25 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,640 But it's you know, the mushrooms are amazing. Like it's a prime ingredient, you know, like 26 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:31,940 boletus is not cheap. Another of my favorite places is Chepecha. This is a place that specializes 27 00:02:31,940 --> 00:02:40,240 only on preserved anchovies. And you get like a slice of toasted bread with an anchovy on 28 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:45,200 top. It's not even toasted the bread and a topping on top of the anchovy. So it could 29 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:53,360 be like a vegetable vinaigrette with a vegetable bournoise. Or my favorite is with preserved 30 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:59,960 sea urchin, which is amazing. I've never tasted anything that tastes so much like sea. And 31 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:04,440 the other one would be like with a mixture of mayonnaise and king crab, which is also 32 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:09,760 pretty good. That's amazing. Well, of course, we also have to talk about all the Michelin 33 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:16,360 starred chefs that are in the region, like San Sebastian for a long time was the number 34 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:22,080 one place with the largest concentration of Michelin stars per capita. Now it's Kyoto 35 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:31,200 and San Sebastian is second. But I mean, it's like 180,000 inhabitants city. And there are 36 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:36,080 how many three Michelin star restaurants? Mugarich has two. They're also a bunch with 37 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:41,800 one. It's crazy. I mean, they're just meters away one from each other. It's crazy. Yeah, 38 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:47,400 especially because, you know, San Sebastian isn't like a huge city. It's a it's a town, 39 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:53,360 you know. And again, it's just like this food centric culture in the Basque country. This 40 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:58,240 like obsessiveness with cooking and with, you know, high quality food and high quality 41 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:03,360 ingredients and dislike technique forward drive is really unique, you know, around the 42 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:10,640 world. It also has been very influential. Like in the 60s, culinary movement was developed 43 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:17,520 in France called the Nouvelle cuisine, where many things changed their tasting menus were 44 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:25,160 introduced ordering wine by the glass, having dishes designed with a specific portion, a 45 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:31,000 specific amount of sauce so that it could fix in a longer menu, the way of plating of 46 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:36,200 presenting dishes, like many, many things changed. And there were two of the most influential 47 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:43,120 Basque chefs that went to France to get impregnated of all this set of knowledge. These were Subi 48 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:49,760 Hana and Arasak. And they came back and about 10 years later, in the 70s, 80s, they replicated 49 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:55,560 this movement and adapted it into the Basque reality. And that's what kind of where it 50 00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:00,560 started that all these restaurants started getting Michelin stars, chefs would train 51 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:06,200 with these chefs and create their own restaurants with their own Michelin stars. And it has 52 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:14,160 been like a legacy among Basque chefs that still continues today. And you still see the 53 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:21,080 influence of this in Pinchot's bars and in other culinary movements, such as the Spanish 54 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:26,720 avant-garde and the new Nordic cuisine movement were also influenced by the new Basque cuisine. 55 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:32,000 Yeah, the amount of influence is crazy. Like if you look at Arsak, you know, as like a 56 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:38,720 family restaurant in San Sebastian, and like he goes to France, you know, gets this inspiration, 57 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:45,800 comes back and the worldwide influence that he's had is crazy, you know, in so many ways, 58 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,000 you know, like now it's speaking about new Nordic cuisine, you know, and like all the 59 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:53,680 influence that that had together with Ferran Andrea and the Catalan sort of like movement, 60 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,400 it changed the culinary world worldwide, literally. 61 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:04,000 Did you know that the Ferran was cooking like classic until the mid 90s? And he was inspired 62 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:09,120 by Arsak to start doing crazy creative dishes as he does today. 63 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:15,720 I always remember that video of Ferran and Arsak in a bar together talking about gambas. 64 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:17,720 Have you seen that? 65 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:26,040 Yeah, I think Arsak is saying that squid is a blue fish and Ferran said, you're crazy. 66 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:30,800 What does that even mean? What does that even mean? Like a blue fish. And yeah, they're 67 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:36,040 talking about like that Ferran is saying sort of like, oh, when you get the shrimp in, you 68 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,960 have to let them rest for one or two days, then they're only really good. And Arsak is 69 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,840 saying, no, you have to cook them as fresh as possible. And they get really angry about 70 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:46,920 it. And he's like, no, no, no, you have to. Well, Ferran is kind of staying calm. He's 71 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,400 like, no, you have to just put them in the fridge for two or three days. And Arsak's 72 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,920 getting really angry. And he's like, what are you saying? You're crazy. 73 00:06:53,920 --> 00:07:00,320 He's so cool, man. And everybody loves him. I was in a conference in Germany where his 74 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:06,040 daughter Elena was giving a presentation. And when they showed a picture of Arsak, there 75 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:10,600 was like a minute standing ovation from everybody. It was crazy. 76 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,520 He's such a funny guy, man. He's just a lovable guy. 77 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:19,920 Another relevant topic is dining societies. Yeah, that's something crazy about the Basque. 78 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:26,160 Absolutely. There are some crazy customs that you won't see anywhere else. One of them is 79 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:30,200 dining societies. I will get to that in a minute. But another one is what they call 80 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:36,080 cuadrillas. Quadrillas is like your group of friends since your childhood. I mean, everybody 81 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:41,280 has like a group of friends that you went to school together and perhaps you grow up 82 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:45,080 and you still have that group of friends. But here it's like an institution. It's like 83 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:53,000 an actual group with members and people get into it like, we have a new member for cuadrilla. 84 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:59,280 And then they also have this dining societies, which are like clubs. Let's say like a sport 85 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:05,600 club where you have like a tennis court or in a swimming pool and so on. But this is 86 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:12,080 like a culinary club with a well-equipped kitchen up to a restaurant level equipment 87 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:19,280 and then dining spaces and families will go there and cook and every family cooks something 88 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:25,200 different and they will cook something really special, not just whatever, like something 89 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:32,280 fancy like a rice with lobster or perhaps a traditional dish or these kind of things. 90 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:40,520 And then of course, families will exchange one with each other and make each other taste. 91 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:46,800 And if you're exposed to something like that since you're little, that's like the equivalent 92 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:52,400 to a bar. So everybody has been into a bar or a restaurant and here you also have dining 93 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:57,680 societies. And I think that's also pretty interesting and probably also one of the reasons 94 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:01,960 why people are so knowledgeable about food around here. 95 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:06,760 Yeah, absolutely. And it comes to show you how strong the cultural identity is for cooking, 96 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:11,680 you know, and yet he's like secret gentlemen's clubs only because it was like for like a 97 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:16,000 long time until very recently, it was just the men that were allowed to cook red. Yeah. 98 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,720 Like, like it was just men that went, I think also. 99 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:23,840 Yeah. And I think that there are still some like that today. I'm not sure. That's probably 100 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:30,680 not legal anymore. But I mean, every time I've been to a dining society, there were 101 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:34,840 women both cooking and eating. So that's not a standard anymore. 102 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:40,040 Yeah. And it's, you know, it's cooking, enjoying yourself drinking and often singing songs. 103 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,480 You know, it's just a nice way of spending an evening, you know, meet up with your friends, 104 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:48,000 cook delicious food. It's like a friendly competition going on who cooks the tastiest 105 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,840 stuff, you know, who fucks up the peel peel. It's good fun. 106 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:57,480 Yeah. It's not an easy sauce to cook if you don't know how to do it. 107 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,640 It really isn't. I don't think I've ever cooked the traditional peel peel, to be honest with 108 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,280 you. I mean, if you know the technique and how 109 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:09,480 to move the pot and everything, sometimes you use like a strain to whisk the sauce. 110 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:11,160 That's one of the tricks. Yeah. 111 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:16,200 You never want to use like a tour mix. Otherwise you will get like a foamy white mayonnaise 112 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:22,320 that has nothing to do with this kind of like liquid thick sauce that is usually what you 113 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:30,000 want. Everything has a way of doing things. And if you don't do it the proper way, you 114 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:35,080 will get a different effect and you will offend people. Like, no, that's not how you cook 115 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:39,880 that chuleta. Like overcooking a chuleta, it's like a crime around here. 116 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:42,080 Like a medium rare steak. Yeah. 117 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,960 It has to be raw. People get angry about that. They don't even 118 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:50,920 ask you how you would like your chuleta here. If you want the rare or meat, no, you will 119 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:56,240 get it as it is and you should eat it as it is. It is also a crime to ask to send a chuleta 120 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:03,000 back to get it a little bit more cooked. Honestly, I've never seen that. I've never seen anybody 121 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:07,080 do that. I saw that once, man. And the waiter was like, 122 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:12,480 are you sure? The guy like, yes. And he looked him with a face of, man, you have no fucking 123 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:14,320 idea. Disgusting. 124 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:20,200 It was a French guy. There was really hate in the waiter's eyes. 125 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,920 Understandable. So the other nice thing is the way they cook 126 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:31,000 grilled fish here, because it's quite common that they will grill the fish until it's very 127 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:38,600 raw in the middle. And then they would take the center spine out and put like a mixture 128 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:47,840 of super hot oil, garlic, just a slice of dried chili and a little bit of apple vinegar. 129 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:53,760 And they would throw this on top of the fish just to cook that last punch. And so that 130 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:59,960 it comes really hot to the table. And that's how 99% of the fishes are cooked around here. 131 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:02,240 And it's always perfect. It's always delicious. 132 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:06,840 It's super delicious. Yeah, it's super, super delicious. I love this, this like mix of oil 133 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:11,120 and vinegar with like garlic is super delicious. And it's like one of the things that I took 134 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:15,880 away from cooking in the Basque country for like using for fish, especially like seafood 135 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,960 is so nice. I mean, that's what I do at Elcano. They have like a glass bottle, like a pouring 136 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:25,240 bottle with I think that's it. So I think it's like garlic that's like lightly fried 137 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,080 in oil, then it's cut with vinegar. 138 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:34,360 I heard that the the ahomiji that this mojo sauce that they have at Elcano. And actually, 139 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:39,040 I haven't heard of other places that still have this kind of things. It's like a super 140 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:45,080 secret recipe that the owner would go like to the to like a different room every time 141 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:50,120 he is going to make it and then come back with the sauce already made. 142 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:54,440 It was like that at Chibari when I went to eat them in this is a long time ago, like 143 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:59,720 it was what 2013 now it's different now he's got chefs and stuff. But back then it was 144 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:05,840 still like only him, you know, cooking. It was him, another chef who was doing pastry 145 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:12,040 and then like three Asian guys who are just like cleaning salads and stuff who would interning. 146 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:15,360 Now he's got like actual chefs and people are plating and stuff. But like when I was 147 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:19,600 there, that's where we got like a kitchen tour and stuff. And they were saying like 148 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:26,120 when Bitor is cooking and like making the charcoal and stuff. Nobody's in the room. 149 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:27,480 Like it's just him. 150 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:28,480 That's crazy. 151 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:38,520 Hello there. I just finished editing this episode. And since this is part two of Basque 152 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:43,200 cuisine and gastronomy, I think it's worth mentioning that Eric is currently offering 153 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:49,800 some really cool food tours in San Sebastian. Go to Eric's website gastrogems.com and book 154 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:54,560 your private food tour. The link is in the episode description. You can expect the complete 155 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:59,840 hassle free eating frenzy. Eric will take you to the best bars in town and fill you 156 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:05,720 up with each place a specialty. You just have to follow along and eat. Oh, and drink amazing 157 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:10,800 Basque cider. Check out the different tour packages on his website and you will see it's 158 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:16,720 super affordable. Also, if you're enjoying the show, make sure to follow and subscribe. 159 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:21,720 We're trying to make more and better episodes and we can only do it with your support. If 160 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:26,520 you have any questions that you want us to answer on the show, you can contact over Instagram 161 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:35,760 or email. The info is in the description. Potluck Food Talks airs every Monday.