Basque Country Live

Part 2

After enlightening a few barmen about the tuna issue(see part one), we continued our struggle a bit differently. We decided to take a look outside of the centre. Here we found some bars that had pastries, just what you need to make a girl happy!

But I hoped for something better for dinner. And most fortunately, instead of the barmens fingers, pointing at the tortilla patata again, helpfull fingers pointed out a vegetarian restaurant on our little map. So we headed there, to find this cozy, hippy-like place, tucked away in a side street of one of Donostias barrios(neighbourhoods).

The food was great, the atmosphere even better and the food even got served with an ecological txakoli! Happy days in Donostia, I nearly got convinced to become a vegetarain as well. Too bad I didn’t trie all those lovely Basque dishes and pintxos yet. So ‘unfortunately’ my time hasn’t come yet, but at least there’s some places for veggies, almost clandestinely hidden away from the carnivours…

Share on Facebook

Part 1

Basques are people who have perfectly understood how to live the good life. They’re supposed to have the best cuisine in the whole of Spain with their artistic pintxos, genuine farm food and the gastronomic societies.

Yes, the country of the cured hams, squid in its own ink and chorizo has got it all.. This paradise of tastes however, could be seen as a somewhat hostile environment by visiting vegetarians. Cause even in the pintxo capital of the world, Donostia, it’s nearly impossible to find more than tortilla patata or a piece of cheese in one of its downtown bars.

I just found myself in the company of my vegetarian girlfriend, to who I’ve been bragging about the awesome food culture around here. Well, it did’t take too long before the pride got replaced by shame.. Asking for vegetarian pintxos gave me quite some interresting responses. Cause guess what I found out?! Tuna and ham are vegeterian here! Apparently these things grow from trees somewhere.. How interresting, next season I’ll be there for the tuna harvest!

Share on Facebook

After two months of studying and travelling in the Basque Country, I have to say that the studying part isn’t so bad at all. Granted, I’m not that much of a study type, which means that sometimes there’s secundary things I would care more about than on the actual content. Well, I happen to be studying in an aboslutely awesome faculty, one in the small town of Eskoriatza. At least two ceinturies ago, it was used as a hospital and a convent znd it still kept a bit of that atmosphere. This makes it easy to imagine yourself, walking around back in the days with your books, studying theology, Latin or medicines…

However, another town, about twenty kilometres up north, has an even more stunning one. Onati has the oldest University of the Basque Country. Walking there didn’t just give you the idea of walking around 300 years ago, I think we actually were! All these details they used in the architecture and design are simlpy incredible.

Now I really don’t feel like returning to my study factory like university in Holland!

Share on Facebook

When in Rome, act like the Romans they say. Well, I’m not in Rome today but in Bilbao. So what do these Bilbaínos do, so I can act like them? At the moment I encountered these people they were certainly not having their worst moments in life. It was downtown in the Casco Viejo,  the old part of the city, where things just seem to go a bit slower.

The Bilbaínos, sometimes called botxeros,  were going from bar to bar, often facing the cold and taking their consumptions outside. Even though, in my Northern European view, it had been dinner time long ago, people just kept eating these small fancy bites. Pintxos they called them, and they were undoubtedly flushed away with ample quantities of wine, cider or other funny beverages Bilbaínos seem to enjoy.

Trying to imitate their behaviour, we started eating some of these pintxo’s. Great opportunity for overcoming your dislikes for certain products because half of the time you don’t really see what you’re eating. But usually they look and taste damn good! After one pinxto and one Txakoli, typical Basque white wine, we hit another bar, just like the Bilbaínos.

In the next couple bars, it was the same story. We tried all sorts of interresting pintxos, with tuna, cured ham, cheese, tortilla de patata and more.. Happy days for my vegetarian girlfriend, who joined me on my expedition. The food has to go with a drink so we tried rioja, patxaran, licor de manzana and of course the famous Basque apple cider. Quite enjoyable..

After these pintxo bars emptied, we came aware of the complete ravage the Bilbaínos left. One could literally find anything laying on the floor; pinxto sticks, pieces of bread or other food, cigarettes, napkins and all other sorts of rubbish. Well, when in Bilbao, act like the Bilbaínos, so I just turned my plate upside down, smiled kindly to the waiter who was about to pounce on this lovely heap, and moved on to the next bar.

Share on Facebook