This week, we visited a little corner of the Basque Country in London, and cooked up some Basque tapas (known as pintxos) with Leo Barria, head chef of Bilbao Berria.
Basque pinxtos is similar to Spanish tapas, and features traditional, bold Spanish flavours with plenty of fresh seafood – there are 250 miles of coastline in Basque Country, so it’s hardly surprising that fresh seafood is a regional speciality!
What to drink with your pinxtos? Leo recommends washing these down with a rich Basque rioja, or perhaps a glass of traditional Basque cider. Served still and cold, Basque cider is fresh and light compared to British cider, and best drunk quickly with a cry of “Txotx!” (chotch) – which is a Basque version of cheers reserved exclusively for cider drinking.
- 2 slices of smoked salmon
- 4 slices of Serrano ham
- 2 slices of long bread
- 2 clove of garlic
- 5 small capers
- 50g cream cheese
- Firstly, mix the cream cheese with the chopped garlic and capers.
- Toast, or grill the bread on both sides and spread the cheese mixture over each toast.
- Roll the salmon slices and place one on each toast.
- For the final touch, roll the slices of Serrano ham and place them on either side of the salmon roll.
- For a mouth-watering experience, try using Iberico ham instead of Serrano ham
- 30g fresh tuna
- 1 quail’s egg
- 1 large green pitted olive
- 1 anchovy fillet in vinegar
- 1 Basque chilli
- green chilli and lime dressing
- red onion, thinly sliced
- Sea the tuna on all sides, leaving the centre pink
- Place it in the fridge to cool
- Once the tuna is cool, skewer it onto a cocktail stick
- Then skewer the other ingredients in the following order: tuna, egg, olive wrapped in anchovy, basque chilli
- To serve dress with the chilli lime dressing and sprinkle over the red onion
Inspired to learn more?
Check out our top six things to eat, see and do in Basque Country!
Discussion1 Comment
This will go really well with a glass of Chardonnay, thanks for sharing!