Basque social eating in a gastronomical club, Part I,By Saskia Kamphuis

Eating good food is a Basque tradition. The best way to participate in this tradition is find your way into one of the gastronomical societies that the country is known for.

You can't just knock on the door of a gastronomical society and walk in, a invitation by one of the members is needed. Last Friday I was lucky enough to be invited to a gastronomical society in Elorrio. Together with eight other foreign students I accepted the invitation to the society "Alkartu", which means 'coming together', with big curiosity. The husband of the sister of my teacher is a member so we were very lucky to have that connection. Balen is the name of the husband and together with the wife of my teacher, Bego, he was cooking us a lovely dinner that evening.

When we entered the club we first got a tour true it guided by Juan, one of the 154 members. The club had a very nice charm because it was founded in 1979 and it still exits out of the first stones that were placed with by the hands of the founders. The club is three floors high and at the upper floor the house still had only windows made out of stone without any glass inside. On the back side of the house there is a terrace with a barbeque and a big garden for the children to play in during the summer nights.

A homemade "txakoli", typical Basque white wine, and some chorizo with bread were waiting for us at the kitchen counter after the tour. While we were nibbling I got a good peak at the kitchen of the club. Five members where cooking at the same time for there visitors. Balen even had a other group of visitors next to us that evening so he was very busy. But the kitchen had the right equipment for the hard working cooks, the big pans and the large ovens were stuffed with many good smelling dishes. It was for sure that nobody would go home on a empty stomach that evening!

We started with a nice salad of potatoes with a light dressing and some fresh baked bred. Of course the opening of the wine bottles continued and we enjoyed a good "Rioja" with the dinner.

The salad was followed by a "salda" with chicken. "Salda" is a bouillon cooked out of spices and vegetables. To the bouillon cooked meat is added and I was told that another dish is often made out of the cooked vegetables. Instead of the cooked chicken we had in the "salda" we could also have had cooked chorizo. It is typically Basque to put chorizo in a "salda" and at local festivals on the streets "salda" with chorizo is very often served with a peas of bread.

The mean course of the evening was a tuna steak with a salsa of red and green peppers, garlic and tomato juice. A very good combination with a tender grilled tuna stake. Balen made ribs as the mean course for his other group that evening but he was so kind to put some a side for us. We are all still thankful for that because it were the kind of ribs that will make your mouth water by only looking at them The right spices where used and the cooking time in the oven must have been perfectly timed because even the family of Balen was amazed by the tenderness of the meat. It just fell right of the bone.

As if we hadn’t eaten enough already plates with creamy goat cheese with a kind of marmalade aside were served. After that it was good that there was coffee because we all have to recover from the delicious meals. But of course even the last bite that came with the coffee in the shape of a home backed cake with raisins was enjoyed by all of us. Next to the coffee we enjoyed a glass of "patxaran", which is a typical Basque liquor made out of blueberries.