food from the north of spain

Historically, it was the Moors that played an important part in Spain's culinary heritage. The Moors brought almonds, saffron, cinnamon and nutmeg which shaped the flavours of the Spanish cuisine we know today. One is more likely to find rabbit on a restaurant menu instead of chicken. From the Basques that are famous for their gastronomical societies and the most sophisticated food in Spain- the restaurants of San Sebastian, for example, bear more Michelin stars than Paris. To the Asturias with its abundance of fish and vegetables, Northern Spain's cuisine is one of the best in Europe.

Traditional Basque cooking uses few spices employing instead ultra fresh ingredients, a bit of garlic, olive oil and salt. The secret of Basque cuisine lies in cooking everything exactly to "its point". They are masters at it. In San Sebastian, excellent food can be found at the stalls of the La Brecha market – exotic cheeses, cured Bayonne ham sliced paper thin, fresh baguettes and an array of fruits and vegetables.
Most of life in San Sebastian revolves around food but in the Basque Country, on the Northern Coast the rituals surrounding eating border on obsession.

The Basque Country curves around the Bay of Biscay. These waters provide many varieties of fish and shellfish that commonly find their way onto the Basque table. For example, crab, hake, tuna, cod, mussels, oysters, lobsters, edible sea barnacles and baby eels or angulas. An elegant fan-shaped sea scallop that the Galacians call vieira has flavour and history. Their shells were kept as proof their journey through the rocky coastlines. Octopus that inhabit the deep bay waters also find their way to the table as pulpo gallega.

Home to fat cows and mountain ranges full of forests, Asturias and Cantabria is cheese and apple country. Arroz con leche is a simple rice pudding made with its famous rich and creamy milk. The milk not used for bottling is used for some of the best cheeses in Spain. Cow, sheep and goats milk is used to make a soft creamy cheese that is wrapped in chestnut leaves and stored in humid caves. Light green-blue veins develop to intensify its taste and aroma.

In the Basque Country tapas are better known as pintxos. There are two accepted periods for eating pintxos, one is the aperitivo from 11 to 2 and the other is the txikiteo, which is the early evening walk-about-town with obligatory stops at a series of instinctively determined bars to have a tiny glass of wine or beer (txikito) and a pintxo.
Offerings on the bar include: tiny rolls filled with ham, grilled eggplant, red peppers, various omelettes, fish, sausage, fresh anchovies, as well as croquettes and towering creations of potato salad, egg, mayonnaise and shrimp supported by a toothpick and topped by an olive.

La Espuela. Literally translated it means "the spur" but really it is "the last one". As soon as you suggest that you will be going home la espuela is insisted upon and it is beyond rude to refuse. Intended to give fresh life to the night it can indeed be only one drink after which your departure will be gracefully accepted or if the spur gives the proper kick you may be out until morning.

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