A Countryside Wedding

You're invited to a wedding. A charter bus carries you from the beachfront of San Sebastián and drops you off in...Bidania. A tiny village in the Gipuzkoan countryside. The sun is shining, it's a lovely 75 degrees, and you walk into the town's church to find an enormous, beautiful gold plated altar. The building is full of friends, as well as a few stragglers from the town who seem to have come to take the Eucharist.

Doesn't get any more beautiful....

The happy couple, the perfect day, all with the backdrop of paradise.

A walk up a hill, past farmhouses, gardens, and chickens, and you arrive at an old villa-turned-hotel. Each guest is seated according to a chart made of wood, with each table taking the name of a nearby village. Your own wooden spoon carries an engraving of your name.

But before dinner, there's champagne, endlessly refilled into your glass, and plates of designer pintxos. Each of which I ate at least two, while talking Basque politics and other pleasantries.

The groom gives a homerun of a speech, after feigning nervousness.

The dinner is also a homerun...seared scallops with strips of iberian fat over potato puree.

Lamb. And roasted peaches with butter crumbs and sweet cheesy cream.

A sweet ending (followed, of course, by gintonics and dancing the night away in the open country air). A perfect day. And a new couple whom I wish only the best! Here's to you, Jon + Nicole!

Cook&Fashion

Thursday night I had the pleasure of attending a unique event here in San Sebastián's palacio Miramar, Cook & Fashion.  It's a dinner that combines a runway (which this year featured Andres Sarda) and pintxos, in an irresistible combo of haute cuisine and haute couture. So cool. 

What would an event, filled with the upper crust of one of the world's most pija cities, be without some swag? Chocolate and perfume. Love the packaging.

We were arranged throughout three rooms of the seaside palace, and the models entered in the first and paraded through to a lovely soundtrack of forgotten but quickly remembered songs of the 90s (think that one that's like "I try to say goodbye and I choke..."). Each one carried a different small plate, created by a different local chef according to their dress's design.

This design was the one that garnered the most applause...for the dress, for the model, and for the pintxo. Glamour pero glamour.

The night's theme was thoroughly feminine. The couture was lingerie based, and all the chefs that cooked for the event were females this year. There were creations from a wide variety of styles, from Aizpea Ohaineder of Xarma to Egoitz's tia from her restaurant next to his sidrería.

The food, as is to be expected, was super colorful (check out those green spaghetti!). It also had its highs and lows, just like fashion shows. But the exciting part of this event was seeing chefs step out of their comfort zones and be challenged to think a bit. And it just makes sense that this happens in San Sebastián, which is already at the forefront of all things culinary. 

Below, my two favorites: foie on olive cake with muscovado sugar and yogurt of the day with a ball of idiazabal creme and breadcrumbs.

If you're interested in read more, check out my coverage on the EITB website.

Mission Cookie : Bilbao

Well, it's that time again.

Time to put on my superlady cape and go save Bilbao.

From what? From their lack of brown sugar, from the complete absence of crunchy-chewy chocolate chip cookies, from the sheer fact that they have never tasted a shortcake in their life.

That's right, it's time for another American Baking class. Just like the ones I gave in Beasain and San Sebastián, I will be teaching these Basques a thing or two about really, really fattening and delicious desserts (some may say, my area of expertise).

How do you convince a Basque to take this class? Here's what garnered a sold-out crowd over at the Glutton Club website:

• How to transform saturated fats and pure sugar into delicious desserts.
• How to do it like an American (trying the dough in every step of the process). For quality control, not lack of self control. #ak.
• Learning the use of the term sugar high, very American, which means you have eaten a lot of sweets and are feeling the effects.
• Learn what is the source of the obesity epidimic in the United States.
• How to make the best cookies in the world.
• How to drive yourself crazy with recipes that aren't measured normally, but in  cups, tablespoons, teaspoons…

Tempting, no? Stay tuned in for future classes....

Glutton Club Post

You can read another take on Outstanding in the Field at The Glutton Club's website.

They call me the Dame of Alabama....ha. Never has a redneck sounded so regal.

Outstanding In the Field: Remelluri, La Rioja

Outstanding in the Field. If you've never heard of it, it's basically dinner in the field. With lots of people, most of whom you don't know. That, of course, is an absurdly simple summary of this event that has basically conquered the United States, selling out in venues from California to Alabama. It's been going on for almost 15 years, and its mission is to spotlight farmers and the people and places behind our local food systems.

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending OITF in La Rioja with two very good (too good) friends.  This OITF took place on the grounds of the bodega Remelluri, a winery whose mention draws nods of approval and respect from locals. Sancho, the son of the owners, is good friends with Jim, the founder of OITF, and the dinner felt more like a family celebration than an 'event'.

After socializing in the garden, framed by the family's personal frontón and hermitage, we moved into the vineyards for the dinner.

The menu? After aperitifs of almonds, gazpacho, jamón ibérico, and bruschetta, we sat down to toast with truffle from the mountains and butter.  Then a vegetable soup with veggies from the family garden, Terreña veal with tomatoes and pisto.

It was sort of surreal and really interesting to be part of OITF in Spain, and at the side of my friends, born and raised here.  The part of OITF that is novel in the United States, the hours long meal with love and attention lavished on both products and diners, the luxury of spending time talking at a table and savoring every dish, giving it your full attention, all that is something that is NORMAL here.   Instead, I found that the novel part of OITF for people from here was the fact that it was such an 'event'. That it was so 'cool'. That a meal could be something worthy of such introspection and for lack of a more positive word, navel gazing. Really interesting.

The last course was grilled lamb, both incredibly tender and unbelievably crispy, potatoes, and salad.  It was accompanied by a red that, after tasting, prompted me to dump my previous glass of Remelluri Red 2004 Double Magnum and fill it up anew with the 1999 Remelluri Gran Reserva. So good. Even Absemio Andoni pronounced it 'drinkable'.

As the sun set, cold started to get the best of everyone. We moved inside to watch a video of Jim, founder of OITF, doing some of his landscape sculptures on the beach of Urdaibai, in Vizkaya. Remelluri family friend/famed Basque musician Mikel Laboa had composed a song especially for the video.

After the movie, we moved into the bodega for drinks and desserts. The post dinner drinks were a highlight....champagne, riesling, port and sherry. And, of course, more red wine.

Then on to dessert, classic and correct, oranges with walnuts, leche frita, and almond cake.

Berei Good.