This article was translated by John R. Bopp
Our regular readers have surely read some entries we’ve dedicated to the Txikito restaurant, a Basque restaurant in New York that organizes the extraordinary Txikifest. It’s been awhile since we’ve written about them, even though there have been some interesting things to tell (unfortunately, we have more news than time sometimes!)
Today they’re making the news in our blog because they’re about to publish a book on Basque gastronomy with a very original title: The Basque Book: A Love Letter in Recipes from the Kitchen of Txikito.
This is definitely a title that reflects the passion and love of its authors, Alexandra Raij, Eder Montero, and Rebecca Flint Marx, who have put a lot of care into this book, just like the owners of Txikito, Alexandra Raij and Eder Montero put into the dishes in their restaurant.
Although it may sound a little “vogue”, one can’t forget that Basque cuisine, with all its innovation and international impact, was born in the kitchens in Basque mothers, in the fields or in the cities, in the txokos and taverns that fed the workers, by the fishermen at sea–it’s definitely a people’s cuisine, made with limited resources, and in which love for things well made was a main ingredient. The most famous Basque chefs started learning in these places, the home kitchen, the txoko, the tavern. And in this apprenticeship was the love for doing something well and for enjoying that food.
The day that “Basque cuisine” loses that connection with its roots is the day it’ll stop being Basque and quite possibly stop being successful.
We would like to congratulate the authors of this book, which we predict will be a commercial and critical success. We’d also like to thank them for spreading yet another element of Basque culture around the world
We’d like to finish with an interesting reference we found on the website Beth Fish Reads, where not just the content but also readers’ comments are important. Here they show us just how far we still have to go to spread Basque cuisine around the world. We’d also like to leave this link for buying this book off Amazon.
Beth fish reads- 2/4/2016 – USA
Weekend Cooking: The Basque Book by Alexandra Raij, Eder Montero, and Rebecca Marx
Alexandra Raij had wanted to be a chef all her life, so it seemed natural that after she graduated from culinary school and got her first job, she’d date and then marry a fellow chef. Although Raij’s American-born, her parents are from Argentina, and she’s always had a strong affinity for her Spanish-inspired roots. Her husband, Eder Montero, is from Basque country, and his native dishes star in their restaurant, which specializes in northern Spanish cuisine.
(Continue) (Automatic translation)
Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country