Our dear New York Times, which has written so much about the Basques, has given us yet another gem.  This time, in the Eat section, chef, journalist, and author Dorie Greenspan has published an article about the gâteau Basque that really whets a reader’s appetite for a piece or four.

But the article also leaves the reader wanting to visit our country, as she lists some of the gastronomic, and non-gastronomic, delights to be found in the Northern Basque Country: Ossau-Iraty cheese, Irouléguy wine, espadrilles, the traditional telas with colored lines, or chocolate spiked with Espelette.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Our country captivates those who enjoy it, sometimes even in ways that for most would be mere coincidences.  It happened to Dorie Greenspan when she made a “wrong” turn that ended up taking her to Sare, a Basque town of breathtaking beauty that is home to what fascinated our journalist: the Gâteau Basque Museum (Musée du Gâteau Basque).

There, she discovered this jewel of our cuisine, and met its founder, pastry maker Bixente Marichular, president of Bizi Ona Slow Food Pays Basque.  And that’s where the author’s love for this Basque dessert began.

And it’s a lasting love, as can be seen by this article, written in May 2021, that recalls a trip she took with her husband over ten years ago.

We hope she’ll come back when she can and get to know our whole country, from Bayonne to Tudela, because it’s not for nothing we are The Culinary Nation.

New York Times -5/5/2021 – USA

The Jam-Filled Pastry of My Dreams

Fourteen or so months into Covid-times and more than 450 days since we left our home in Paris thinking we’d be back in a few weeks, I keep dreaming of travel. One morning, I woke up thinking I was on a beach, not my usual dreamscape, but nice. Once, I dreamed I’d bought so many lilies of the valley on May Day that I couldn’t carry them home.

(Follow) (Automatic translation)

Header photo: Heami Lee for The New York Times.  Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Amy Wilson.

Last Updated on May 8, 2021 by About Basque Country


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