We just found an article in the Argentine daily El Cronista (which weโ€™ve referenced on other occasions) about โ€œpollo al batzoki.โ€  This recipe was published in 1933 by Bilbao-born culinary expert Marรญa Mestayer de Echagรผe (who also used the pseudonyms โ€œMirentxuโ€ and the โ€œMarchioness of Parabereโ€) in her book Platos escogidos de la cocina vasca (Selected Dishes of Basque Cuisine).

Mariฬa Mestaye, la marquesa de Parabere
Mariฬa Mestaye, โ€œMartixuโ€ and โ€œMarchioness of Parabereโ€

We were struck by the name of the recipe, as well as how popular itโ€™s become online.  So we decided to dig a little deeper.

For those who donโ€™t know the Basque Country well, the term โ€œbatzokiโ€ probably means nothing.  But for those of us who do, weโ€™ll recall the meeting houses of the Basque Nationalist Party, which have, since the beginning, used this word, from the Basque โ€œbatuโ€ (unite) and โ€œtokiโ€ (place), to describe the places where they met, bringing together political action, social culture, and of course, cuisine.

But what does a batzoki have to do with a woman born in Bilbao to French parents at the end of the 19th century, who went on to become a leading figure in cuisine in the 1930s and โ€™40s, and whose books are still on bookstore shelves?

Because it must be obvious that choosing that name for a dish cannot be mere coincidence.  After reading her biography, it was a bit clearer.

We can clearly see that she was not a quiet person who was willing to be tied down to her pre-assigned role as an โ€œupper-classโ€ woman in the society of the time.

She married at 24, but despite her lack of knowledge of cooking, didnโ€™t want her husband to eat out every day at the Sociedad Bilbaรญna, very close to their home.  Her husband was Ramรณn Echagรผe Churruca, and they would have eight children and live on Ibรกรฑez de Bilbao Street, and were neighbors with businessman Ramรณn de la Sota, whom weโ€™ll hear more about later.

She was a capable and decided woman, and went from being a complete novice about cuisine to being and expert.  And she started her climb as a culinary writer in some newspapers, including La Naciรณn in Buenos Aires.  At first, she used the pseudonym โ€œMaritxu,โ€ but then chose one that would accompany her on her rise to fame, as the โ€œMarchioness of Parabere.โ€

She also starting giving cooking and pastry classes in Bilbao to the women of Acciรณn Catรณlica, in the nearby parish of St. Vincent of Abando, at the Sagrado Corazรณn School, and at Emakume Abertzale Batza, an association of women affiliated with the Basque Nationalist Party.  If Acciรณn Catรณlica was a breeding ground for Basque nationalists at the time, the EAB was an essential part of growth in the movement.

So it cannot be, indeed it is not, a coincidence or an accident that she chose these places to offer her courses.  Likewise, neither is the name of โ€œpollo al batzokiโ€ that weโ€™re speaking of today.

Similarly, her and her husbandโ€™s friendship with Ramรณn de la Sota, the Basque businessman and politician who was a key player in the BNP from its founding, was not a coincidence, either.  De la Sota was renowned for being a โ€œpossiblistโ€ in his political standings, and in his campaign to be elected the representative for Balmaseda in the Spanish Parliament claimed:

ยซTenemos que elegir mandatarios para un organismo extraรฑo, para las Cortes espaรฑolas de Madrid. Los diputados vascos que a ellas llevemos deben saber que son extranjeros en esas Cortes, que no van a ellas a defender los intereses de Espaรฑa, sino los sagrados de su patria: Euzkadi.ยป
We have to chose leaders for a foreign body, for the Spanish Parliament in Madrid.  The Basque deputies we send there must know that they are foreigners in that Parliament, that they are not going there to defend the interests of Spain, but rather the sacred ones of their homeland: the Basque Country:

He was similarly not โ€œlukewarmโ€ when defending the Basque Government and its fight against fascism during the whole war.  He put all his assets, including his merchant marine, at the service of the cause, which cost him and his family to lose almost everything they had when the rebels won.

It was in this context that Marรญa Mestayer de Echagรผe was writing, and when she published one of her cookbooks in 1935, Platos escogidos de la Cocina Vasca (Selected Dishes of Basque Cuisine, (which can be read here), she included the recipe weโ€™re speaking of today.

Itโ€™s one of those tragic curiosities that life sometimes surprises us with.

This 1935 edition of Marรญa Mestayerโ€™s book was almost completely destroyed by a Francoist bombing raid.  A similar thing almost happened to British journalist George L. Sterr and his book, The Tree of Gernika: A field study of modern war, which was published in London in 1938 and almost destroyed in a Nazi bombing raid on the British capital.

As can be seen, behind this chicken recipe that has become so popular online, there is a lot more history behind it than first meets the eye.

El Cronista โ€“ 8/2/2024 โ€“ Argentina

Pollo al batzoki: la receta sencilla para preparar paso a paso este clรกsico de la cocina vasca

La gastronomรญa del Paรญs Vasco se caracteriza por su variedad de sabores, especialmente los cuales que provienen de la pesca del dรญa. Entre los mรกs populares se encuentra el bacalao al pil pil, el marmitako y la piperrada.

 

Last Updated on Feb 12, 2024 by About Basque Country


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