Local Dishes

1. pintxoa

   Pintxo (bar snack)

   Usage

   Bite-sized bar food, usually on bread and pinned with a skewer; widest choice in the old towns of Bilbo and Donostia

   Grammar Note

   "pintxoa" is "pintxo" with the postposed definite article "-a", plural "pintxoak". Spanish spells the same snack "pincho"

2. taloa

   Talo (thin corn flatbread)

   Usage

   Corn flour, water and salt only, griddled at festival stalls and wrapped around txistorra or cheese; called "pastetxa" in Zuberoa and "artopil" in some areas

3. marmitakoa

   Marmitako (tuna and potato stew)

   Usage

   A Bay of Biscay fishermen's dish of tuna, potatoes, onion, tomato and dried red peppers

   Grammar Note

   From "marmita" (cooking pot) + "-ko" (of): literally "the one from the pot", after the pot used aboard fishing boats

4. porrusalda

   Porrusalda (leek and potato soup)

   Usage

   A winter soup built on leeks. The same word also names a Basque square dance and its tune, so read it in context

5. piperrada

   Piperrada (stewed peppers and onion)

   Usage

   Peppers are the obligatory ingredient; served alongside meat or fish. In the Northern Basque Country it is made with Espelette pepper, and an egg is often stirred in to serve it as a starter

6. ttoroa

   Ttoro (Basque fish soup)

   Usage

   A fishermen's soup from Lapurdi (Donibane Lohizune, Ziburu, Sokoa): conger, cod, hake and shellfish are fried first, then simmered in a tomato broth

7. bakailao pil-pilean

   Cod in pil-pil sauce

   Usage

   Salt cod poached, never fried, in olive oil and garlic; the earthenware pot is rocked so the fish gelatine emulsifies with the oil. "Pil-pil" is onomatopoeia for the gentle simmering sound

8. kokotxak

   Kokotxak (hake or cod throat morsels)

   Usage

   The V-shaped throat cut of hake or cod, either emulsified with olive oil, garlic and parsley in an earthenware dish or breaded and fried

   Grammar Note

   Singular "kokotxa"; the plural "kokotxak" is what appears on menus

9. txipiroiak beren tintan

   Squid in its own ink

   Usage

   Squid simmered in an onion and green pepper sauce blackened with the ink; often shortened to "txipiroiak tintan"

10. legatza saltsa berdean

    Hake in green sauce

    Usage

    Hake with asparagus, peas, clams, parsley and egg, also called "koxkera" style; eaten straight away, since reheating dries the fish

11. angulak

    Angulak (baby eels / elvers)

    Usage

    Elvers served with olive oil and garlic or in an omelette. They are very expensive; the cheap surimi imitation is sold under the trade name "gula"

    Grammar Note

    Singular "angula"; "txitxardin" is another Basque name for the same elver

12. txistorra

    Txistorra (thin fresh sausage)

    Usage

    A thin sausage of fatty minced pork (70–80%) with garlic, salt, paprika and herbs, grilled or fried and often rolled inside a talo

    Grammar Note

    "txistorra" is "txistor" with the definite article "-a"

13. odolkia

    Blood sausage

    Usage

    A meatless sausage made from pig or lamb blood, with onion, fat, pumpkin or rice depending on the area; also called "tripot" in the Northern Basque Country, or "odoloste"

14. axoa

    Axoa (minced veal and pepper stew)

    Usage

    A farmhouse dish of Lapurdi and Gipuzkoa: chopped veal or beef with spices, peppers and onion. It became famous in Ezpeleta and is paired with Irulegi wine

15. zurrukutuna

    Garlic, cod and bread soup

    Usage

    A thick winter soup of garlic and salt cod with soup bread and a couple of eggs; in Urnieta it was traditionally eaten on Olentzero day

    Grammar Note

    Colloquially the same word also means "sweetheart" ("zu zara nire zurrukutuna")

16. Tolosako babarrunak

    Tolosa black beans

    Usage

    A stew of the black bean grown in Tolosaldea, Gipuzkoa. It carries the Eusko Label mark but is not a protected designation of origin

17. mondejua

    Mondeju (Goierri sausage)

    Usage

    A sausage similar to blood sausage, from Goierri in Gipuzkoa and specifically Zaldibia, where an Idiazabal cheese and mondeju contest ("Ardiki eguna") is held every year

18. frikatxa

    Frikatxa (lamb offal scrambled with egg)

    Usage

    Lamb offal, mainly congealed blood and intestines, scrambled with egg; eaten mostly in the Debagoiena area of Gipuzkoa

19. Baionako xingarra

    Bayonne cured ham

    Usage

    The salt-cured, air-dried ham famous from Baiona (Bayonne) in the Northern Basque Country, sliced thin for starters and pintxos

20. Idiazabal gazta

    Idiazabal sheep's milk cheese

    Usage

    A sheep's milk cheese from the Southern Basque Country with a protected designation of origin since 1987. It is named after the Gipuzkoan village of Idiazabal but is also made in Tolosaldea, Araba, Navarre and Bizkaia

21. gazta-tarta

    Cheesecake

    Usage

    A cake of cheese, sugar and eggs; a standard dessert in Basque restaurants, and the Donostia (San Sebastián) version is the one known worldwide as "Basque cheesecake"

22. pantxineta

    Pantxineta (custard and almond puff pastry)

    Usage

    Puff pastry filled with an egg, flour and sugar cream and topped with toasted almonds, eaten warm. It was created in 1915 by the Otaegui pastry shop in Donostia

23. intxaursaltsa

    Walnut cream dessert

    Usage

    Crushed walnuts simmered slowly with milk, cream, sugar and cinnamon; a farmhouse dessert from Gipuzkoa and one of the main Basque Christmas sweets. Also spelled "intxaur-saltsa"

24. mamia

    Mamia (sheep's milk curd)

    Usage

    A dessert of curdled milk, made in the Basque Country with sheep's milk and served with honey or walnuts. In Bizkaiera it is "gatzatua"; some areas also call it "gaztanbera", but "gaztanbera" properly names a different, broader whey product

    Grammar Note

    "Mami" also means pulp or the gist of something; the dairy sense is a Gipuzkoan usage

25. goxua

    Goxua (Gasteiz dessert)

    Usage

    One of the best known Basque desserts, and a speciality of Gasteiz (Vitoria) in particular

    Grammar Note

    The dessert's name is fixed as "goxua". The standard adjective for "sweet, tasty" is "goxo" ("goxoa" with the article), so do not confuse the two spellings

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