"The Basque Country - Cuisine & Culture" Hits the iTunes Store

Hello everyone!

As an update to my previous post, I am proud to announce that my new guidebook, The Basque Country: Cuisine & Culture has just hit the press.  


It's available for download in the iTunes store for $2.99 - the price of a pintxo!  


You can read more about it on the iTunes store here.


Thanks for the support, and if you like it please leave a positive review here

My Guidebook - The Basque Country: Cuisine & Culture

The Basque Coast, near Zumaia (Gipuzkoa)

First off – I have an excuse for not updating this blog in a while.  It's a good one too.

For the last four months I have been devoting my heart and soul into writing a gastronomical guidebook about the Basque Country. As you may know, I have been fascinated by Basque culture ever since I first heard about the homeland of the nationless Basque people. Since arriving in San Sebastián I've done my best to soak up facts, stories and cultural perspectives on all things Basque, and this guidebook is the culmination of my curiosity.  Check it out here. 

The Basques are famous worldwide for their culinary prowess, and the area is home to more Michelin stars per capita than anywhere else in the world. San Sebastián (Donostia) alone is brimming with Michelin starred restaurants and more pintxo bars than you could visit in a full fortnight of glutinous grazing. Beyond gastronomy, I've included historical anecdotes, a menu decoder and the most current insights on the local culinary scene so you know what to eat at which restaurants. 

Fishermen's homes in Hondarribia

Mine is not a traditional guidebook – it's an app for iPhones I developed with SutroMedia. It will be available for download in the iTunes store by July 2011 under the name “The Basque Country: Cuisine and Culture.” The fully interactive app has over 200 entries on everything from local taverns in Bilbao, splendid palaces in Vitoria, Michelin-starred restaurants in San Sebastián and up-and-coming chefs from small seaside towns like Hondarribia.

Traditional Basque farmhouse - un caserío

I fell in love with the Basque Country, and this guidebook is one written out of my passion for my host country. I intend not only to inform readers of their dining options, but also of the fascinating culture they are visiting. I hope that you all have the opportunity to visit the Basque Country in person so you can share my enthusiasm for this fascinating land.

And to conclude this self-plug, I'll throw in the text from the iTunes store below... ; )

Bogavante (lobster) from Restaurante Zortziko

The Basque Country: Cuisine & Culture

Life in the Basque Country centers around food. Spread across the French and Spanish borderlands and wedged between the Atlantic and the Pyrenees, the homeland of the Basque people is brimming with Michelin stars, tapas bars, and world-class restaurants. This app offers a practical gastronomical and cultural guide to this fascinating and ancient land as Mark Ayling takes readers to the nexus between venerable Basque traditions and latest culinary innovations they inspire. From medieval fishing ports to the gleaming Guggenheim, working-man taverns to the Michelin-starred restaurant of Juan Mari Arzak, The Basque Country: Cuisine and Culture has every angle of the Spanish Basque Country covered.

Pintxo, anyone?

Whether you're in search of white linen dining experiences or the perfect “pintxo” (Basque tapas), this app makes sense of a seemingly endless gamut of restaurants, bars, and wineries. Use Mark's reviews to locate precisely what you seek and compare photos of plates to narrow down your choices and read up on the latest culinary currents in the most dynamic gastronomical center of Europe. 

Hungry for more? Like with most things in the Basque Country, the first taste is never enough. So bite into this app and come see it for yourself.

*What's inside?*

- 200+ entries of restaurants, museums, nightlife, tapas bars, and historical sights

-1000+ photos of each restaurant's dishes/decór to better inform your decision of where to eat

- Interactive maps of the best bites nearest to you

- Detailed guide to “pintxo” (tapas) bars with photos of each pintxo and lists of the house specialties.

- Reviews of restaurants for every budget – from 3-course meals for 10€ to 15-course 200€-a-head blowouts

- Special section on Michelin-starred restaurants to help you decide what best suits your style and budget.

- Touristic and cultural sights with historical insight to demystify the ancient culture of the Basques.

- Menu Decoder to make sense of those difficult to pronounce Basque words!

- Reviews of 17 coastal villages so you can plan day trips or navigate the coastal road from Bilbao to San Sebastián.

- Save money with local €-saving secrets like the “pintxo pote,”the “menú degustación,” the “zurito” and much more...

Please understand that this guidebook includes plenty of reviews of sights and restaurants but NO INFO ABOUT HOTELS. Also, this first version of the app only includes the three main Spanish Basque provinces. It does not cover Navarra or the three Basque provinces in France.

Check the iTunes store in early July to download!

Surfing in Zarautz

Thoughts on...Nations, Minority Cultures, and Countries

Poster in downtown Sa

The Basque Country is an enigma.  After being here for a month I am still no closer to defining it - is it a country or a nation?  


We usually use the words interchangeably, but there is an important difference.  A nation is a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.  

A country is the next step -  a nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory.  The Basques are a nation of three million people, but they have no country of their own.  So perhaps the Basque Country may be better defined as the Basque Nation. 

The Basque Country forces me to reconsider my previous understandings of nations, countries, tribes, and races.  It forces me to look backwards to pre-historic times to see how the tribes of Europe transformed into modern nations.  I look at Iberia, the peninsula that contains Spain and Portugal, and wonder how much different the map could look if things had been different. 


In short, the map of Iberia is a reflection of the geo-political status of Iberian kingdoms in the 15th century, while the Christians were pushing the last of the Muslim Moors back to Morocco.  


By that time, the pre-modern tribes of Europe had evolved into kingdoms, largely along ethnic lines. Some, like the Basque kingdom of Navarra, were weak at the time.  Others, like the kingdom of Castile or Aragón, were more powerful and they led the fight against the Moors.  To do this, they united all the separate kingdoms to fight a common enemy. 

Many different languages were spoken at that time and no single tongue was universally accepted as modern Spanish is today.  But the kingdom of Castile was unarguably the most dominant power and their language, castellano, is the language we now know as 'Spanish.'  


Over the centuries, the Castilians centralized and consolidated power to form the basis of the modern Spanish state.  All of the smaller kingdoms, including Portugal and the Basques, were eventually absorbed into the growing Spanish Empire.  

Portugal eventually won its independence, but the rest did not.  The Basques, the Catalans, the Gallegos, and the Valencians transformed from independent kingdoms into mere provinces of a Castilian-dominated country called "Spain".  Today they function as semi-autonomous regions, with the Basques and the Catalans exercising the most independence.  Many people in both regions want more than this - many want full independence.  


The essential conflict is that the geographical map of modern Spain does not reflect all the changes that have occurred in the last 500 years.  Castile (where I lived last year) may be considered the most 'Spanish' region, but today this agricultural region is one of the least-developed parts of Spain.  

By contrast, the Basque Country and Catalonia, arguably the 'least Spanish' regions, are the richest, most developed and cosmopolitan parts of Iberia.  This, of course, means they contribute a disproportionate amount of taxes compared to the rest of Spain.  



So I look at the map of Spain and wonder how things could have been different.  What if the Castilians had not been powerful enough to hold together all the separate kingdoms?  What if the Basques had gained independence instead of the Portuguese? 

The point is that these geographical and political demarcations are largely arbitrary.  If we assume that language is the basis of culture, which is the basis of nations thus countries, then the map of Spain must be re-written.  

For example, Gallego, the language of Spanish-owned Galicia, is much closer to Portugese than Spanish - should it be moved into Portugal, or be independent?  And Basque has nothing to do with any other language, so it should be off on its own, no?  Perhaps it is better scrap nations altogether, unite Portugal and Spain and rename the whole place 'Iberia.'  


The question that puzzles me is this - in the age of globalization, are we not moving irrevocably towards larger integration?  Take the European Union, for example - are countries not trading sovereignty for greater political integration?  Surely separation and nationalism is a thing of the past.  


Perhaps that is the case for those of us who are content with the way the borders currently lie, but not for everyone.  Regardless of where the country's borders lie, there are nations of people that know no political boundaries.  This one, the Basque Country, spreads across both sides of the Pyrenees as it has since the dawn of man.  Nothing is going to make it disappear.  

So I continue to walk the streets of Donosti, trying to piece together all the conflicting opinions and perspectives to forge my own understanding of this complex question.  This subject is incredibly controversial and it can be hard to get straight answers to my questions from anyone.  So for now I will keep thinking, keep trying to make sense of it all and report back to you what I can.

Wish me luck.  

The Basque Language – Euskera

The Basque Country is not demarcated by geography as much as linguistic and cultural lines.  Above all else, Basques are united by their ancient language, Euskera.  Euskera is related to no other lanuage on earth and is  believed to be the oldest language in Europe.   But the origin of Euskera is as unknown as the origins of the Basques themselves and for now remains a mystery

Over the years it has been influenced by the dominance of Spanish and French, but Euskera has survived.  Recently, when Spain was ruled by the fascist dictator Generalismo Franco (1939-1975), it was prohibited to speak Euskera or any other minority language of Spain.  But Euskera survived in exile, and has thrived in the post-Franco renaissance. 

What explains the existence of a language so entirely different from the rest of Europe?  Many people believe that ancient Europe was populated by cultures quite similar to the Basques, all of which were overrun when the Indo-Europeans invaded from Asia minor in the early Bronze Age.  Their invasion introduced new cultural and linguistic forces that dominated all of Europe except the isolated hills of the Basque Country.  That is, Basque could be the only surviving pre-Indo-European language and the Basques the ‘aborigines of Europe.’

Furthermore they resisted the Romans.  Though the Roman Empire brought linguistic, cultural and societal influence with their legions, the Basques protected their culture and language from their powerful influence.  Most other languages in Western Europe are direct descendents of the ‘vulgar Latin’ spoken by Roman soldiers, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Catalan and Galician – but not Euskera. 

By this point you might be smiling at my fascination at the Basques.  Sure, there are other minority cultures in Europe, small pockets of overlooked traditions and languages overshadowed by more dominant nation-states.  In England, the Welsh, the Scots.  In France, the Bretons, the Corsicans.  Indeed, Spain could be defined as a collection of minority cultures – the Catalans, Galicians, and Valencians all join the Basques in their resistance to the dominance of Castilian culture. 

So what makes the Basques so special to me?  To start, there’s the inherent mystery of their esoteric traditions and the continuous discovery that accompanies living amongst such an ancient and rare culture. 

But furthermore I see them as a cultural and linguistic anomaly in the homogenizing age of Globalization.  While most other cultures are sacrificing their particular traditions, languages or beliefs in favor of more ‘universal’ equivalents, the Basque culture indeed seems to be growing stronger. 

The Basques give me hope in the future of the world’s minority cultures.  If a small population with a peculiar language can survive for thousands of years in the face of invasion, persecution and external dominance, perhaps there is hope that other cultures won’t vanish in the face of an overpowering culture of the lowest common denominator. 

If the other minority cultures on earth are as interesting as the Basques, that is a very good thing indeed. 

FAQ: What is the Basque Country

***Note: To find Mark's Guidebook to the Basque Country, click here***

I’ve been talking about the ‘Basque Country’ in familiar terms so far, assuming that everyone knows exactly what it is.  Let me back up and better explain my subject of interest – the Basque Country and the Basque People.  

Welcome to Basqueland

The Basque Country is essentially an unrecognized country within a country. It is a collection of seven provinces wedged between France, Spain, the Pyrenees and the North Atlantic.  Four provinces are in Spain, three provinces are in France, but no single nation unites all seven.

The Basque Country is one of many sub-cultures within modern Spain, minority cultures that have gradually been dwarfed by the cultural dominance of their larger, more powerful neighbors - in this case, Spain.  Foreigners might not know much about the Basque Country, but the culture here is alive and strong.  

The Basques have a flag, a common language, and a extensive set of traditions distinct from the Spanish and French, but they have not been fully independent for over five hundred years.  Surrounded by the dominant powers of France and Iberia, the Basques have spent most of their history as self-governing subjects of greater powers.  

The Basque Country has always been difficult to define.  It has been described as a no-man's land between France and Spain and each language calls it something different.  The Spanish call it El País Vasco, and the French, Le Pays Basque, from which we get the English name, The Basque Country, or Basqueland.  Many Basques call it Euskadi, but the most accurate term is Euskal Herria - literally, The Land of the Basque Speakers.  

 

Euskera, the Basque language, unites all seven provinces on both sides of the Pyrenees.  I live in the province of Gipuzkoa (Guipúzcoa in Spanish), the coastal province squeezed between France and the westernmost province, Bizkaia (Vizcaya).  To my south are the interior provinces of Araba (Alava) and Nafarroa  (Navarra).

On the French coast we find Lapurdi (French: Labourd), home of Biarritz.  Following the Pyrennes inland we come across Benafarroa (Basse Navarre), and Zuberoa (Soule).  In total, seven provinces split into two countries, totaling only 8218 square miles.  

It extends from its upper limit at the Ardour River at Bayonne, France up over the Pyrenees to its natural southern boundary at the Ebro River in the dry Spanish wine region of La Rioja.   Unlike most of Spain, it is verdant, hilly, and wet, a land inextricably linked to both the secluded valleys of the hinterland and the open expanse of the North Atlantic.  

There you have the geographical description of the Basque Country, but a simple geographical definition does not do it justice.  For that, we must move to language.

***Click to read more about Mark's gastronomical guidebook to the Basque Country  ***