Spotlight on Spain: Pintxos

Tapas and pintxos are similar, but Elke Panneels of tour company Basque Taste notes a few important differences: “Tapas are enjoyed in all parts of Spain when going out for drinks, while pintxos is specific to the Basque Country. In Central and Southern Spain a tapa might be offered on the house when ordering a drink, whereas in the Basque Country, you always have to pay separately.”

There are differences in style, too. “Tapas are like a small version of a main dish, such as paella, pork cheeks or meatballs and normally require a fork to eat. Pintxos on the other hand consist of a slice of bread on which various ingredients are mounted such as seafood, fish, meat or vegetables. Often this is held together with a toothpick, but not necessarily.” The word pincho (singular) is Spanish for ‘spike’ in reference to this common presentation.

Nemanja Borjanovic is co-owner of Basque focused restaurant Lurra and owner of Mr Txuleta, a distributor of Galician beef to top restaurants. He thinks the appeal of pintxos lies in the quality and variety. “Pintxos is even smaller than tapas and it digs deep into that current status of everyone wanting to try what’s on everyone else’s plate… if you get ingredients this good, there’s no faffing around with garnish.”

The town of San Sebastian, located on the Bay of Biscay, is the best place to visit for an education in this culinary tradition, and is considered an important food destination the world over. The narrow streets are packed with with pintxos bars which stay open until midnight, feeding locals and tourists with an endless stream of small bites washed down with young wine called txakoli (chakoli), poured from a height to maximise effervescence. While pintxos are typically bite-sized, they’re often served alongside a range of other hot dishes such as steak and tortilla, which are also an essential part of the regional food experience.

GILDA
Gilda are one of the most famous pintxos and also one of the smallest, consisting of an olive, an anchovy and a pickled guindilla pepper (a mild chilli favoured in the Basque region). The snack takes its name from the 1946 film noir in which Rita Hayworth plays a bold femme fatale, and this salty, briny and spicy snack really punches above its weight. Consume it in one bite for maximum impact, preferably with a tiny glass of ice cold beer, called a zurito.

BREAD PINTXOS
Many pintxos are made by stacking ingredients on top of crusty white bread. Cheese, ham, seafood, omelettes, vegetables and other garnishes are layered and laid out on the bar for customers to choose from. Popular topping combinations include anchovy, red pepper and Manchego cheese; Membrillo (quince paste) with cheese and walnuts; sliced tortilla; Iberico ham with melon; tuna with garlic prawns and black pudding with a fried quail’s egg. Hot toppings cooked to order are also popular, including fluffy salt cod fritters, creamy mushrooms and grilled seafood.

STEAK
The quality of beef in the region is world-renowned. The steaks, including the famous txuleton cut (a rib steak) come from grass fed exdairy cows which means rich fat and deep flavour. “The cows are reared to a much older age,” Borjanovic explains, “so as the cow gets older it puts on more weight and more fat, and that fat infiltrates the muscles over time – we all know that fat is flavour. Usually cows are slaughtered at the age of two, but in Galicia it’s 12-14.”

Most consider San Sebastian’s Bar Nestor to serve one of the best steaks in the region, and ordering requires adding your name to a list before the bar even opens for the day. Borjanovic likes his on a slice of bread, however, claiming, “it’s a perfect two-bite mouthful.”

TORTILLA
The tortilla de patata (potato omelette) is ubiquitous and for good reason: potatoes, onions and, often, lots of garlic are fried and bound with plenty of beaten egg resulting in a small, thick ‘cake’ which should ooze warm, rich egg when cut open. Variations are made with mushrooms, anchovies and ham.

SEAFOOD
Spicy mussels ‘tigre’ are a must order in San Sebastian, and the best place to try them is La Mejillonera, a charming blue and white tiled bar which gets packed to capacity every evening. Mussels come drowned in a sweet, spicy and bright orange sauce, ready for slurping from the shells, which are thrown on the floor once emptied (discarding the shells is as much fun as the eating). Other local favourites include sea urchin, txangurro (spider crab), clams in a broth heady with garlic and parsley, bacalao (salt cold) fried into light fritters or croquettes, and angulas – tiny young eels like slippery fish spaghetti.

CHEESECAKE
Basque cheesecake is arguably the best in the world. Completely unlike the dense biscuit-based varieties, it’s light, wobbly and incredibly creamy. The cheesecakes are often referred to as ‘burnt’ due to the dark, flavoursome crust which forms on the outside during baking. The high cooking temperature means the cakes rise in the oven, then sink to their signature shape on cooling. A voluptuous mouthful and nearly impossible to share.