etxebarri: a perfect ending

Considering the extremely limited amount of time we had before taking off from Sondika airport, this was the best possible light lunch to conclude such a gorgeous visit to Euskadi.

The impeccable service, fully aware of our time limitations, made it all flow with a majestic rhythm hard to forget.

All the liquids became our first entertainment, including a crispy txakoli and a refreshing "sopa fría de sandía".

gloriously arzaked

The 4th of September we had a great meal; the 5th was even better. 

I never liked cans around my food, but this meal definitely pointed out a new way to appreciate this old invention and its multiple possibilities. 

We were in fact in the land of pintxos, an ideal format to ignite any serious  digestive activity.

This was the first fish coming our way...

And a couple of tomatoes rounded up this tasty introduction to Arzak's magic.

4th of september, the mugaritz way

After basically seven months of mental adaptation to a new episode of the Bendra worldwide adventure, it feels like it's time to keep tracking some of those memorable masticating moments of our lives. And nothing better to get started than Euskadi, aka the Basque Country, where we landed last month for a splendid XLII anniversaire.

Our main destination for this first Tuesday of the month was in Errentería, a town outside Donostia, aka San Sebastián. We picked a small rural hotel only 25 kms away from the city; a mere 30 minutes drive to the restaurant. It is an idilic place where the cow bells became the only  distraction, other than the cows themselves, the birds or the local early roosters. This was the relaxing view from room 301.

In a very non-Spanish fashion we decided to show up a little bit after 20:00, although our reservation was for 20:30. I anticipated we were going to need a long time to properly enjoy the 19 courses we were about to be served during the following four hours; not less than what such a special occasion required.

No, that was not the menu. A welcome sealed envelope was hiding the base for our first bite of the evening: "Bromas y aceitunas, pocas o ninguna". 

After the "Jokes and olives" we moved into another component of what, given we were in Euskadi, could be called pintxo time. This was essentially a fishbone ride: "Espinas con matices de limón, ajo y cayena".

The next kind of pintxo came almost immediately. This one was a really earthy attempt; a rather successful one, I'd say: "Tosta con tuétano asado, hierbas y cenizas de rábano".

A floral composition followed this fast immersion into Andoni's world: "Tempura de cebollino chino".

Believe it or not, Mugaritz's sense of humour is an omnipresent element. And nothing better than this brilliant "Papel Kraft de lino y trigo con acentos marinos".

A sequence of wild and cultivated herbs on a mixture of dry cream, egg and "encurtidos" was the colourful dish of this 4th of September.

This "Carabinero con pasta fresca y tomate" probably provided my highlight of the evening.

Intriguing "Fideos de leche apenas embebidos. Lámina de tocino, jugo meloso de tomate y calabaza" brought us back to the land flavours.

This aromatic vegetables ravioli was a beautiful piece of both delicacy and fully powerful cooking.

Getting ready for the tenth chapter of dinner, our fresh cutlery was adequately positioned.

Hazelnuts, my favourite nuts ever, arrived covered by a potage with onions and "nácar".

New instrumental was delivered for what was meant to be a "collective" effort, where our participation was, in a minimal way, "crucial" to the final experience.

Roasted hake (merluza) with cauliflower, mascarpone cheese and fresh almonds followed.

"Pescado de roca, cebolla confitada en dulce y vinagre artesano" expanded the fish exposure.

It was time for the bird, and this case it was "Pintada asada con una crema de su jugo y bogavante". 

Of course the pig had to come at some point, and this was it, even if only the little tale; actually a number of them: "Rabitos de cerdo, manojo de hierbas y lías de txakoli".

The third part of the menu was ready to be delivered. It was dessert time, and nothing better than fresh fruit: "Frutos rojos sobre una pectina de eucalipto y pimienta Moungo". 

A "lienzo plegado" was a the second episode of this third part: bitter milk cream and "dulce de caramelo" to spread on non-sacramental "papel de hostia".

The name chosen for the following act was "Regreso a la infancia", which means something like return to childhood. And if fact it worked for me, but I'm not sure the meaning substantiates if you didn't grow up in Spain at a certain time...The content was a straight forward one: "barquillo de leche tostada con helado de limón", but in a much more contemporary display.

Another tiny revival was about to show up: "Mantecado helado de almendras". The term  "mantecado" comes from "manteca",  which means butter, and I don't think it is as often used as it used to be several decades ago. The presentation first suggested we were about to have a "polvorón", but it clearly was too early to start celebrating xmas.

The last surprise had a phenomenal presentation, which reminded me of what a forest usually looks like after a fire: "Golosinas de incienso perfumadas con eucalipto".

The base of this dry "forest" seemed to be of a granitic nature, but a pretty sweet one, as I was able to find out a few seconds later.

The whole process was lubricated by five wines , all of them from 2009 and new to me: "Placet" a white Rioja by Palacios Remondo, "Electio" a Penedés by Pares Balta, "La Calma" another Penedés by Can Rafols dels Caus, "Pegaso" a Vino de la Tierra Castilla y León, and "L'Avi Arrufi", a Terra Alta from Celler Piñol.

The end of this beautiful dinner was a rather simple one, still full of wonderful flavour: a "cortado" for me plus  the archetypical chocolate truffles. The only surprise, and an initially confusing one, was a couple of effervescent "toallitas", which revived that glorious Collin moment, when a few winters ago in Toronto he decided to throw in his mouth a couple of colourful ear plugs; apparently they were not too tasty, so it didn't take very long before the spitted them out.