Basque Inspiration

You gotta love food stories that start with a romance…they practically write themselves. Like when I was interviewing Ethan Bisagna for a story on great farmers' market meals and he mentioned that when he was a butcher at Clyde Common he met a kindred spirit in sous-chef Ashley Brown. I had to restrain myself from shouting, "Gold!"

He loved her passion for the foods of Spain and its Basque culture, developed over years of travel, cooking and eating there. Their mutual love of good food got them talking about building a business, which led to building a life together. Ethan recently left his post as head butcher at Laurelhurst Market to launch Feastworks with Ashley, selling their sausages and charcuterie at the Beaverton, Northwest Portland and Woodstock farmers markets.

One of the sausages they make is chistorra, a long, thin, richly spiced sausage packed with the flavors of her favorite region. I bought a few at a recent stop at Feastworks' Beaverton market stand and brought them home to throw on the grill for dinner. The question was, what to have with it that would complement but not compete with its lovely spiciness?

I was pondering making a rice dish, and when I mentioned it to Dave he said, "Oh, like paella?" and a brand new favorite was born. The grilled sausages alongside were fantastic, but you could just as easily treat them like traditional Spanish chorizo, cutting them into 1" chunks and throwing them into the pan before you sauté the onions and garlic.

On egin!*

Basque-inspired Rice

10-15 threads saffron
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
2 c. arborio rice1 tsp. pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika)
1/2 c. dry white wine or rosé
4 c. chicken stock
1 c. tomatoes, chopped in large chunks or hand-crushed if canned
1/4 c. piquillo peppers, chopped
10 green Spanish olives, chopped (I use Spanish anchovy-stuffed olives)
1 bay leaf

Put saffron and salt into mortar and grind until saffron is crushed. Set aside.

Heat oil in skillet and add onion and garlic. Sauté over medium heat till translucent. Add rice and stir for about a minute, then stir in pimenton and saffron salt. Add wine and stir until liquid is absorbed, then add stock, tomatoes, piquillo peppers and bay leaf. Bring to a strong simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook until rice is done. If it gets too dry, add liquid but don't stir; a little browned crust, called socarrat, on the bottom is a good thing. Adjust salt and serve.

* Basque version of "bon appétit."

Boise: Wait...There's More!

If all this Basque culture gets to be a little much, there are plenty of opportunities to shop and eat your way through other cultures in the compact downtown area around the capitol (above; note the snow dusting the hills...in early October!).

One night we ventured to an Italian place called Gino's Italian Ristorante on the recommendation of Chris from Epi's. Located on the second floor of a shopping mall, red flags went up when I saw the kitschy walls painted to look like an Italian villa and garlic braids strung around the room. But we forged ahead, knowing Chris wouldn't steer us wrong, and were delighted to find Italian comfort in this far-flung outpost.

With a starter of calamari and a couple of bottles from their decently priced wine list, we got the evening off on a mellow footing. I chose the lamb shank with gnocchi (above left) for my entree, with the falling-apart shank smothered in a fabulously rich tomato sauce and the gnocchi in a slightly lighter sauce. While not a pillowy version, they complimented the lamb with their hefty (but not clunky) texture.

The Dungeness crab ravioli ordered by my dinner companion was a fabulous find, fresh and full of crabby flavor drizzled (but not drowned) in a light cream sauce. The table of five ordered several desserts and all were lovely, including a boysenberry chocolate torte that required an espresso (decaf, of course) to make it perfect. Gino himself came out and gave us a hug as we were leaving. No wonder Chris likes this place!

Another day we needed a quick lunch and, as we were discussing whether to be sucked into the drive-up window of the fast-food joint near our hotel, a taco truck appeared before us, shimmering like a vision from the Old Testament. The El Rey #2 (Is there a #1?) offered tacos for just a buck, each one a pearl of deliciousness on homemade corn tortillas. We sampled their barbacoa, carnitas and asada tacos and were not disappointed on the two pilgrimages we made. All I could say was, "Hallelujah!"

* * *

One last note: In a "You know you're in Idaho when..." moment, I walked in to the Fred Meyer across from the Expo center (where my friend was showing her Corgis) to get a latte from (gulp) Starbucks when I was confronted by a rack of Sarah Palin "Hockey Mom" t-shirts. In their defense, the back of the rack held Obama shirts, but seeing her grimace before I'd had my coffee was a little too much to bear at 7:30 in the morning. Just had to share that.

Read the rest of the series: Beautifully Basque, Basque Home Cooking and Basking in Basque-ness.

Boise: Basking in Basque-ness

Chinatown? Meh. Japantown? Been there. But a whole historic block dedicated to the Basque community of Boise? Now that piqued my interest.

Especially when I found out that in addition to a museum, a community center and the oldest house in Boise that was also a Basque boarding house, the block also boasts a Basque market, two restaurants and a pub. And, though it's not Basque, on one corner is one of the only restaurant and distillery combinations in the country. You can see the attraction, no?

The Basque Market (photos, top and left) was started by Dan Ansotegui, the brother of Chris at Epi's, who wanted to create a place where Basque people could buy ingredients unavailable at local grocery stores. It's also a Basque deli of sorts, where there are Basque tapas and wines, as well as sandwiches, soups and desserts to sample.

Bar Gernika was also begun by Dan, who sold both businesses in the last couple of years to local folks committed to staying true to the Basque identity he had established. This small pub has a good selection of microbrews on tap, and many Basque regional specialties especially suited to pub grub like a slice of potato-egg tortilla, grilled chorizo sausage, some of those lovely croquetas and even a mini-paella.

As you might expect, there are also Basque festivals scheduled throughout the year, such as the San Inazio Festival in July, Mortzilla Dinner in November featuring traditional Basque blood sausages (left) and the Sheepherders Ball in December. And every five years there is an international Basque festival called Jaialdi that sounds like a don't-miss opportunity to experience this unique culture. So mark your calendars for July, 2010...I sure am!

Read the rest of the series: Beautifully Basque, Basque Home Cooking and Wait…There's More!

Boise: Basque Home Cooking

Growing up, if we went to the store to pick up milk, we got a hug. Heading off for school or coming home got the same treatment. Going to bed? Hugged again. So, needless to say, as an adult I'm hard-pressed to keep my arms at my sides.

Cooking the "ink fish" before stuffing.

For some people, though, a handshake is about as much physical contact as they can stand, and we huggers try to respect their space. But be warned that when you walk into Epi's Basque Restaurant in the Boise suburb of Meridian, owner Chris Ansotegui (top photo, right) will most likely wrap you in her warm embrace.

She can't help herself, she says, because she's Basque. On both sides of the family. Her grandmother, Epifania Lamiquis, came to this country in 1929 to join her husband, David Inchausti, in Idaho. Like many Basque immigrant women, Epi opened a boarding house for the Basque sheepherders coming in from the hills, eventually attracting a following among non-Basques for the quality of the food she served.

Dorothy Ansotegui (Chris's mom) making the sofrito for that night's tongue.

In 1999 Epi's granddaughters, Chris and Gina, opened Epi's in honor of their grandmother. Their effort was aided by the fact that Gina had married Alberto Bereziartua, a Basque chef, who brought with him a passion for authenticity that made Epi's the place I wanted to go for a taste of this intriguing cuisine.

With a friend in tow, I ordered ham croquetas and calamari for appetizers, and Chris insisted that we had to taste the piments d'espelette, mild, sauteed green chiles similar to anaheims that a local farmer had grown from seeds brought from the Basque region. Simply fried in olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt, their sweetness took center stage. These would be amazing on a platter with cheeses, and I'm going to try to get some seeds from Chris so I can grow my own next year. And we could have eaten a dozen of the grape-sized crunchy croquetas with their oozing creamy centers, but the crisp calamari, steaks that had been cut in french fry-style sticks, were too hard to resist when dipped in the little pot of smoky pimenton sauce on the side.

For the soup course we chose the Basque red bean soup, a luscious stew that I could imagine had warmed many a sheepherder's bones in the cold mountain passes. It was described as entirely vegetarian, and though I could have sworn on a stack of Bibles that it had come in contact with pork at some point in the preparation, Chris assured me that it hadn't.

Our entrees were equally smashing, the tongue I ordered having been gently braised in a rich tomato sauce from Grandma Epi's recipe that Chris's mom, Dorothy, makes. My friend had the night's special, a citrus-crusted halibut, the citrus a combination of lemon, lime and grapefruit zest that had been dried in the oven for a day, which was then mixed with herbs and salt to make a mild but lively crust when broiled.

We were too stuffed to try any of Epi's desserts, but I'll definitely be going back to survey more of Chris's terrific menu, including their signature "ink fish," baby squid stuffed and served in a sauce made from the jet-black ink. And I'll also insist on another one of her hugs.

Details: Epi's Basque Restaurant, 1115 N Main St., Meridian, Idaho. Phone 208-884-0142.

Read the rest of the posts in this series: Beautifully Basque, Basking in Basque-ness and Wait…There's More!

Boise: Beautifully Basque

Normally I wouldn't recommend driving seven hours just to have dinner. But the city of Boise, with its richly complex Basque community, makes it well worth the drive. And you might just consider staying a couple of extra days to give the place its due.

I was there last week researching a story for NW Palate magazine (thus the dearth of posts recently) and, far from being yet another deadly recounting of historic highlights, I found a thriving culture that is a celebrated part of the city as a whole. So much so that the city dedicated a whole block just steps from the capitol building downtown that is a magnet for tourists as well as a gathering place for the city's Basque community.

In the process of conceiving this cultural area, the design committee used Portland as an inspiration and created sidewalk panels (photos, top and left) incised with Basque surnames and traditional Basque songs (with music!). Even the street surface was decorated with the red and green colors of the Basque flag and the four-pronged lauburu, the national symbol of the Basque region.

With restaurants, a museum, a Basque market and more, there's lots to talk about!

Read the rest of the series: Basque Home Cooking, Basking in Basque-ness and Wait…There's More!