Basque Country

Puff pastry tubes filled with pastry cream, similar to cannoli

Goxua is a typical dessert from the Basque Country, especially from Vitoria-Gasteiz. Jose Murguia from La Peña Dulce invented original recipe of goxua “1”,the pastry chef from Mirandese Alberto Bornachea affirms that goxua was invented by his father trying to copy crema catalana, baptizing the resulting dessert as cazuelita. Goxua consists of a base of whipped cream, one layer of sponge cake and a layer of caramelized custard. In the northern part of the Basque Country, it is usually filled with jam. There are two ways to serve goxua: in individual bowls as if it was custard or curd, or the traditional form of cake in a clay pot. 1”.original recipe of goxua El Correo -22 de febrero 2023 Origen de Goxua

Pastry or cake that is filled with either black cherry jam or almond or vanilla pastry cream

Izarra means “star” in Basque, and is a brand of liqueur that was created in 1906 in Hendaye, in the Basque Country, by the botanist and pharmacist Joseph Grattau. Izarra is a liqueur made from a distillate of plants, spices and 2 macerations, prunes and walnut husks. After being heated in a copper still, the distillate is blended with armagnac in accordance with the original recipe. A symbol of the Basque Country, Izarra was acquired by Cointreau SA in 1981 then sold in 2015 to Spirited Brands Limited, and has been distributed by the Vedrenne group since 2018.

The calimocho or kalimotxo is a drink consisting of equal parts red wine and a cola-based soft drink. Red wine and cola were combined in Spain as early as the 1920s, but Coca-Cola was not widely available. That changed in 1953, when the first Coca-Cola factory opened in Spain. The combination was given various names, until 1972 when its mass usage at a festival in Algorta led to it being christened the kalimotxo, a playful combination of the two creators' nicknames, Kalimero and Motxongo. It has since become a classic of the Basque Country region and in the rest of Spain in large part due to its simple mixture, accessibility of ingredients, and low cost.

Patxaran is a sloe-flavoured liqueur commonly drunk in Navarre, as well as in the Basque Country. It is usually served as a digestif either chilled or on ice. The word patxaran is the Upper Navarrese form of basaran, from Basque basa 'wild' and aran 'sloe'. It also occurs in the various Basque dialects as baxaran, basarhan, baixaran and various other forms. Patxaran is made by soaking sloe fruits, collected from the blackthorn shrub, along with a few coffee beans and a cinnamon stick in anisette, for one to eight months. The process produces a light sweet reddish-brown liquid around 25-30% in alcohol content by volume. In addition to dictating the amount of sloes to be used, the regulating body for Pacharán Navarro insists that no artificial colourings or flavourings be added and that the maceration last between one and eight months.

Basque hard cider

Txakoli or chacolí (pronounced [tʃakoˈli]) is a slightly sparkling, very dry white wine with high acidity and low alcohol content produced in the Spanish Basque Country, Cantabria and northern Burgos in Spain. Further afield, Chile is also a minor producer. It is normally served as an aperitif and drunk within one year of bottling as it cannot be stored for longer. The most common, white, variety has a pale green color, but there are red and rosé varieties. When served, it is normally poured into tall glasses from a height, often as an accompaniment to pintxos. It typically has between 9.5-11.5 ABV. The 18th century Palace of Mendibile in Leioa near Bilbao today houses a museum dedicated to txakoli, the Museo del Txakoli, explaining the history of txakoli and with a large collection of machinery used for making it.

Clams in green sauce

Dried beans, for example, stewed with vegetables, chorizo, panceta, pork, blood sausage, wine

An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 16 genera; they are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, and in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Anchovies are usually classified as oily fish.

Basque-style cod, salted cod topped with salsa vizcaina (Biscayan sauce), a sauce made from red onions and choricero peppers

Basque salt cod dish with pil pil sauce, an emulsion made from cod gelatine and olive oil

Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle . Beef can be prepared in various ways; cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often ground or minced, as found in most hamburgers. Beef contains protein, iron, and vitamin B12. Along with other kinds of red meat, high consumption is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease, especially when processed. Beef has a high environmental impact, being a primary driver of deforestation with the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any agricultural product. In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity of their meat. Today, beef is the third most widely consumed meat in the world, after pork and poultry. As of 2018, the United States, Brazil, and China were the largest producers of beef.

The blackspot seabream , also known as the red seabream and as the besugo, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, which includes the seabreams and porgies. This is a widespread species in the Eastern Atlantic from Norway to Mauritania, including Macaronesia and the western Mediterranean. It is an important species to fisheries, although overfishing has led to this species being classified as Near Threatened. The blackspot seabream was first formally described as Sparus bogaraveo in 1768 by the Danish zoologist and mineralogist Morten Thrane Brünnich with its type localities given as Marseille. The genus Pagellus is placed in the family Sparidae within the order Spariformes by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World. Some authorities classify this genus in the subfamily Pagellinae, but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Sparidae.

Grilled squid

Blonde, Limousin, Pyrenees and Swiss Brown beef from Abadiño, Basque Country, Spain

Baby squid in its own ink

Lamb chops

Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus Gadus is commonly not called cod (Alaska pollock, Gadus chalcogrammus). The two most common species of cod are the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), which lives in the colder waters and deeper sea regions throughout the North Atlantic, and the Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), which is found in both eastern and western regions of the northern Pacific. Gadus morhua was named by Linnaeus in 1758. (However, G. morhua callarias, a low-salinity, nonmigratory race restricted to parts of the Baltic, was originally described as Gadus callarias by Linnaeus.)

Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New World quail are placed in the family Odontophoridae. The species of buttonquail are named for their superficial resemblance to quail, and form the family Turnicidae in the order Charadriiformes. The king quail, an Old World quail, often is sold in the pet trade, and within this trade is commonly, though mistakenly, referred to as a "button quail". Many of the common larger species are farm-raised for table food or egg consumption, and are hunted on game farms or in the wild, where they may be released to supplement the wild population, or extend into areas outside their natural range. In 2007, 40 million quail were produced in the United States.

Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from five centimetres to four metres (13 ft). Adults range in weight from 30 grams to over 25 kilograms. They possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are fused with the caudal or tail fin, forming a single ribbon running along much of the length of the animal. Most eels live in the shallow waters of the ocean and burrow into sand, mud, or amongst rocks. A majority of eel species are nocturnal and thus are rarely seen. Sometimes, they are seen living together in holes, or "eel pits". Some species of eels live in deeper water on the continental shelves and over the slopes deep as 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). Only members of the family Anguillidae regularly inhabit fresh water, but they too return to the sea to breed. Eel blood is poisonous to humans and other mammals, but both cooking and the digestive process destroy the toxic protein. The toxin derived from eel blood serum was used by Charles Richet in his Nobel Prize-winning research, in which Richet discovered anaphylaxis by injecting it into dogs and observing the effect.

Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Fish has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients. The English language does not have a special culinary name for food prepared from fish like with other animals , or as in other languages (such as Spanish pez vs. pescado). In culinary and fishery contexts, fish may include so-called shellfish such as molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms; more expansively, seafood covers both fish and other marine life used as food. Since 1961, the average annual increase in global apparent food fish consumption (3.2 percent) has outpaced population growth (1.6 percent) and exceeded consumption of meat from all terrestrial animals, combined (2.8 percent) and individually (bovine, ovine, porcine, etc.), except poultry (4.9 percent). In per capita terms, food fish consumption has grown from 9.0 kg (19.8 lb) in 1961 to 20.2 kg (45 lb) in 2015, at an average rate of about 1.5 percent per year. The expansion in consumption has been driven not only by increased production, but also by a combination of many other factors, including reduced wastage, better utilization, improved distribution channels and growing consumer demand, linked with population growth, rising disposable incomes and urbanization.

Fish cooked over a flame

A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce. Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle , but can also be cut from bison, buffalo, camel, goat, horse, kangaroo, sheep, ostrich, pigs, turkey, and deer, as well as various types of fish, especially salmon and large fish such as swordfish, shark, and marlin. Some cured meat, such as gammon, is commonly served as steak. Some cuts are categorized as steaks not because they are cut across the muscle fibers, but because they are relatively thin and cooked over a grill, such as skirt steak and flank steak.

Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus and Mycteroperca. In addition, the species classified in the small genera Anyperidon, Cromileptes, Dermatolepis, Graciela, Saloptia, and Triso are also called "groupers". Fish in the genus Plectropomus are referred to as "coral groupers". These genera are all classified in the subfamily Epiphelinae. However, some of the hamlets , the hinds (genus Cephalopholis), the lyretails (genus Variola), and some other small genera (Gonioplectrus, Niphon, Paranthias) are also in this subfamily, and occasional species in other serranid genera have common names involving the word "grouper". Nonetheless, the word "grouper" on its own is usually taken as meaning the subfamily Epinephelinae.

Hake is a type of fish belonging to the Merlucciidae family, related to cod and haddock, and is known for its mild flavor and flaky texture. It is commonly found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and is often used in various culinary dishes.

Hake or cod cheek or throat meat, used in kokotxas (Basque fish stew), served in salsa verde sauce

Lamb stewed with vegetables, onions, garlic, wine

Tuna pot, marmitako in Basque Country and marmita, marmite or sorropotún in Cantabria is a fish stew that was eaten on tuna fishing boats in the Cantabrian Sea. Today it is a simple dish with tuna, potatoes, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. The original French word marmite is a metal pot with lid. This French word marmite or the Spanish equivalent marmita gives name to the dish in the East and Central Coast of Cantabria while the Cantabrian word sorropotún is used in the West Coast. Marmitako in Basque language means 'from the pot'.[citation needed] Tuna pot was eaten by Basque fishermen during fishing season. As they stayed a long time at sea, the food used to go bad, so they ate the tuna they fished with cooked potatoes and choricero peppers that kept well.

Hake in green sauce

A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perdicinae subfamily of the Phasianidae . However, molecular research suggests that partridges are not a distinct taxon within the family Phasianidae, but that some species are closer to the pheasants, while others are closer to the junglefowl. Partridges are medium-sized game birds, generally intermediate in size between the larger pheasants, smaller quail; they're ground-dwelling birds that feature variable plumage colouration across species, with most tending to grey and brown.

Rice tamales

Goose barnacles, also called percebes, turtle-claw barnacles, stalked barnacles, gooseneck barnacles, are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces of rocks and flotsam in the ocean intertidal zone. Goose barnacles formerly made up the taxonomic order Pedunculata, but the group has been found to be polyphyletic, with its members scattered across multiple orders of the infraclass Thoracica. Some species of goose barnacles such as Lepas anatifera are pelagic and are most frequently found on tidewrack on oceanic coasts. Unlike most other types of barnacles, intertidal goose barnacles depend on water motion rather than the movement of their cirri for feeding, so are found only on exposed or moderately exposed coasts.

Piperade or piperrada (Basque and Spanish), from piper (pepper in Gascon and in Basque), is a typical Gascon and Basque dish prepared with onion, green peppers, and tomatoes sautéd and flavoured with red Espelette pepper. The colours coincidentally reflect the colours of the Basque flag (red, green, and white). It may be served as a main course or as a side dish. Typical additions include egg, garlic, or meats such as ham.

Leek soup with potatoes, vegetables, cod, fish, meat

Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs , some of which are edible. The term prawn is used particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth nations, for large swimming crustaceans or shrimp, especially those with commercial significance in the fishing industry. Shrimp in this category often belong to the suborder Dendrobranchiata. In North America, the term is used less frequently, typically for freshwater shrimp. The terms shrimp and prawn themselves lack scientific standing. Over the years, the way they are used has changed, and in contemporary usage, the terms are almost interchangeable. The terms shrimp and prawn are common names, not scientific names. They are vernacular or colloquial terms, which lack the formal definition of scientific terms. They are not taxa, but are terms of convenience with little circumscriptional significance. There is no reason to avoid using the terms shrimp or prawn when convenient, but it is important not to confuse them with the names or relationships of actual taxa.

Dried and salted cod, sometimes referred to as salt cod or saltfish or salt dolly, is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is stockfish. Salt cod was long a major export of the North Atlantic region, and has become an ingredient of many cuisines around the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean. Dried and salted cod has been produced for over 500 years in Newfoundland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. It is also produced in Norway, where it is called klippfisk, literally "cliff-fish". Traditionally, it was dried outdoors by the wind and sun, often on cliffs and other bare rock-faces. Today, klippfisk is usually dried indoors with the aid of electric heaters. Salt cod formed a vital item of international commerce between the New World and the Old, and formed one leg of the so-called triangular trade. Thus, it spread around the Atlantic and became a traditional ingredient not only in Northern European cuisine, but also in Mediterranean, West African, Caribbean, and Brazilian cuisines.

Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term 'sardine' was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it comes from the Italian island of Sardinia, around which sardines were once supposedly abundant. The terms 'sardine' and 'pilchard' are not precise, and what is meant depends on the region. The United Kingdom's Sea Fish Industry Authority, for example, classifies sardines as young pilchards. One criterion suggests fish shorter in length than 15 cm are sardines, and larger fish are pilchards.

A traditional Basque skillet dish with several ingredients, for example, chorizo, fried eggs, bacon, potatoes, blood sausage, talo (cornmeal flatbread)

Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs , crustaceans (e.g. shrimp, crabs, and lobster), and echinoderms (e.g. sea cucumbers and sea urchins). Historically, marine mammals such as cetaceans (whales and dolphins) as well as seals have been eaten as food, though that happens to a lesser extent in modern times. Edible sea plants such as some seaweeds and microalgae are widely eaten as sea vegetables around the world, especially in Asia. Seafood is an important source of (animal) protein in many diets around the world, especially in coastal areas. Semi-vegetarians who consume seafood as the only source of meat are said to adhere to pescetarianism.

Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some are found in freshwater. In addition, a few species of land crabs are eaten, for example Cardisoma guanhumi in the Caribbean. Shellfish are among the most common food allergens. Despite the name, shellfish are not fish. Most shellfish are low on the food chain and eat a diet composed primarily of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Many varieties of shellfish, and crustaceans in particular, are actually closely related to insects and arachnids; crustaceans make up one of the main subphyla of the phylum Arthropoda. Molluscs include cephalopods and bivalves (clams, oysters), as well as gastropods (aquatic species such as whelks and winkles; land species such as snails and slugs).

Snails are eaten by humans in many areas such as Africa, Southeast Asia and Mediterranean Europe, while in other cultures, snails are seen as a taboo food. In English, edible land snails are commonly called escargot, from the French word for 'snail'. Snails as a food date back to ancient times, with numerous cultures worldwide having traditions and practices that attest to their consumption. In the modern era snails are farmed, an industry known as heliciculture. The snails are collected after the rains and are put to "purge" . In the past, the consumption of snails had a marked seasonality, from April to June. Now, snail-breeding techniques make them available all year. Heliciculture occurs mainly in Spain, France, and Italy, which are also the countries with the greatest culinary tradition of the snail. Although throughout history the snail has had little value in the kitchen because it is considered "poverty food", in recent times it can be classified as a delicacy thanks to the appreciation given to it by haute cuisine chefs. Escargot, French pronunciation: [ɛskaʁɡo] ⓘ, comes from the French term for snail. Usage of the French word "escargot" dates back to 1892. The French word, first recorded in the 14th century, derives from escaragol (Provençal) and then escargol (Old French). It ultimately traces back through Vulgar Latin coculium and Classical Latin conchylium to the Ancient Greek konchylion (κογχύλιον), which meant "edible shellfish, oyster". The Online Etymological Dictionary notes that the form of the word in Provençal and French seems to have been influenced by words related to the scarab.

Fish soup is a food made by combining fish or seafood with vegetables and stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth. Traditionally, soups are classified into two main groups: clear soups and thick soups. The established French classifications of clear soups are bouillon and consommé. Thick soups are classified depending upon the type of thickening agent used: bisques are made from puréed shellfish or vegetables thickened with cream; cream soups may be thickened with béchamel sauce; and veloutés are thickened with eggs, butter, and cream. Other ingredients commonly used to thicken soups and broths include rice, lentils, flour, and grains; many popular soups also include carrots and potatoes. Fish soups are similar to and often indistinct from fish stews, though soup is generally wetter than stew.

The Majoidea are a superfamily of crabs which includes the various spider crabs. In "A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans" De Grave and colleagues divided Majoidea into six families:

Salt cod omelette

Fish or seafood stew

The Majoidea are a superfamily of crabs which includes the various spider crabs. In "A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans" De Grave and colleagues divided Majoidea into six families:

Stuffed spider crab

Baby squid, for example, cooked with their ink

Steak from Basque cows, some as old as 18 years old

Veal is the meat of calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either gender and any breed; however, most veal comes from young male calves of dairy breeds which are not used for breeding. Generally, veal is more expensive by weight than beef from older cattle. Veal production is a way to add value to dairy bull calves and to utilize whey solids, a byproduct from the manufacturing of cheese. There are several types of veal, and terminology varies by country.

Ajilimójili is a hot or hot and sweet chili sauce from Puerto Rico, traditionally served over grilled seafood, vegetables, pasteles, boiled tuber vegetables and especially grilled meats. Ajilimójili is a combination of olive oil or butter, garlic, cilantro, chilies, bell pepper, cumin, Cuban oregano, vinegar, sour orange chopped or blended, simmered and cooled to serve. A variant, sweet ajilimójili, adds honey and tomato sauce. The sauce is one of the essential elements of Puerto Rican cooking.

Chistorra is a type of fast-cure sausage from Aragon, the Basque Country and Navarre, Spain. It can be considered a special type of chorizo. It is made of minced pork, or a mixture of minced pork and beef, is encased in either lamb tripe or plastic and has a fat content that varies between 70 and 80%. The sausage is flavoured with garlic, salt and paprika, which gives it a bright-red colour. It is usually baked, fried or grilled and often accompanies other dishes, sometimes as part of tapas. The final cured product tends to be thinner than traditional chorizo or sausage, with a diameter of approximately 25 mm. The sausages average 40 cm (16 in) in length, though there are cases when they reach up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long. In the Aragonese Pyrenees, there are two different types of chistorra: one made only of pork meat and another made of lungs, boned pig head and the pancreas, called berica. The local variety of chistorra available in the province of León is called Chistorra de León and is made with a larger percentage of beef.

Chorizo cooked with apple cider

A tapa of chili peppers, anchovies and olives on cocktail sticks

Idiazabal is a pressed cheese made from unpasteurized sheep milk, usually from Latxa and Carranzana sheep in the Basque Country and Navarre regions of Spain. It has a somewhat smokey flavor, but is usually un-smoked. The cheese is handmade and covered in a hard, dark brown, inedible rind. It is aged for a few months and develops a nutty, buttery flavor, eaten fresh, often with quince jam. If aged longer, it becomes firm, dry and sharp and can be used for grating. The Denomination of Origin for Idiazabal cheese was created in 1987 and defines the basic regulations for the product's manufacture. Typically, unpasteurized milk from latxa breed of sheep is used, although in some cases the D.O. permits the use of milk from Carranzana breed, from the Encartaciones in Biscay. The D.O. also stipulates that the milk be curdled with the natural lamb rennet, and permits external smoking of the cheese. The cheeses produced in the following towns in accordance with all the D.O. regulations, are therefore also protected by the Idiazabal D.O. : Urbia, Entzia, Gorbea, Orduña, Urbasa and Aralar. Recently some Basque Country farmers have begun to use hybrid Assaf sheep, which some maintain does not meet the Denomination of Origin for the cheese.

Shrimp in whiskey sauce

Ossau-Iraty is a Basque cheese made from sheep's milk. Ossau-Iraty or Esquirrou is produced in south-western France, in the Northern Basque Country and in Béarn. Its name reflects its geographical location, the Ossau Valley in Béarn and the Irati Forest in the Basque Country. It has been recognized as an appellation d'origine contrôlée product since 1980. It is one of three sheep's milk cheeses granted AOC status in France (the others are Roquefort and Brocciu). It is of ancient origin, traditionally made by the shepherds in the region.

Rioja style soup of potatoes and chorizo

A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. Toadstool generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence, the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing. lamella) on the underside of the cap. "Mushroom" also describes a variety of other gilled fungi, with or without stems; therefore the term is used to describe the fleshy fruiting bodies of some Ascomycota. The gills produce microscopic spores which help the fungus spread across the ground or its occupant surface.

Sauce made with fish or seafood, olive oil, garlic, chili peppers, herbs and spices, used with cod (bacalao al pil pil), fish, prawns

Capsicum annuum L. peppers of the Derio and Iker varieties, grown in Abadiño, Basque Country, Spain

A pincho , pintxo ( Basque: [pintʃo]) or pinchu ( Asturian: [ˈpintʃʊ]) is a small snack, typically eaten in bars, traditional in northern Spain and especially popular in the Basque country, Navarre, La Rioja, Cantabria, and Asturias. They are usually eaten in bars or taverns as a small snack, in the company of friends or relatives; thus, they have a strong socializing component, and, in the Basque country and Navarre, they are usually regarded as a cornerstone of local culture and society. They are related to tapas, the main difference being that pinchos are usually 'spiked' with a skewer or toothpick, often to a piece of bread. They are served in individual portions and always ordered and paid for independently from the drinks. It is not impossible, however, for the same item to be called pincho in one place and tapa in another. They are called pinchos because many of them have a pincho (Spanish for spike), typically a toothpick —or a skewer for the larger varieties— through them. They should not be confused with brochettes (brochetas in Spanish) which, in Latin America and some parts of Spain, are called pinchos too (see pinchitos); in brochettes, the skewer or toothpick is needed to cook the food or keep it together. A typical snack of the Basque Country and Navarre, "pinchos" consist of small slices of bread upon which an ingredient or mixture of ingredients is placed and fastened with a toothpick, which gives the food its name "pincho," meaning "spike." Pinchos are usually eaten as an appetizer, accompanied by a small glass of young white wine (called txakoli, pronounced [tʃakoˈli]) or beer (zurito, pronounced [s̻uˈɾito] quarter of a pint). Pinchos are very common in the taverns of the Basque Country and in other nearby areas, such as Cantabria, La Rioja, northern Burgos, and Navarre, where a variety of pinchos is usually served on a tray at the bar.

A sauce made with red onions and choricero peppers, some recipes use tomatoes