DUDLEY IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY
Chef Dudley Newbery travels to the Basque Country to sample the local food and culture. Dudley joins Arthur Dafis from Llandre, near Aberystwyth, and his San Sebastian born wife, Carolina Sagarmendi on a trip to northern Spain, where they sample the fresh seafood, high quality meats and the welcoming atmosphere.
ABOUT THE BASQUE COUNTRY
FOOD FROM THE LAND
- As with seafood, the Basque people are happiest when the food is served as fresh as it can possibly be. Local people are very fond of big, thick juicy steaks or a cut of beef known as villagodio and cooked rare. In addition, a fondness for tasty lamb farmed from the pastoral and fertile green hillsides is yet another comparison that can be made with Wales.
- Bacon and pork are also popular. It is quite common to see pig’s legs hanging from the ceiling in bars throughout the Basque country and the Black Pig (jamon jabugo) is the most expensive on the market.
- During the Autumn months the land provides the Basque people with wild mushrooms known as perretxikos and varieties of small game such as pigeon, woodcock and turtledove. The majority of traditional dishes are prepared by using local produce yielded by the isolated hamlets and valleys tucked away within the mountain region.
- Some of the produce gathered from the land often reflects the Basques maritime traditions. Beans that are indigenous to South America were imported centuries ago and developed into a firm favourite. The beans are grown amongst rows of India corn (another import from the New World), which was the method used by the native South American Indians and adopted by the Basque seafarers.
DUDLEY
A Teledu Opus production for S4C
A Teledu Opus production for S4C