from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
The City of Bayonne is an inland port on the River Adour, just 8 km (5 miles) from
the Atlantic and 30 km (19 miles) from the Spanish border and the Pyrénées mountain range. Bayonne's position was
already important to the Romans when they occupied France 2,000 years ago and it has remained so ever since.
Bayonne
is beautiful, even though it is an industrial city, it has a well-regarded
university and a population of 50,000, but if you include the immediate area
around the city, the population rises to more than 300,000.
A
visit to Bayonne is an introduction to a different France. The city is the
capital of France's Pay Basque and the French Basque people. Bayonne is the center for all things Basque, arts,
sports, culture, and lifestyle and that, of course, includes Basque cuisine.
When
you dine in Bayonne expect Jambon de Bayonne IGP, the Bayonne cured ham, that is so popular that it holds 50% of the French market, dishes with Espelette
peppers, and Ossau-Iraty AOP sheep's cheese, among many more products and produce.
This region is also famous for its emphasis on fish and seafood dishes
and its unique Basque cider called Sagardoa. The Basques consider their cider
to be the precursor to
all other ciders, including the ciders of Normandy and Brittany. (Sagardoa translates into French as Vins de Pomme, and into English as Apple Wine).
The Basque cider called Sagardoa.
Pintxos (pronounced pinchos), the Basque Tapas.
Basque
cuisine has its own version of Spanish Tapas called Pintxos (pinchos) and like Tapas
is offered in dedicated bars called Pintxos bars, Along with Pintxos Basque wines, beer, and cider are
also served. Pintxos are also served in restaurants. The Pintxos offered have an endless number of
ingredients and recipes with the most traditional including cheese with figs,
ham with fried green peppers, fried rings of calmar
(calamari, squid), cod
croquettes, or pieces of Spanish omelet and wild
mushrooms. Each Pintxos bar has its own specialties.
Pintxos
On the menu in Bayonne:
Axoa
de Thon
(Pronounced Achoa de Thon) -
A traditional tuna
stew made with sweet peppers, and potatoes and flavored with garlic
and Espelette Peppers; the same recipe is used for veal. (The word Axoa (achoa) in Basque means minced or
finely chopped).
A choice of Pintxos
www.flickr.com/photos/titounet/23562969459/
Amatxi
– This pie is a favorite dessert; it is made with pears in a pie
crust with a vanilla
crème
brûlée topping. (I was told there is a wide variety of "original
Amatxi" recipes, and this is one of those).
Bayonne also has beer.
Including Akerbeltz, Udako, Garagardoa, Oldarki and Eki among many Basque beers from all
parts of the Basque country.
Assiette
Basque - Chorizo,
Pâté
Basque, Jambon de Bayonne, Fromage
de Brebis –
This Basque platter of local favorites is often served as an entree, the French
first course or as a light lunch. Chorizos
are originally Spanish pork sausages with many different recipes that have
been adapted to Basque tastes. The most popular Basque Chorizo being a cold (or
grilled) spicy pork sausage made with lots of paprika, which gives it
its typical red coloring with more flavor from garlic and the Espelette
Pepper. Basque pate
is a pork pate, including pig's liver, and pork cuts, then comes the Bayonne
cured ham. Bayonne ham is the most popular cured ham in all of France and with over 50% of the market it beats all the many other excellent cured hams
of France combined. Finally, there is the sheep's cheese that will probably be similar to the famous Ossau-Iraty
AOP sheep’s cheese. There are many similar cheeses like Ardi Gasna, which comes from a different valley and is prepared in smaller wheels. Nevertheless, be prepared to be surprised as there are many other local, but very different, sheep's cheeses; ask
questions and enjoy,
Assiette Basque
www.flickr.com/photos/patandmaryjo/42927392145/
Moules
à la Planxa
Sauce Basquaise -
Mussels cooked on a planxa
(plancha) prepared with a sauce made with red and green sweet peppers, onions,
tomatoes, chorizo sausage, dry white wine and flavored with garlic
and Espelette Peppers.
The planxa or plancha is a large flat cooking surface, at least two centimeters
(6/8") thick and claimed as their own by the Basques, with counterclaims
coming from the French and the Spanish. This traditional and very even method
of cooking uses very little oil and results in a taste somewhere between frying
and grilling.
Ossau-Iraty
et sa Confiture de Cerises
Noires –
Ossau-Iraty
AOC cheese served together with black
cherries. This is a very popular and traditional dessert combining the sweet
and tart cherries the region has grown commercially for 800 years with the Ossau Iraty cheese
that was probably first made 2,000 years ago.
Basque cheese on sale.
www.flickr.com/photos/eaj-pnv/31240183098/
Txilindron
d’Agneau – A lamb stew made with sweet peppers, onions, and
flavored with garlic and Esplette Pepper. Most Basque sheep are in the
cheese-making business, and so the lamb on the menu will come from the young
males who will produce no milk.
Pavé
de Cabillaud
Crème De Piquillos. Écrasé de Pomme de
Terre et Poêlée de Legumes –
A large cut of cod
prepared with a cream sauce made with the Pimientos del Piquillos, grilled, peeled and marinated sweet peppers
that originated with a recipe from the Spanish Basque country, accompanied by mashed potatoes and
lightly fried vegetables. The Basque and cod, the fish, have an important and
long interconnected history. That long connection, according to an excellent
book entitled “Cod” by Mark Kurlansky clearly shows that Basque fishermen and
women reached North America before Columbus discovered South America.
Stuffed Piquillos.
www.flickr.com/photos/ocva/4409737848/
Ttoro
- A velvety Basque fish soup made with three or four different
fish. A chef told me that he buys his fish at a daily auction in the closeby fishing port of Saint Jean de Luz and so the fish included may change from day to day. Nevertheless, if available the soup will
include Merlu,
European Hake; Lotte
or Baudroie, Monkfish; a member of the
Rascasse, scorpionfish family; and the Congre
or Anguille de Mer, the Conger Eel. Mussels
and crustaceans, usually the
Langoustine, the Dublin Bay Prawn, may be added at the chef's discretion.
To create additional flavor, the Basque Esplette
Pepper, a local white wine, and garlic lead the way, but the secret that
creates a perfect Ttoro is well-managed fish stock. The taste will be
assisted with the fresh herbs in the Basque kitchen that always include sage, rosemary, parsley, and basil.
Your Ttoro will be much like a full meal on its own,
so wait until this has been served before ordering anything else. I read an online guide that stated the TToro is the Basque Bouillabaisse; that's rubbish, the fish are often different, and the herbs are different. The only connection
is they both use saltwater fish and are large fish soups or stews and made in
France, and that's it. They both are very tasty but are very different.
A Ttoro ready for serving
Tartare
de Truite
de Banka –
A Tatar
of fresh, farmed rainbow
trout from the trout farm in the commune of Banca, just 80km (50 miles)
from Bayonne. The trout from this farm are renowned for their taste and
excellent farming conditions, which may be visited. When there is a Banca trout
in the kitchen, its name will be on the menu.
In addition to the
traditional Basque cuisine, Bayonne is very much an international city, very
cosmopolitan. My two visits to Bayonne allowed time to sample the Basque
cuisine in its home territory though Bayonne has famous and well-known chefs
influenced by a population mix that has created an incredible choice of
cuisines. The languages spoken include French, Spanish, Basque, Occitan, and
Roma, and they all affect the local menus, that plus imported chefs in Italian,
Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese restaurants.
The Wines of Liqueurs of the
Basque Country
The
Pyrénées-Atlantiques, the Department where Bayonne is situated, includes some
excellent wines. Look for the Madiran AOP red wine; the Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh
(pronounced approximately as Paherank du Vik Bil) white wines. Then consider the more famous Irouléguy red, white, and
rosé wines that come from the smallest AOP vineyard in France; just four square
kilometers (1.5 sq miles). To the above add the Jurançon AOP dry white wine and
the highly-rated Jurançon AOP sweet white wine. The traditional Basque liqueurs
called Azarra. (both with an Armagnac base) that are made with sixteen different
herbs, the yellow version tasting of almonds, and the green version tasting of
mint.
In the cellars of Irouleguy
Chocolate
and Bayonne
Cocoa
beans first entered France via Bayonne in the 1490s, and since then the town
has been a renowned center of chocolate making. Take a look around the Musée du
Chocolat. The first chocolate makers were Spanish and Portuguese Jews escaping
the Inquisition. A number of those refugees were expert bakers, and in Bayonne,
they became experts at working with chocolate. They made chocolate drinks and chocolate cakes, called tortas. With
their growing success in France, the locals formed a Christian chocolate guild
and banned the Jews from making chocolate. The Jews went on to make chocolate
drinks and chocolate cakes elsewhere, and Bayonne has remained a center for well-considered French chocolate producers.
Canal in Bayonne
Photograph courtesy of dmiluz
www.flickr.com/photos/35262951@N00/4560943800/
The problems with Fetes in Bayonne
in July and August
Bayonne
has the oldest French bullfighting tradition in France. The current arena,
opened in 1893, is the largest in South-west France with more than 10,000
seats. A dozen bullfights are held each year, attracting the biggest names in
bullfighting.
This barbaric production (already banned in Catalonia in
Spain) had nothing to interest me, and I visited Bayonne at another time. To be clear, Corridas, bullfighting is also an attraction in the summer season in many towns in
southern France. Here in July, there are five fetes organized around parades,
bulls running (inspired as a tourist attraction by Pamplona), bullfighting, fireworks, and music in the
Basque and Gascon tradition. In Bayonne, the bulls running are actually cows
with horns, and they don't run through town but are released on the crowd in
front of the Château-Neuf, but they still hurt if they run you down.
The
Course Camarguaise a non-bullfight
bullfight.
There
are now displays called bullfights where the bulls don't get hurt. For those who
prefer that look for the signs that say Course
Camarguaise. The Course Camarguaise is
undoubtedly not a bullfight as some translations suggest; it is a unique
acrobatic attraction, and bulls, or, more often, the cows, do not get hurt or
wounded; these animals are trained professionals. The
Camargue is a long way
from the Pays Basque but as bull-fighting loses its sparkle so the Course Camarguaise will
shine through the dust and keep the bull rings open.
Trying to grab the purse tied
between the cow's horns.
The only weapons seen here are the runner's feet.
Bayonne's Foire au Jambon; its ham fair.
If
you are visiting the Pays Basques around the time of the Easter vacations,
consider taking a day to enjoy Bayonne's Foire
au Jambon, their ham fair. It is a long-established fair that the organizer's
claim was first held in 1426. The official date is from the Thursday before
Easter through the following Wednesday. Check the dates for this year's Easter
with the official Bayonne Tourism Office English language website:
Eat your way around the Foire au Jambon de
Bayonne
The
Bayonne ham fair.
Photograph courtesy of Sud Ouest
Zesta (Cesta) Punta
The
Basque game of Pelota or Zesta (Cesta) Punta or Jai Alai (outside France) is a must to see when you are in
Bayonne. The French Federation of Basque Pelota is headquartered here at the
Trinquet Moderne Pelota and players from the city have won many titles. The Basques brought this game to several towns in Florida and
Spain and I have also seen it in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. There and in
Bayonne, you may also bet on the games, I always lost. For more about
Zesta-punta and the Basque country, see their English language website.
Cesta Punta Players
The
baskets that the players are the "cestas" used in the game.
The
throw the solid ball at speeds of up to 306 kpm (190 mph).
Photograph
courtesy of Angula Berria
www.flickr.com/photos/angulaberria/9142521728/
Zesta Punta justifiably
holds the reputation for the fastest ball game in the world; the spectators are
thankfully separated from the players and the hurtling balls by durable wire
mesh. There are different balls with different weights for different games, and
in the fastest games, the ball can reach over 306 km (190 mph) per hour. For most
visitors, there will be few other chances to see this unique and exciting game
so take an hour in an evening and visit the hall used for playing Zest Punta; in
Basque, it is called the Trinquet.
The Cathedral
The
Cathédrale Sainte-Marie de Bayonne or Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayonne; is
Roman Catholic and was begun by King Edward I of England and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine the 5th English
Plantagenet King, who in 1272 ruled Aquitaine. The dowry of Eleanor of
Aquitaine consisted of all the South West of France, and Bayonne itself
remained in English hands for three hundred years from 1152 until 1451, during
which time the Cathedral was being built. The Arms of England can still be seen
in a window near the High Altar and also high up in the Nave.
Despite its beginnings
in the 13th century, the Cathedral was not ready, let alone 60% complete when
it was finally opened for worship in the 15th century. In the 17th century,
more was work was done, but the Cathedral was only fully completed in the 19th
century! Today, when you look at the Cathedral that took 600 years to build,
consider your own town or city with building permit committees and the delays
they can cause. This Cathedral will probably warn you off bureaucracy and investing in any
projects built with partial public funding.
Bayonne Cathedral
The
inhabitants of Bayonne
The inhabitants are called Bayonnais or Bayonnaises. The city also had an important arms industry and gave its name to the bayonet.
The Museums in Bayonne.
The
Musée Basque, the Basque Museum, offers a fascinating insight into local life and history, its
beautiful displays ranging from Celtic-looking tombstones to rural crafts and a
large section on Basque sports.
The
Musée Bonnat is just one street away and is a little known art treasure. Housed
in a striking 19th-century building, it contains the fantastic collection of
19th-century painter Léon Bonnat as well as works by El Greco, Delacroix,
Gericault, and Degas.
The River Adour flows through
Bayonne
on its way to the sea
Traveling close to Bayonne.
Biarritz:
Biarritz is
The
fantastic palace Napoleon III created became the Hotel du Palais in 1893 and,
complete with marble-pillared lobby and chandeliers in the lifts, Hotel du
Palais still exudes an imperial air.
Biarritz
is also the French surfing center with surfers coming from all
over the world.
Surfing in Biarritz
www.flickr.com/photos/verborrea/28173913935/
Saint Jean de Luz:
Saint
Jean de Luz, just 8 km (5 miles) from Bayonne is an old whaling port. When whale fishing was banned Saint Jean de Luz switched to Tuna
and it is now one of the most important Tuna fishing centers in France; that is apart
from many excellent seafood and fish restaurants around the port, Saint Jean de
Luz has beautiful beaches and an annual Tuna festival and much more. Just yards
from the port Saint Jean de Luz has wonderful sandy beaches.
The fish market in Saint Jean de
Luz.
Pau:
Pau is the prefecture of the department
of Pyrénées-Atlantiques is 115 km (71 miles) by road from Bayonne.
Skiing
In
the winter, the distance from Bayonne to the nearest ski slopes is one
hour by car
--------------------------------
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2019,2023.
--------------------------------
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