Basque without borders

Clams with peas in green sauce (left) and foie triangles with melon, as  presented at the Gran Melia Hotel. Provided to China Daily

Basque Country cuisine makes its way to the Expo, Shi Yingying reports.

The Spain Pavilion continues to outdo itself with the arrival of five first-rate chefs from Basque Country who have brought the best of their hometown's gastronomic excellence to the city. While it may be 10,000 km from Shanghai, this area that hugs the border of France is home to a plethora of Michelin-star-rated restaurants.

Basque cuisine is a product of both the sea and land because of the area's ideal location in a valley between the mountains and the Atlantic coast. It benefits from an assortment of readily available fresh ingredients, especially seafood.

"Colder seawater and stronger underwater tides contribute to the rich and special texture of fish in our region," said Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz, who was born and raised in San Sebastian, a resort city in the Basque region. "The rough Atlantic ocean, which is different from the warm and peaceful Mediterranean, produces better fruits (of the sea)."

Inshore waters yield spectacular turbot and delicate baby squid. Since the Middle Ages, Basque fishermen have fished as far as the Grand Banks in search of cod. Dried and salted, it remains the favorite fish of most locals. San Sebastian's culinary masterpieces have gained increasing recognition throughout Europe, rivaled in Spain only by Barcelona.

The clams with peas in green sauce is a perfect example of how Basque food perfectly merges coastal cuisine with hearty vegetables. The dish is a symphony of colors and flavors, with half-opened clams gently placed on top of the green peas dotting the plate. From the first bite, the mixture of soft calms and peas delights the taste buds with its fresh taste.

Basque cuisine is strongly influenced by French and Spanish cuisine, yet it has a notable difference. For the foie triangles with melon, Basque chefs take the unusual pairing a step further by wrapping the melon around the foie gras. By combining the sweetness of the melon with spoonfuls of rich, heavy foie gras, this entre will leave diners feeling full.

Basque cuisine has been described as old and new, traditional and trailblazing, and in this region, there is no hostility between the classic cooks, the innovators and the grand restaurants.

"Everybody is encouraged to cook in Basque, and chefs become popular heroes, like soccer stars," said Chef Juan Mari Arzak, the founding father of modern Spanish cuisine.

He and the other four Basque chefs hope to promote the Basque Culinary Center (BCC), a professional institution that will "teach students to cook more than just food," said Arzak. It will open in January.

"BCC goes beyond just cooking and encourages students to look at the big picture. Every meal has a backstory, and the more socially, politically and environmentally aware one is, the more one can appreciate it," said Arzak, who runs a 113-year-old family restaurant.

The programs will include subjects such as psychology, physics and chemistry in its schedule. A bachelor's degree will take five years to earn, while the master's will take six years.

"My grandma and mother cook, but what distinguishes our cooking from their generation? We don't cook by feeling," said Aduriz, who developed a technical and intuitive cuisine concept.

"Take fish as an example. It contains protein, which would evaporate if it were cooked at a temperature of 45 to 50 degrees C. In that sense, I will control the temperature to maintain a good balance."

If you go

Lunch and dinner during Basque Country Week is available at the Gran Melia Hotel's Acqua Restaurant until Oct 3 for 658 yuan and 788 yuan.

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