Food and art in the Basque lands
- Long, lazy lunches including two in restaurants with three Michelin stars.
- Excellent wines of La Rioja-Alavesa.
- Architecture by Gehry, Calatrava, Moneo and varied landscapes of coast, plain and mountain.
- Itinerary involves daily coach travel.
the Pyrenees and divided between France and Spain, the Basque Country has wonderful and varied scenery, a magnificent range of art and architecture and a culinary tradition which ranks with the best in Europe. It is a land of abundance in many things, though there is one striking exception: tourists are in short supply.
The landscape reaches from the Atlantic coast, indented with natural harbours and the fishing communities from which the wealth of the region has derived since ancient times, to the hills and mountains majestically clothed with broadleaf forests. Both the highlands and the fertile rolling lowlands provide the raw ingredients which supplement the seafood and inspire gastronomic greatness.
The best of Basque cooking mixes a strong sense of tradition with startling innovation. From the all-male dining clubs, where friends cook for each other, to the indoor markets spilling over with smoked idiazabal cheeses and gleaming fresh fish, from the rustic cider clubs to the chic new bars vying for the ‘tapas of the year’ prize, Basques remain obsessed with the quality and provenance of their food.
Juan-Marie Arzak is the most famous restaurateur in Spain today. As godfather to New Basque Cuisine, he has inspired an entire generation of chefs including Martín Berasategui, Pedro Subijana and Hilario Arbelaitz. Together they share no fewer than ten Michelin stars.
From Bilbao we drive a loop through the Rioja Alavesa, the northern rim of the most prestigious wine-making area in Spain. Between visits to restaurants, wineries and specialist food shops and manufacturers, we linger in mediaeval villages, Gothic churches and Baroque interiors. There is here some remarkably fine contemporary architecture by Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava and Rafael Moneo. San Sebastian has a swathe of flamboyant turn-of-the-century buildings, while nestling in the upland valleys and clamped to mountainsides is a doughty vernacular of remarkable distinctiveness and beauty.