Basque Country Tourist Guide

THE BASQUE COUNTRY

wine tourism

In the key of CIDER BREWERIES

Txotx!

A GREAT IDEA

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Dining in a cider house

or centuries, all Basque caseríos have had superb apples growing nearby. Ten days after the apples have been picked and stored, the juice " zizarra " is extracted with the help of a cider press and fermented to produce cider " sagardoa " . When you hear someone shout " txotx!" take your glass over to the barrel (kupela) indicated by the person who opens the bung to let the cider spring forth. The custom of " txotx!" originated from the tasting sessions in which a client would try various barrels before making a purchase. The custom has been adapted for modern times and now the cider breweries of Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia and Araba/Álava open their doors to whoever fancies lunch or dinner there and they now feature firmly on the restaurant circuit.

A robust menu Cider from the "kupela" (barrel), cod omelette or with peppers, a magnificent T-bone ox steak, cheese, nuts and quince jelly... that's what any Basque cider house will place before you! The cider season starts on Saint Sebastian day in January and ends in May, but virtually all establishments keep their doors open throughout the year. In many of them, they may well spontaneously burst into an "otxote", a chorus of song that will really liven up the proceedings. Sometimes they also organize entertaining "bertsolaris" contests, spontaneously improvising poetic verses.

A trip to a cider brewery should figure on any itinerary to the Basque Country. Traditionally, people eat standing up, helping themselves from the barrel taps and singing

www.sagardoarenlurraldea.com

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