I am in the final stages of planning for a 3 week trip to the Basque, Asturias, and Cantabria regions this June. I’d love to get suggestions of what pepper/seafood/chocolate and other edible treats I should keep an eye out for in these regions to bring home to the US.
Specifically, besides powdered Espelette pepper, what other Espelette themed foods are worth bringing home?
Would Bipia in Larressore, La Maison du Piment d’Espelette in Ustaritz, or the village of Espelette itself be the best place to go for selection?
Other special treats from Pays Basque like black cherry jam?
In Getaria, I remember reading Maribel’s rec for sampling the anchovies at Maisor. Anything else I should seek out in Getaria?
As for chocolate, I will be in Bayonne and in Oviedo. Does one excel at a particular type of chocolate confection vs. the other?
Open to any other suggestions of great food souvenirs to bring home from my journey!
1 Like
Well, I’m an unapologetic shopper so…
Espelette: powder plus espelette jams. We always make a stop at Bipia in Larressore for everything espelette. The town itself is a veritable food shopping mall, but we like to get away from the crowds and do our shopping at Bipia. They also sell foie, Basque cheeses, etc. But if you make it down to the Pierre Oteiza farm in Les Aldudes, you may want to purchase your foie there.
We are fans of the jambon produced by Louis Ospital in Hasparren.
Yes, the black cherry jam purchased in Itxassou at the source, as it’s a cute town.
In Getaria, the anchovies at Maisor, way down at the port, below the Asador Astillero and other gourmet items at Amona Maria deli, next to the Mayflower restaurant. In Getaria we purchased our besugera for outdoor grill and stop in for a glass of txakolí at TX, owned by the lovely couple who head up the Txomin Etxaniz winery. A stop here has become a nightly habit for us when staying for 5 nights in this charming town. Salanort in Getaria also is a purveyor of Basque food items.
All the Bayonne chocolates are a hit with me, whether it be at Daranatz, Puyoabat or Paries. I go to Cazenave under the eaves for chocolat chaud. And in St-Jean-de-Luz to Maison Adam for gazing at their beautiful Gâteau Basque, although we usually just purchase the small ones, one black cherry jam filled and one pastry cream at the Arraya stand inside the market.
In Oviedo we always head to Bombones Peñalba to purchase our chocolates and gifts for our family. It´s a beautiful shop, so don´t miss it. For Oviedo´s carbayones, please don´t miss the venerable and also beautiful Camilo de Blas and for moscovitas and coffee or hot chocolate head. to Confitería Rialto (although we can purchase these moscovitas in our neighborhood deli, but it’s fun to have a coffee there.
1 Like
Speaking of anchovies, the Conservas Nardín anchovies from Zumaia are excellent and you may find them in a Getaria shop.
I wish that we had brought back a bottle or two of cider from Asturias. Not because we are huge cider fans, but because it is difficult to get Asturian cider in the US, and it would have been a nice remembrance. We couldn’t buy it during our trip because we only take carry on and wouldn’t have been able to get it through security. They don’t sell it at the airport either (at least we didn’t see it).
El Gaitero cider that is sweet is sold at the airport but I agree that it’s hard to find in the US. I believe that La Española meats, NY, carries it.
I’m loving this thread because I am a champion food shopper! Such great ideas here!!! I do recall a major haul from Salinort, in Getaria. I invariably bring home tins of ventresca tuna, sold all over Spain; Maribel can tell you the best brands to look for in the north… One of the staple dinners in our home are salads of good lettuce, tossed with ventresca tuna, halves of hard boiled eggs, white beans, and pickled onions.
Not from those cities, but surely available, would be piquillo peppers and asparagus from Navarra, in tins…great pantry staples.
I think I’ve been banned from the airport in Santander, because one of the glass jars of Ortiz Bonito del Norte (tuna) broke in my carry on, and I left a trail of oil from the terminal entrance all the way to the plane…
Espelette pepper jam–be still my heart!!!
And take a look at the dried beans in Asturias and beyond…
I never knew, until a couple of years ago, that anchovies should be kept in the frig…even unopened jars…
Erica, is the Ortiz tuna that you get in Spain different than the Ortiz available here? I didn’t think about piquillo peppers because we always buy them at home. I always assumed what we bought was from Spain, but your comment made me check and I just found out that what we buy here is from Peru.
We brought a bunch of tinned fish home this time around, mostly ventresca, but some others. Also, dried beans, both white like they use in fabada and green ones.
Yes, anchovies should always be kept refrigerated. If you notice, at El Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience, Club del Gourmet they always have them in the refrigerator.
The Ortiz at Paris-Madrid grocery and at Valdemar Estates that we used to buy in Seattle was the same. We also used to purchase the Matiz brand because the US office was in our suburb.
Ok, more food items: The best anchovies: Nardín from Zumaia (the smoked ones), Maisor from Getaria, Conservas Emilia and El Capricho from Santoña (Cantabria).
Make sure the pimientos de piquillo are from LODOSA and have the white/red label. Also the piquillos enteros from La Catedral (Navarra) are fantastic and also expensive. Here are the stands from El Corte Inglés of LC and the very many conservas brands.
And purchasing Abel’s conservas at Güeyu Mar is an absolute must!
About the Asturian beans, the fabes. If you do go to the Cangas de Onis Sunday morning market, after a stroll around the outdoor market, please, please, don´t miss the La Barata gourmet heaven on the Main Street. It is an absolute treasure trove of Asturiaan goodies, everything under the sun, from all the award winning cheeses to the licores like orujo, to the beans, sold in fabada kits, to Asturian wines (yes, indeed, Asturias is a wine producer (Cangas del Narcea D.O.) to ciders to well, anything that Asturias produces.
A few photos of this wonderful shop
My lunch today: ensalada ilustrada con tomate, cebolla, bonito del norte, huevo duro, espárragos blancos de Navarra de La Catedral.
Yes, anchovies should always be kept refrigerated. If you notice, at El Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience, Club del Gourmet they always have them in the refrigerator.
The Ortiz at Paris-Madrid grocery and at Valdemar Estates that we used to buy in Seattle was the same. We also used to purchase the Matiz brand because the US office was in our suburb.
Ok, more food items: The best anchovies: Nardín from Zumaia, Maisor from Getaria, Conservas Emilia from Santoña (Cantabria).
Make sure the pimientos de piquillo are from LODOSA and have the white/red label. Also the piquillos enteros from La Catedral (Navarra) are fantastic and also expensive. Here are the stands from El Corte Inglés of LC and the very many conservas brands.
And purchasing Abel’s conservas at Güeyu Mar is an absolute must!
About the Asturian beans, the fabes. If you do go to the Cangas de Onis Sunday morning market, after a stroll around the outdoor market, please, please, don´t miss the La Barata gourmet heaven on the Main Street. It is an absolute treasure trove of Asturiaan goodies, everything under the sun, from all the award winning cheeses to the licores like orujo, to the beans, sold in fabada kits, to Asturian wines (yes, indeed, Asturias is a wine producer (Cangas del Narcea D.O.) to ciders to well, anything that Asturias produces.
A few photos of this wonderful shop
My lunch today: ensalada ilustrada con tomate, cebolla, bonito del norte, huevo duro, espárragos blancos de Navarra de La Catedral.
My husband makes a fine fabada with the kit they sell at La Barata in Cangas de Onís.
Photos of La Barata
Another foodie heaven is the upstairs (planta 0) of the San Martín market in San Sebastián (the La Bretxa market in the Old Quarter still under renovation). Here we purchase Basque cheeses and Basque wines from other D.O.s at Abatza, bread and pastries at Talo.
@genevah
Another foodie heaven is the Mercado de San Martin upstairs (planta 0) in the center of San Sebastián (La Bretxa market in the Old Quarter is still under renovation.) Here we purchase pastries at Talo (and have breakfast), Basque cheeses and txakolí from other D.O.s at Abatza. Here you can have a txakolí and a cheeseboard among very few tourists. And you must try the Basque dessert, pantxineta at the Pastelería Otaegui, from 1886, where this dessert was invented. You won’t easily find it on the French side, that I recall.
Another brand of bonito del norte canned tuna that you can purchase in the US is Arroyabe that can be purchased at The Spanish Table in San Francisco, but it’s just not as tasty as Ortiz, imo. Matiz sardines can also be purchased there.
@erica1
There are many, many types of dried beans, as you know. Fabes and verdinas, certainly, from Asturias, caparrones from Rioja, alubias negras from Tolosa, judiones from La Granja, judiones from El Barco de Avila, garbanzos from Fuentesauco and Pedrosillano.
For dessert goodies, purchase a sabao or a quesada pasiega from Cantabria.
