Previous Items: Pintxos! (Basque Tapas) - (Time to Cook: 30 min.)

Meal Description

Pintxos!  (Pronounced PEEN-Chos) You are going to be the hippest one at your next neighborhood happy hour telling all your friends about one of the newest trends. Pintxos….just don’t call them Tapas!  Now that the Ramen Noodle craze has begun to wane...was it ever popular?!.... there are plans for several Pintxos restaurants to open in the DC area in the near future.  From the Basque region of Northern Spain and Southern France, Pintxo literally means “spike” and is used to describe appetizers served on a stick, but also refers to any bite sized food on a piece of bread, or even on a small plate. 

The Basque Region has long sought its independence as its culture was first documented as far back as the 16th century.  The capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz and it has its own language, called Euskara.  Ferdinand Franco, the fascist dictator that was supported by the Nazi’s during the Spanish Civil War, had persecuted the Basque people and even banned the language.  Hitler, who supported Franco’s rise to power, used the Spanish Civil War to test the weapons later used in his Blitzkrieg, or “lightning War.” The first intervention by the Luftwaffe, the German Air force, was the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica, or Gernika, on April 26, 1937, immortalized by the visceral and terrifying painting by Pablo Picasso of the same name.  Oppressed throughout Franco’s rule, a separatist movement took hold led by the militant Basque Separatist group, ETA, which was labeled a terrorist organization by most western governments until disbanding within the last decade. 

The main difference between Tapas and Pintxos, is that one is Spanish and the other Basque.  Tapas are typically eaten sitting down with utensils while the later is with fingers standing up.  Pintxos is a festive food that can be eaten all day or all night and are meant to tempt the eye, as they are set out on the bars throughout the Basque Country.  These are to be enjoyed with friends, moving from bar to bar throughout the evening.  The primary varieties of Pintxos include:

1. Banderillas - the easiest to assemble, simply combining a pickled vegetable, marinated fish or olive on a toothpick.  Really, anything on a toothpick.  
   
2. Montaditos - anything served on a piece of bread.
   
3. Bocadillos - small sandwiches, so 2 pieces of bread!
   
4. Fritos - plates of fried seafood
   
5. Cazuelitas - soups & stews
   
6. Estofados - braised dishes served in small earthenware pots, or
   
7. Hojaldres - pastries with savory filling
   
8. Croquetas - Charcuterie
   
9. Raciones - plates meant for sharing
   

There are several characteristic ingredients for Pintxos, especially peppers, and many are meant to be eaten at room temperature, such as:

1. Bacalao - salt-cured cod
   
2. Boquerones - vinegar-cured, pearly white anchovies.
   
3. Bayonne ham - similar to Iberico or Serrano
   
4. Piperrada (or Pipérade) - stewed onions, peppers and tomatoes similar to a sofrito.  Typically served as a first course, usually with an egg or Bayonne ham.   
   
5. Piquillo Peppers - Small sweet peppers normally roasted and stuffed
   
6. Piment d'Espelette - a ground pepper from the city of the same name in Southern France
   
7. Choricero Peppers - dried in the sun but not smoked, providing a distinct Basque flavor
   
8. Guindilla peppers - long, neon green, spicy and pickled
   
9. Pimientos de Gernika (similar to the Galician Padrón Peppers) - customarily fried in oil and always served as the main ingredient of a Pintxos, never a garnish, these peppers, green and uniform, have a unique texture and flavor.
   

Each meal kit will come with your choice of any 4 Pintxos.  We can exclude certain ingredients, or exchange certain ones (esp. cheese), so please let us know.  Many, but not all, will be served with a skewer and a piece of crusty bread, and some will simply served on a small plate.   Given the number of ingredients, the deadline for this sale will be Tuesday, April 18th at 10pm.  Please list the 4 according to the corresponding number, and any special requests in the box above.

Note: We may substitute certain secondary ingredients, but not the protein.

Choose any 4 and put the corresponding numbers in the box above:

Vegetarian

1- Goat Cheese stuffed Piquillo Peppers with a Sherry Vinegar Reduction

2- Figs Marinated in Sherry with Aged Goat Cheese

3- Piperrada (or Pipérade) - stewed onions, peppers and tomatoes

4- Watercress, Walnuts, Goat Cheese, and Roasted Peaches

Seafood

5- Manzanilla Olives, Guindilla Peppers and Boquerones (White Anchovies)

6- Prawns with Garlic Confit and Preserved Lemon and Piment d'Espelette

Pork

7- Chorizo, Petit Basque (Sheep’s Cheese), and Guindilla Peppers

8- Figs With Honey and Petit Basque (Sheep’s Cheese) wrapped in Serrano Ham

9- Ham and Cheese Bocadillos (mini sandwiches)

Poultry

10- Piperrada with Chicken 

Red Meat 

11- Piquillo Peppers stuffed with Braised Short Rib, Oxtail, & Goat Cheese

On Egin! (Basque for Bon Appetit!)

Time to Cook:  30 min.

Cook by Day: Monday 

Items included (serves 2):

1. 4 Pintxos (2-4 bites per Pintxos)
   

*Menu items subject to slight variation based on the availability of fresh ingredients; Picture is not necessarily representative of final dish

Meal Contains (including add-ons):  Milk, Wheat, Egg, Fish, Shellfish, Peanuts, and Tree Nuts.  We store, portion, and package various meal kits containing all eight (8) major allergens (milk, wheat, egg, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, and tree nuts) and cannot guarantee that cross-contamination will not occur between kits.

Add-on Checkout Items:

1. Add more Pintxos

On Egin!