The Basque people, among the oldest cultures in not just Spain but all of Europe, have their own way of doing things.
Take the Basque Country tradition of pintxos.
A pintxo (meaning “spike” in the Basque language) is a small snack, often served on a toothpick. It’s meant to be eaten in a bite or two, standing up at a bar, before moving onto the next destination.
You might be tempted to compare pintxo to tapas, another Spanish tradition of small plates. But as Eva Longoria learned while filming in San Sebastián for “Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain,” that would be a mistake.
“Don’t you dare call a pintxo a tapa,” she tells CNN. “You will get run out of Basque Country.”
Bar hopping is a crucial component of the pintxo experience, and Longoria embarked on a pintxo tour in San Sebastián with the expert guidance of Marti Buckley, an American food writer who has lived in San Sebastián for 15 years.
What distinguishes a pintxo from a tapa is its composition. While a tapa is often a single food like jamón or garlic shrimp, a pintxo is a more elaborate culinary creation.
The Gilda, a classic pintxo named for the 1946 film starring Rita Hayworth, arranges a manzanilla olive, pickled guindilla peppers and a salty Cantabrian anchovy on a skewer in the shape of a woman’s body. Another pintxo called La Delicia layers a salt-cured anchovy, hard-boiled egg, mayonnaise and an onion-parsley vinaigrette atop a piece of bread. Yet another is a deep-fried piquillo pepper stuffed with meat.
“So much artistry goes into these tiny bites. It has to be an explosion of flavors in one bite,” Longoria says. “That’s what a pintxo is: a gourmet bite.”