It’s an idyllic Saturday night and you’re inspired to gather friends and family for an impromptu party. Sharing laughs over good food and drink is always enjoyable. Long prep time and toiling in the kitchen is not. If the notion of too much time laboring over food preparation is preventing you from putting out word that the party is at your place, fear not. The ever present obstacles of time and labor can be overcome with pintxos.
Pintxos (peen-tchos) are the small plates you’ll find lining the bars throughout the Parte Vieja (Old Town) in Donostia-San Sebastian, the renowned culinary city in northern Spain. In Basque Country the term includes all tapas, while elsewhere in Spain pintxo more specifically means a tapa that is skewered on a toothpick. Montaditos, just to add a bit more confusion, are served atop a small slice of bread instead of skewered; think miniature, open-faced sandwiches.
Conservas, foods preserved in tins or jars, are the ingredients that make up many of these small plates and an age-old tradition in Spain. Using only top-quality ingredients, Spaniards have created delicacies unlike anything Americans have come to expect from typical canned foods found on grocery store shelves. Spanish canned seafood in particular is becoming more well-known for its exemplary quality, thanks to the likes of Anthony Bourdain and other chefs who have an affinity for Bonito del Norte tuna, Cantabrian anchovies, or octopus in olive oil. Other specialties like white asparagus, guindilla peppers, and piquillos are appearing on more menus across America as the notion of serving conservas, even straight from the tin, is becoming more popular.
Beyond the delectable quality of the ingredients, the appeal of conservas, to professional and home chefs alike, is the gourmet dishes that can be made with minimal preparation. You don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen to serve your guests authentic Spanish small-bites of the highest order. You don’t need to venture across the Atlantic to wander the cobbled streets of San Sebastian to enjoy the good food and conviviality that comes along with it (though such a trip is highly recommended). All you do need are a few jars and tins of conservas, some fresh bread, a few staples, and some friends.
Below are seven pintxos that together can be prepared in less than half an hour. With these simple delicacies you can make the most of any party and enjoy the flavors of Basque Country from the comforts of home.
The Gilda is the classic pintxo of San Sebastian, named for Rita Hayworth’s character in the eponymous film. Simply a Cantabrian anchovy fillet, guindilla pepper, and manzanilla olive skewered on a toothpick.
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Mussels in escabeche piled atop fresh ricotta cheese on slices of bread.
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Octopus in olive oil, marinated grilled artichokes, and piment d’Espelette.
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Sardines in olive oil, roasted cherry tomato, chives, and a drizzle of olive oil.
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Bonito del Norte tuna, piquillo pepper, mayonnaise or aioli, and an olive.
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Cantabrian anchovy, manchego cheese, and apricot jam.
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White asparagus, piquillo pepper, goat cheese, and mayonnaise or aioli.
The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen pondered to go-to ingredients that chefs and foodies are always sure to have in their pantries. A consensus pick? Marinated artichokes.
Enter our collectively felt gem of a pantry good: marinated artichokes. We’re talking about either jarred artichokes or the ones you find at your supermarket’s salad bar, not canned ones. The jarred stuff is almost always marinated and, thus, flavorful; canned artichokes are flavorless and soggy. So go for glass.
Donostia Foods Marinated Grilled Artichokes meet the criteria above, with the added bonus of being grilled. Everything is better grilled.
If you're in need of recipe inspiration, follow our board on Pinterest for a continually growing collection of serving suggestions from the likes of Bon Appétit Magazine, the New York Times, the BBC, food bloggers, and of course, us.
For The Globe and Mail, Chris Jones ventures to the Bay of Biscay in Basque Country and discovers the care taken to create ideal Spanish conservas, the tradition of high-quality Spanish preserved foods such as ham and canned seafood like tuna, anchovies, cockles, mussels, and more. As mentioned in the article, “People’s perception of what preserved fish and seafood is brings back pretty diabolical childhood memories,” but eating Spanish canned seafood can change minds with just one bite.
“North Americans look at canned seafood only as a form of preservation, which usually meant the lowest quality,” Tkaczuk adds. “By comparison, Europeans and especially Spaniards have been developing preserves for 150, 200 years. They’re so past the point of preserving just for storage that they’re a delicacy in their own right.”
Read the whole article at The Globe and Mail.
If you're exploring the Internet in search of the finest anchovy stuffed olives for yourself or a loved one you will find numerous options. Which olives amongst this vast selection stand out above the rest? Which olives will have your friends commenting at your next party, "these olives are sensational!"? Which olives are the right olives?
Donostia Foods Manzanilla Olives stuffed with Anchovy.
Clearly, you would expect us to say such things as we're selling them. Our bias is self-evident. So, we offer the below review from someone just like you, someone who sought the best in anchovy stuffed olives the Internet could offer and by the grace of Google found Donostia Foods:
Bomb diggity. Next level umami. These olives have the most beguiling salinity and a lasting green olive punch. The contents don't stand a chance once the jar is opened. I killed four jars yesterday making Gildas for happy hour pintxos; Cantabrian anchovies, guindilla peppers, and an olive on a toothpick... brought me back to San Sebastian without the jetlag, Thanks Donostia Foods for providing the best anchovies, peppers and olives ever. I'm a lifer.
- NFA from Santa Fe, NM
Fairly persuasive evidence that our olives (and anchovies and peppers) are the answer to all the questions above.
While virtually wondering the vast reaches of the Internet, you will occasionally stumble upon something that makes you pause, albeit briefly, and consider a moment in time. The below image dates from 1846, a view of San Sebastián that feels familiar even 170 years later.
Donostia Foods Octopus in Olive Oil was featured on The Feed Podcast (2015 James Beard award-winner for best podcast) from Chef Rick Bayless and 13-time James Beard award winner food journalist Steve Dolinsky.
As Rick says, "I love the chewiness of that octopus. It’s chewy in the right way, not in the wrong way, it’s not like rubbery or anything, it offers a little bit of resistance so it doesn’t just melt in your mouth. It would be just wonderful, I want to go home and turn these into simple things that I can put with some bread. I’m thinking about that octopus I want to put a little bit of red chili on it, and perhaps a little bit of mayonnaise to mix in with it, some fresh herbs. Oh my god, it would be so good."
A high-protein, flavorful snack straight from the tin, if you're looking for additional recipe and serving suggestions for octopus in olive oil look no further than our Pinterest board dedicated to exactly that.
Want to cut through the confusion in choosing an olive oil? Articles to come will delve into further detail, but here are a few major points on the different types:
Those are the three basic options you'll be confronted with in any grocery store aisle. When in doubt, go with a real extra virgin olive oil and you'll be satisfied with the results, however you use it.
Donostia Foods Gran Reserva Sherry Vinegar D.O. Vinagre de Jerez is not just a long name, but a superior ingredient in numerous recipes. What recipes, you ask? These recipes. Soups, salads, and sauces; appetizers, sides, and mains; even desserts and pastries. Follow our board on Pinterest for a continually growing collection of serving suggestions from the likes of Bon Appétit Magazine, the New York Times, the BBC, food bloggers, and of course, us.
Gran reserva sherry vinegar, denomination of origin Vinagre de Jerez, is produced with the traditional solera system in the Jerez region of Spain and aged a minimum of 10 years. A rich mahogany color and silky texture develop from the traditional solera process which begins with sherry wine and consists of oak barrels stacked atop each other, the bottom row home to the oldest vinegar, or the "solera". As the vinegar matures the original flavor of the wine takes on notes from the oak barrels and eventually realizes the intense flavor chefs seek.
If you wander about the Internet, on occasion you uncover something delightful from long ago. This postcard of Donostia-San Sebastian is one of those delightful things. We're not sure of the exact date of this photo, but it captures the charm of the city in a bygone era.
The full postcard:
Donostia Foods products are on the shelves of the award-winning Southern Season, a culinary destination in the South since 1975. Located in Chapel Hill, Charleston, Raleigh, and Richmond, and soon in Atlanta, Southern Season offers a vast array of the finest foods, wines, housewares, and cookware, along with a knowledgeable, friendly staff to help you seek out exactly what you're looking for or discover something new. Also, there's an old-fashioned soda bar, a wine and beer tasting bar, a coffee and tea bar, and a restaurant; needless to say, all ages will leave satisfied.
Featured in Travel + Leisure, Southern Living, Gourmet Retailer, and on the Food Network, a New York Times food critic summed up the store nicely, stating that Southern Season is "wall to wall and floor to ceiling... a visual and gustatory delight!"
Cantabrian anchovies change people's minds. While many may hold fast to the notion of hold the anchovies whenever confronted with the small fish, this habit is most likely born from experience with poor quality examples found in massive grocery stores or atop cheap pizzas, not the umami imbued fillets originating off the coast of northern Spain.
Make sure to eat the good ones. As chef Frank Camorra says in Emily Naismith's article, "Food We Fight About: Anchovies":
People hate anchovies because they have never tried a quality anchovy fished from the Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean. The Atlantic anchovies are plumper, with a higher fat content, making them much firmer in texture and more delicious, as well as less salty.
To help you experience our quality Cantabrian anchovies in the finest fashion, below are a few recipes and serving suggestions:
