What is Basque???

I don't tend to put up more personal things on my blog, but I've been getting a number of inquiries about Basque and what it is and does. I've been on the road constantly this month and am only now getting a chance to catch up on personal correspondences (and figured I'd knock them out all at once). For those who know me, you know I'm an avid chef and love to both cook and eat fantastic foods. The recent Buzz covered one of my (now not so) secret weekly rituals -- one of the rare moments to leave the policy and technical worlds behind.

Rather than explain everything, here are some quick glimpses (through their menus) of the last few Basque gatherings I attended:

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D's "1919, 3-day chili" (don't forget to put the suet in it ya dumb nit); Sourdough by L; an andouille & pita finger-food; those delicious roasted almonds with sea salt and olive oil (who's bringing those, by the way, and where can I get some?); a Persian-apricot chicken rice pilaf (I was thinking raisins, but now I know better) by S; J's red wine, slow-cooked beef stew (of unbelievable tenderness); several types of Sardinian flat breads; those lovely potato slabs; and a fantastic, superprime, filet mignon (with your choice of a portabella mushroom sauce, sauce Hussard, and/or sauce Godart). We finished up with M's apple torte, which was widely regarded as delectible, yet vastly inferior to C's chocolate torte (which was heavenly), some of D's fine coffee, and a finale of Pedro Ximenez's Alvear Solera 1927.

For those more interested in the liquid portion of the lunch setting, we were pouring out a Founders Imperial Stout (which reminded me of L's Russian rye more than a beer) and a really amazing Great Lakes Blackout Stout. For those searching for more delicate potables, we had Le Chene Marchand (2002) Sancerre -- a wildly citrus-y white; Fattorie Le Pupille (1992) Saffredi (which didn't last long); an Etin (2001) Red Grenache (which lasted about as long as the Saffredi and just just about as good); ye ol' Banrock Station (2002) Cabernet Sauvignon (which was the survivor of the afternoon); and Las Rocas (Vinas Viejas) 2001 Garnacha, which was simply superb.

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Luckily we had extra service areas this week, because today's menu included: split pea soup (with a lovely 16 month aged Kentucky ham); Andouille, "Toscana", and "Siciliano" (homemade) sausage (yes, three different types, and all of them better than the last); a pissala diere (aka cheese & onion pizza -- but with an absolutely fantastic crust and unlike any pizza you've ever eaten, unless you at the pissala diere Mark I last week); grilled radicchio with a balsamic-orange ancho-rosemary marinade (and you could taste _all_ those flavors plus a tangy-smoky finish... incredible); Luna-burgers(!) -- so simple, yet so good; a homemade Russian rye bread with hints of chocolate, molasses, and coffee; a pungent Cyprus Grove goat cheese; a fresh-made saffron pasta with spicy sun-dried tomato cream sauce (a real crowd favorite); and we had _huuuuuuuge_ racks of lamb to make any Monty Python fan proud; a tian courgette (sort of a zucchini-quiche style delectable); and finished up with a chocolate-raspberry cake with kirsch cream and coffee (whose hand-grinding was amusing to all -- though perhaps a bit less so to me ;). But this was a Basque with a potables list to make any wine lover cry -- Alvear Solera 1927 from the ever-popular Basque favorite, Pedro Ximenez (those who left early missed out on the less sugary, more saba-y Dom PX 1972, which is one of my own new-found favs); and (of course, just a taste of Samael's Angel of Death (what else would you call a beer that's more alcoholic than wine, yet tastes... ummm... heavenly?); Anchor Steam Christmas Ale (the beer that just wouldn't die); Bells 2-hearted ale (a beer to make grown men swoon); Banyuls Vin Doux Naturel (1996); a Chateau du Donjon Minervois (2004); Vega del Castillo (2000) Crianza; Alois Lageder (2004) -- I'm not partial to rose, but this was damn fine; Domain Chante Perdrix (2000) Chateau Neuf du Pape; an incredible Brunello di Montalcino Riserva (1990), I thought it was delicious; an Albet i Noya Tempranillo (2003); and, finally, a Manzone Bricat (1994). As far as I can tell, we had about a bottle a person... WOW!!!

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Just time for a quick review of Basque this week... Sur la tavola at my place (as best we can tell) were: quiche Lorraine, BBQ brisket (of delectable tenderness), a couple racks of lamb, carrots a l'orange, artichoke & asiago cheese pizza (nicely smoky from a quick top off at the grill), pork toronado (what a lovely sauce that had, eh?), fresh sage & rosemary pasta in a garlic butter sauce, slow-cooked beef stew, BBQ ribs (scrumptious indeed), bread by L (tm), pate de campagne, an Anchor Steam X-mas ale, a couple bottles of Costieres de Nimes (both Chateau Grande Cassagne 2001 and VF Lasira 2002), Reinares Vendima 2003, the most exquisite Charles Flours Jurancon 1999 (my that was a most quaffable nectar), and a delicious lemon meringue to top it all off, followed by a wee nip o' the Hendricks Gin. If you missed the 12-course extravaganza, well, sucks to be you.

The point being, if you're not eating wonderfully (in terms of both what you're eating and who you're eating it with), you're really missing out on one of life's greatest pleasures.