Book Review: My Basque Cuisine: A Love Affair with Spanish Cooking

In the days when I managed a bookshop I could not only take advantage of a healthy staff discount but also receive advanced information about all the new titles in the pipeline.  Although I gave up cooking for a living a long time ago I only gave up my three a month cookbook buying habit when we moved out to the French Pyrenees.  To be able to make the move we had to give up a lot and one of those things was buying Stuff. Although obviously I don't classify books as Stuff, the other half does.  As it seems, does the teeny weeny Fun Fund from which such pleasures have to be bought.  And when we reach the bottom of the fund towards the end of the year, even I agree that a goose for Christmas is always gong to win out over any book.

Thank goodness, then, for Birthday and Christmas presents.  My purchasing may now be down to a meager two or three a year, but of the 2014 allocation My Basque Cuisine was by far the best.  The other, another one of those most brilliant River Cottage Handbooks, on preserving and curing meat is also excellent, but given our lack of sheep and pigs, somewhat less useful.  I dream of a Porc Noir de Bigorre or two foraging among my apple trees before gracing the table with their piggy presence!

So, dragging my attention away from the thoughts of a ham gently drying in the garage, back to the matter in hand, and My Basque Cuisine by Ash Mair.  For those not in the know, Ash was a private chef who won Professional Masterchef on the BBC, wowing the judges with, among many other things his passion for, and knowledge of Spanish and specifically Basque cuisine.  This passion he has transferred brilliantly into a rather lush book, a perfect foodie's blend of recipes, anecdotes and food lore.  So gorgeous is the book that it sat out on the table for a good six months, constantly getting picked up, thumbed and read.  And yes, cooked from too.

In general, I use cook books for inspiration, rather than slavishly following recipes. Arrogantly, I think I have enough knowledge to go off piste, and from time to time do therefore produce culinary crimes.  But for some things you do just have to follow the instructions.  Well the first time at least!  And this is one of them.  I can vouch for the Fried Milk Custard, although confess to not serving it with the caramelized bananas because, although Mr Stella would happily eat deep-fried sugar rolled in sugar with a sugar sauce, I don't have such a sweet tooth and as I do the cooking, I make the choices!

So, basically I love this book.  And this post has taken ages to write because I keep wandering off for a quick, or rather longer browse.  Next year, given that we live less than an hour from the French Basque region, we are off to do some serious eating.  And I have a shopping list, too: sweet paprika, smoked paprika, morcilla, chorizo, jamon iberico, arroz calasparra...