Another winter tradition in the Basque region is cider (sidra) and the cider house (sidreria) meal, which includes unlimited sidra. Last week, we went to lunch with our friend Maje at a nearby sidreria. As usual, we went by public transportation, which included about an hour of walking each way, which was very beneficial given how much we ate (and drank).
The sidreria we went to was very traditional with long shared tables and large vats and barrels of sidra. The room filled up completely as the afternoon went on.
One thing that was different about this sidreria, compared to those that we have been to before, is that the meal included spider crab (centollo) as one of its dishes. Although Shana did try the crab, she did not appreciate it the way that I did.
On the other hand, we all enjoyed the steak (txuleta) so much that we actually ordered a second one, although that may have been overdoing it a bit.
Note that all of the other people at our long table were part of a large group of 13 or 14 people, which is very common at sidrerias. The whole experience is communal, especially the line up to fill your glass.
Continuing with the subject of sidra, we learned this week on our visit to the Albaola Istas Kultur Faktoria museum in Pasaia that the tradition of sidra goes back a very long way in the history and culture of the Basque region. The museum is dedicated to the San Juan, a Basque whaling ship that sunk in a storm off the coast of Canada in 1565! So, what did we learn, and how does this relate to the sidra tradition?
The Albaola museum has a great exhibit on the building of the San Juan, including where and how the various parts were made; but also on how the San Juan was found in Red Bay, Canada in 1978 and the process of the recovery and study of the ship after more than 400 years.
Also interesting were the exhibits discussing what was involved in the 16th century whaling industry, including the importance of sidra, which was the primary beverage on the voyage because water in barrels tended to become undrinkable. The need for large quantities of sidra for the whaling (and also cod-fishing) voyages led to the creation of a huge sidra industry in this area almost five centuries ago. And you can see it is still thriving today.
The most impressive part of the museum however is the reconstructed San Juan itself. Workers have been creating a full size recreation of this ship for over a decade, and it is expected to be finished this year. The plan is to sail the ship back to Red Bay (where hopefully it will not sink this time).
It was really very interesting to learn about the huge industry that was created around shipbuilding and whaling in the 16th century. Then, as now, the key was energy -- whale oil was used to light lamps all over Europe, and the Basques were some of the original and most successful whalers.
We're not sure why it took us more than 7 years to get to this local and worthwhile museum, but we're glad we finally made it. We'll look forward to seeing the San Juan launched as planned one day soon and be sure to toast the voyage with a glass of sidra.
More to come soon.
