Posted by Back in 2015 I wrote about my first visit to the Boroa Jatetxea Restaurant. I write this following my second visit, which took place in November 2016.
The converted 15th century farmhouse is a wonderful building, spacious and “warm”. Do not let the rural setting fool you. This is a one Michelin star restaurant.
Íñigo Elorriaga, a Basque who lives in nearby Gernica (Guernica), is the chef in charge of innovation.
Jabier Gartzia Ruiz, a native of Gernica, is the head chef.
Oxtail capuccino came as a welcome drink and it was delicious! Light enough not to overpower the senses, but still capable of providing flavor, it was smooth and warm.
Chorizo is always welcome on my plate, especially this one that was accompanied by a sauce that had all the flavor of this wonderful sausage.
Slightly smoked European eel and avocado in spiced quince veil over foie gras with citric aroma was my starter. An absolute winner, a dish I could again and again without ever getting bored.
This is what great cooking is all about.
Cod tasting (grilled, vizcaina and pil pil) was my main course. I have a special devotion to salt cod and it cannot get any better than what I taste in Basque Country.
The dish has three pieces, wach cooked in a different way.
The first is pil-pil, which is a traditional Basque preparation. The sauce is an emulsion of olive oil and the cod’s juices.
The second piece is “vizcaina”, another local preparation, with a thich red sauce. The purists say that the sauce should be made only with red peppers, that is without any tomatoes. Today it is more often than not that you find a tomato thrown in the sauce.
The last preparation is grilled. This is a “nowhere to hide” preparation. The smallest fault of the fish will reveal itself on the grill, as well as the cook’s ability to maintain all the juices and aromas of salt cod’s most expensive cut.
Raspberry, yogurt and Dulcey junket Dulcey crumble, raspberry and yogurt junket, creamy yogurt, different Dulcey textures and raspberry meringue was my desert.
The desert was recommended to me by the propritetor, Mª Asun Ibarrondo, and I obliged.
The desert was a harmony of tastes and textures and aromas, and by the time I finished it I could only think of how hard it would be to improve on such a finish to a wonderful meal.