The Basques make some worthy wines, too. The best liked is Irouléguy, and it is found in most of the good restaurants. Then there are refreshing local crus from Louhossoa and Itxassou don't ask me how to pronounce that one! two villages high in the hills on the road to Spain. The Basques also make a memorable liqueur. Izarra, which is comparable to benedictine.
This small province has always been popular with travelers. a fact which is partially explained by the character and customs of the Basques themselves. Visitors are impressed by many things; the dignity of the close shaven Easque, the gaiety and beauty of his daughter, the meek self effacement of his wife, and the mysterious complexity of his language. Basques are different They play pelota from childhood. They write romantic poems and indulge in vivacious native dances. Their classic beret has become an accepted headpiece all over the world. The Basque farmhouse is a thing of beauty and the scene of a family life which would startle many an unfettered American family. The man of the house is the absolute king here. He sits at the table with his sons, while his wife and daughters serve them. The women eat standing up in a far corner of the room so as not to disturb the master.
The Basque native is silent and untatkative. “Words are female, actions are male,” he explains. He has an aristocratic dignity in keeping with his Roman profilenone of the boisterous noise of his neighbors on the Mediterranean. He has set traditions. The oldest sen inherits the farm that is fixed and inviolable. A younger son is free to migrate to North or South America and make his fortune before returning home to retire. He may become a fisherman out of St. Jean-de-Luz or, better yet, a professional peloid player. He might even become a Basque dancer or a verse-writer.
The Basque farmhouse, neat and whitewashed and often timbered, is the core of home life in these hills. It is nearly always unsymmetrical, and its façade, overhung by a wide roof, almost always faces cast. For centuries these houses have turned their backs to the rainy west winds. If you have a chance to see a Basque kitchen, don't miss it! You can see one in the Musée Basque in St. Jean-de-Luz, by the way.
The basque béret is an inseparable companion of the lean native. He wears it at the table, hangs it on the bed post at night, and, in fact, takes it with him in his tomb. The basque game of pelota has conquered the countryside even more than baseball has captivated our country. From toddlers up, the Basques whip that bill up against a high wall. Sometimes the children are barehanded, but the elders wear the legendary cbistera, or wicker basker, fastened to the fist. It is an agile game and fascinating to watch. Jean Borotra, the bounding Basque, is no mystery after seeing his fellow Basques in action on the peloid court.
The unique language of this one small spot in Europe differentiates it from all others. Its roots bear no resemblance to those of the Latin tongues, and it has furnished many a puzzle to philologists. The language is called Basque, or Eskuara, and you have to live here from infancy to speak it well. If you are there for only a few days, it might be well to try out two words though. Ba means yes and ez means no. Try it and sec! Here is a sample of this bizarre language: “Eskuara eskualdunen hizkuntza da; ez da errecba, bainan ikbasten abal da; lehenbizikorik behar dena nabikundea da, eta gero jarraiki.” Translated it means: “Eskuara is the language of the Basques; it is not easy, but one may learn it; first one needs determination and then perseverance”
This corner of France has contributed at least three classic dishes to French cooking lore; la garbure, the thick soup par excellence, poule au pot, the chicken dish fostered by Henry IV himself, and la piperade, the Basque version of the time-tried Spanish omelette. There are other specialties: la daube a la béarnaise, a mammoth splendor usually reserved for Christinas and other great occasions; loukinkas, small, spiced, and garlic-scented sausages which are eaten piping hot with cold oysters; and tournedos béarnaise for which the fabulous sauce was created. More than one critic will agree that it is the most delicious and inspired of all French sauces.
Despite its name, sauce béarnaise was not first conceived in this province. Its naming was a bit of a fluke, since the sauce was invented by the chef of the Pavilion Henri IV in St. Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, some one hundred and twenty years ago. Some say the cook was a Basque. But Henri IV, for whom the famed hostelry was named, certainly came from the Béarn, so it would have seemed logical to name the newly invented splendor béarnaise. The use of this sauce with so many dishes has emblazoned the word béarnaise on the masthead of countless recipes which aren't from this remote province at all. So you have to watch closely for the genuine Béarnais recipes. The following regional recipes. however, should lend a Basque note to your American kitchen:
Poule Fareie à la Béarnaise
This is the famous poule au pot of Henri IV and is simply a boiled fowl made just about as delicious as a boiled fowl can be.
Make a stuffing for the chicken first. Chop and saute 1 onion in a little butter; combine it with 1 ½ cups bread crumbs soaked in ¼ cup milk, the fowl's liver and gizzard, chopped, ¾ cup chopped ham, ¼ teaspoon thyme, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste, and finally 2 eggs. yolks and whites beaten and added separately. Fill a 5 to 6-pound fowl with this stuffing, sew it up, truss and tie firmly.
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