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Since the beginning of 2017, the author of Basque Rural Cooking has prepared a typical meal from her Basque recipes every Thursday to offer to her neighbors.  The initiative began timidly but as time went by, it grew in popularity and the list of requests also grew.  In the words of Marita Echave “the dishes are homemade, the distribution dynamic allows reaching many people and I hope that the Basque club can adopt it so that everyone becomes aware and enjoys Basque cooking.”

Cnel. Moldes, Argentina.   Marita Echave published Basque Rural Cooking in 2010, and after presenting it in Coronel Moldes she immediately followed it with tours where the author and cook shared her knowledge and recipes with a large number of Basque clubs.  In each case, at each club, Echave gave talks and prepared recipes from her book along with club members

Now, in hopes that the recipes and stories continue jumping from the library to the public; Echave has again started a personal project that she hopes to encourage clubs across the country to adopt.

Every Thursday, Echave prepares, in her home in Coronel Moldes, a typical Basque meal from her cookbook and distributes it among those who ordered it. To do this, she counts on social media and her Facebook page (Marita Echave) where she receives orders, what the specialty of the day will be, along with an announcement with the details on how to prepare it and a story about she prepared this dish before in the country.  The menu is very varied and includes different kinds of meats (beef, pork, lamb, chicken, fish…), vegetables and typical condiments from Euskal Herria.  The recipe and the narration are also perfect excuses to include some Basque words or expressions.

Among the dishes prepared in 2017, are “Rural baking,” “Chicken stew,” “Lentils Gipuzkoan Style,” “Marmitako,” “pork loin in milk with hash browns in tarragon,” to name a few.  Her lamb dishes were recognized by the Agricultural Federation in Coronel Moldes that in turn invited her, in August, to a day of sheep production organized by the Federation, INTA and the UNRC. During the conference, Echave prepared lamb in different ways.  

Due last year’s success, Marita Echave will continue her project of dissemination of recipes from the baserri in 2018. Beginning in March, the cook will again open her kitchen every Thursday with a new proposal and a typical recipe along with an emotional story.