Spain's Basque Country is a foodie paradise. This region in Northern Spain, which straddles the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast, is home to an autonomous community that has its own culture, identity, and even language. But you don't have to travel to Spain to get a taste of their famous cuisine.
I spent part of a day with chef Justin Severino, in the kitchen of his restaurant Morcilla, in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood. The restaurant specializes in Spanish-style charcuterie and traditional small plates. The first thing I noticed is Severino isn't wearing a chef's coat as I am, but rather a T-shirt with a diagram of the cuts of a pig, and jeans. I feel instantly out of place.
"We try to defeat all those stupid stereotypes that exist inside of kitchens like that coat; why would anyone wear that in a kitchen?" he said, pointing to my thick, long-sleeved chef coat, through which I am already sweating. "Do you know how hot it is in here? Doesn't make any sense."
I immediately became more intrigued about the man who has agreed to teach me, a student of culinary arts at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, to make a Basque-style dish that will show us why Spain is a champion in the art of small-plate cuisine.
SPANISH INFLUENCES
Spain was always on the travel wish list for Severino and Hilary, his wife and business partner. However, they didn't visit Basque country because they were going to open a Spanish restaurant. They traveled to the region because they love to visit beautiful places with good food and drink.
"Most of the things that I cook are European, and the things that have always inspired me to cook are history and culture," Severino said.
Severino considers San Sebastian, a majestic city on the Cantabrian Sea full of mouth-watering food, beautiful buildings and white sandy beaches, to be one of the best places to eat in the world.
"It is fantastic. And it's different," he said.
Severino also loves Logrono, Rioja, in the center of Spain.
In the charming old city center, famous for its tapas area, which Severino said is probably the size of a football field, about 250 tiny tapas bars are stacked along the 12-foot-wide walking paths. Each restaurant serves only one or two menu options.
"Some of them have been there for the history of Logrono. They've been serving the same food and it's all great," he said.
Logrono embodies two things that inspire Severino.
The first is history. In Logrono, food and culture are intertwined, Severino said. You have to know a little about the history of northern Spain to understand why in Logrono, you can eat Merguez sausage and certain types of pita, yogurts and cheeses that you don't find elsewhere in Spain.
When the Moors invaded Spain in 711 A.D., the nomadic people who were a mix of Arab, Spanish, and Amazigh (Berber) origins originally occupying Mauretania in Africa, brought not only their religion, music, art and architecture with them but also their food. Although they eventually were driven out, 700 years of Moorish influence left its mark on Spain, making it different than the rest of western Europe.
Logrono was a trading post of the Moors moving from one side of Spain to the other and the presence of Israeli food in the town resulted from trade, Severino said. Moorish and Israeli food is known as Sephardic cooking, and Severino cooks a lot of it at Morcilla.
"I think that Israeli food is one of the best foods on the planet," he said. "So it's a really fun thing to combine traditional Spanish things with traditional Israeli things in a Spanish restaurant."
The second thing that inspires Severino is the culture. In Spain, people socialize after work by meeting for tapas and they don't stuff themselves, Severino said. Having tapas is just a way to meet and share good times with friends. Then they go home for time with their family, usually sitting down for dinner around 9 p.m.
"For me, that's what food is about. It's about community. It's about what happens when four people sit at a table, and the experience that they have," Severino said. "It's not about, like, my mind being blown away by the food or the superstar chef that's in the back. Because really, none of that matters, at least in my opinion."
Their experience in Spain made Severino and Hilary crave the food when they returned to the United States, Severino said. The small plate dining experience was lacking in Pittsburgh, and that was the inspiration behind Morcilla.
"There weren't many places where you could just go and casually eat a couple of simple things and walk out the door," Severino said. "So that's why we're sitting here (in Morcilla) right now."
