Julie Wootton/Gooding, ID, USA. “It makes you feel good because they’re proud of who they are,” said Guerecaechevarria, whose husband is from Basque Country.
The menu changes each month, with traditional favorites including grilled lamb, garbanzo bean soups, salad, pork and Basque rice. They also serve pork loin, which is salted and marinated in brine overnight. Then, it’s rubbed with olive oil. Cooks spread a thick layer of paprika on top before lightly frying it. It’s topped with red peppers and garlic.
Popular desserts include flan, cheesecake, rice pudding and pastries with almonds.
“If I don’t make the flan, I know I’ll hear about it from certain guys,” Guerecaechevarria said.
The Gooding Basque Association, a nonprofit organization, uses proceeds from the monthly dinners partly to cover food costs. “The lamb is a big one,” Guerecaechevarria said.
They also award scholarships and give to area charities. And they use proceeds to make payments on the Gooding Basque Center, which opened about 11 years ago. The group has about $200,000 to go before the center is paid off.
The Gooding Basque Association also rents out the center for parties and community events.
And members sell Basque food at community events, including the Thousand Springs Festival in Hagerman and Trailing of the Sheep in Ketchum.
Their big community event of the year is the Basque picnic, slated for July 19.
Guerecaechevarria says it’s not hard to prepare for the monthly dinners, but there’s a lot to do. “You get into your own cycle and you go from there.”
It’s also an adjustment for those who haven’t cooked in a commercial kitchen for a large number of people, she said.
The Basque center’s social hall was filled with tables Friday. Centerpieces included synthetic flowers and miniature Basque flags. The hall is also adorned with decorations, including a sign: “Eat, Drink & Be Basque.”
Basque Country is made up of seven traditional provinces divided between France and Spain.
Basque immigrants arrived in the Magic Valley from the 1800s through the 1970s. The vast majority came to be involved with the sheep business.
A lot of sheep outfits were headquartered in Shoshone and there were only one or two boarding houses in Gooding.
But since then, Gooding has become a cultural hub for Basque immigrants and their descendants. The Basque Association was launched more than 30 years ago.
Jose and his father came to Gooding in 1973. Peggy and Jose have traveled to Basque Country about four times, but not since 2001.
Even though lamb is a staple of Gooding Basque Association dinners, it’s a rare treat in Basque Country. Families usually eat it only on special occasions, such as Easter.
In Gooding, when members gather for dinners, the cuisine tends to be more exotic, including pig’s feet.
For the monthly community dinners, Jose cooks the lamb and Peggy handles side dishes such as rice.
Fried cod is also common in Basque Country, Peggy said. “There’s a lot of different ways they fry the fish.”
She grew up in a fishing town in Scotland, where fresh fish was abundant. But the variety of cuisine in her hometown — and in Basque Country — has changed and expanded over the years.
Gooding Basque dinners
When: First Friday of every month
Where: Gooding Basque Center, at the corner of Idaho highways 26 and 46, near North Canyon Medical Center.
Cost: $16 for adults, $14 for seniors over 60 and $8 for children.
Basque Boarding House Salad Dressing
Make at least 20 minutes before serving so flavors marry.
1 & 1/3 C cider vinegar
4 large clove garlic, minced
2 t salt
¼ t dry mustard
2 T sugar
2 C canola oil
2 C Best Foods mayonnaise
Optional: 1 hard-boiled egg, chilled & grated or grated cheese (dry jack)
Instructions:
In a bowl that will allow easy whisking, add garlic to vinegar. Whisk vigorously. Let sit for a few minutes.
Add salt, pepper, dry mustard and sugar to vinegar in bowl. Blend ingredients. Vigorously whisk in oil and mayonnaise.
Toss salad with dressing, then sprinkle with optional grated egg or grated dry jack cheese and toss lightly. Serve.
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