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Alex Raij and Eder Montero, owners and chefs of Txikito Restaurant, in New York, will publish their first cook book on April 19, 2016. Although it is more than six months from now, ‘The Basque Book: A love letter from the kitchen of Txikito’ is “completely finished,” as Montero told EuskalKultura.com. “It’s a reference book for anybody to use, but with the touch of Txikito’s style,” he added.

New York. “We have always had the idea of writing a Basque cookbook, but it never seemed to be the right moment,” explains the Basque chef from Txikito restaurant, born in Bilbao, Basque Country. “We’ve been lucky enough to have Rebecca Flint Marx (editor of the food section of San Francisco Magazine) interested in working with us, to put our ideas into words.” Along with Flint Marx, photographer Penny de los Santos has also participated in the project, making it more visual. The book will be published by Ten Speed Press, on April 19, 2016.

It is the first book to be written by any of the chefs, although Raij has published articles before in several specialized magazines. In this case, however, they made “a reference book for anybody to use,” says Montero. And he quips: “I’m conscious that chefs have an enormous ego but, for example, we didn’t include our mushroom carpaccio because nobody can do it at home.”

The book will include explanations; passages about Alex’s and Eder’s childhood; her first steps into the Basque cuisine; how they met each other; how she, who was exposed to this type food as an adult, is more likely to “break the rules” at the time of making a pil-pil sauce… “I think it’s a good book,” he concluded.