euskalkultura.eus

It's an annual Basque American gastronomical gathering. Yuba City, California's annual Txorizo Contest will celebrate forty years next weekend. From a family style get-together to an event that gathers over 250 people, this culinary festival has gone through all kinds of phases and “it's still growing,” as John Belza, person in charge of the competition, told EuskalKultura.com.

Ander Egiluz Beramendi/Yuba City, CA. The Belza family, along with the Bidegains, are responsible for establishing  the txorizo season in California, which always takes place around February. The Yuba City Txorizo Contest will celebrate its fortieth edition next Saturday, February 13, at the Sutter Yourth Hall, starting at noon. John Belza, who was born a year after the first contest was celebrated, has taken up the torch as the main man from Bert Ithurburn, and will preside over the contest for the first time.

It's easy to say but hard to make it happen, Yuba City's Txorizo Contest celebrates 40 years. Congratulations! How do you feel about it?

-It's kind of cool that my dad started it with some friends and most of the kids of that time are still involved. It's becoming a tradition. It's a big part of my family, but not just mine. And, honestly, it's not a lot of work to organize it, but it takes an effort, but I'm always happy to do it. It's part of my family's tradition. It's a beautiful thing.

What memories do you have of those first contests?

-I'm 39 years old, so it started the year before I was born. So I don't remember not having a Txorizo Contest. I remember the smell of txorizo and that I loved it. My first memories as a kid are me running around (he laughs). It all started as a three-family-get-together. Our parents grew up seeing their grand parents, that came from the Basque Country, doing it. So it was like a get-together for about five years, I would say, and then it started growing thanks to friends. At that time, the rules were very loose, theoretically you had to be related to Basque people to participate, but loosely. And as you got older, you also becomemore interested in the cooking, so I spent hours with my dad learning. It was very nice.

Nowadays, on average, you welcome around 250 people every year and about 70 participants. Do you think you have reached your peak or is the contest still growing?

-I would say it's still growing, because a family that showed up with two people now has five kids and those kids will grow up and participate. So I think it's growing. But, even if it didn't, it's fine. But I think it's going to get bigger still, yes.

The contest has many interesting characteristics, among others, the fact that all the expenses are covered by donations. Last year, for instance, the organization received $1200, at the door. Has it always been like that?

-No, rules and the organization had to change. Originally it was at my parents' house, so there was no need for insurance, or renting a place, there was no alcohol either, because people would bring whatever they wanted. And then, sometime in the 90's, the Bidegain family, one of the families that has been involved since the beginning, started hosting it. But it kept growing, so it wasn't possible to continue to host it at somebody's place. So the structure changed. And (regarding the donations,) at the beginning we put a little jar and told the people that, if they wanted the contest to continue, we would need some funds. A couple of times we made less than what we needed and, then, some friends gathered and covered the rest, like fifty dollars each. But that just happened a couple of times. Now, sometimes, we get even more so we've got table cloths and a sound system. And that belongs to the contest, not to anybody in particular. Because it's a really community based event. It's a big party.

Why do you think people like to come to this contest?

-I would say there are two types of people. There are people from the old country, and for them it is an event where they can speak in Basque. Unfortunately, there are not a lot like that, but I think that what they like is to be tied to where they grew up. And the other type of people are people like me, that want to participate in the tradition of their ancestors, while enjoying delicious food.

After last year's contest, Bert Ithurburn said that the main characteristic of this event is that the txorizo is the center of the attention, nothing else.

-I completely agree with that. It's very serious when the food reaches the judges' table. You pay very close attention to what you're doing, and it really matters. The txorizo is the real center of the attention. It's also very nice to see the people from the old country with more pure recipes and other people that use different ingredients. The txorizo becomes broad in this contest, and that's great. One of the very few rules we have is that you cannot compete with a commercial txorizo or if you professionally make txorizo. And, actually, one of the guys that won a couple of times, Rich Goñi (former owner of the St. Francis Hotel, in Susanville, CA) started selling his txorizos. He passed away some years ago.

Are you planning on doing something special this year?

-We have nothing special, besides the speeches at the end. It just keeps going. But it's going to be another great year. The funny thing is that I told my dad that it's been 40 years since they started and he didn't even know it!