Basque Country

Buckley, an American writer who relocated to San Sebastian, Spain, shares her affection for Basque cuisine in this delightful debut collection of rustic recipes. Her introduction provides a brief culinary history, as well as a primer on Euskara, the Basque language. Throughout, she explores the region’s cuisine, such as a pintxo, a generally more complex version of the more familiar Spanish tapas. Eleven types are offered, including a shrimp kabob with pepper vinaigrette, laced with bacon and served upon a baguette slice. The seafood section features lots of salt cod, balanced with more exotic options like scorpion fish pâté. Vegetable and meat dishes are combined in a single chapter that features dark and deep entrees like blood sausage and beef cheeks, as well as several types of peppers including the prized piquillos, which are protected by a government designation. An expansive dessert chapter is heavy on dairy options, like Basque sheep’s curd, and punctuated with a variety of pastries (anise-scented fritters, brioche buns with buttercream). Each chapter ends with an overview of one of the seven Basque provinces where readers learn, for instance, of the gourmet sea salt produced in Araba. This is a colorful, well-researched set of accessible Basque recipes. (Sept.)