I literally just ate a fish brain.
It tasted amazing.
Buenos Dias
Egun on [Basque for "good day"]. Good morning, guys.
We are in the beautiful Basque town of Getaria.
Today we're going to be exploring the fishing culture
of the Basque Country..Little ports
like these created big men who changed the world.
So we're going to find out about them,
drink a bunch of Txakoli, which is a local white wine,
and feast like kings. So let's go do it.
Lovely cod. It's fresh and seasoned.
And it's on my plate.
So I'm putting down the camera, and I'm going to eat it.
All right guys.
Well I for one am super excited about being here.
Not only is it a beautiful port, but it's also the first place
that I ever went to in the Basque Country.
I'm going to show you guys what I love about this place.
So all these fishermen here in the Port of Getaria
are preparing their boats to go out to sea..
They leave tonight at 6 p.m.
I've never seen anything like this.
The word for fishermen in Basque is "arrantzale."
We're going to hop on one of these ships
and see what life is like on board
Come, come. Mister Bond.
Right now it's the anchovy season
These ships are going out to sea in a bit
to fish for some anchovies.
We're going to see how they do it.
We're super lucky right now because got to go by
and see this tradition called "las rederas"
Las rederas are basically the women who go to the port
and fix the nets.
Only twenty-one of them left in the Basque Country.
One of the reasons that we've come
to this village, besides being awesome and beautiful,
is that it's home to one of the most famous
people in the world that you've probably never heard of.
It's common knowledge is that the first person
to sail around the world was Magellan.
He died half way around the journey in the Philippines.
So, who took over when Magellan died?
Well, Brother. That would be
Juan Sebastian de Elkano
Homie-G was born here
way back in the day in the 1500s
All the empires in the world were trying to get to India
where the spices were.
And nobody really knew if it was possible
to make it all the way around the world.
So Magellan died. He got the fame,
but Elkano was the one who actually steered
the ship all the way back home.
Five ships started...230 men
By the time Elcano made it back to Spain
after sailing all the way around the world,
one ship, 18 survivors!
Villages like this that are not that big
make huge impacts on the world.
We're going to go eat at a restaurant called Elkano,
appropriately, which has a Michelin Star
and is famous in its own right. Let's go.
Right now we are in El Restaurante El Kano
which is a Michelin Star restaurant here in Getaria.
Their specialty is turbot fish,
which is called "rodaballo" in Spanish.
Turbot fish is similar to a halibut.
It's a bottom feeder fish.....
Very soft, delicate.
This big wood fire grilled outside on a "parrilla" [wood-fired grill].
This is supposed to be one of the best
wood- fired grilled seafood restaurants in the world.
I have been a waiter in a Basque restaurant in New York
Greatest skill a waiter can have in a Basque restaurant
is to be able to fillet a rodaballo
There's a special way to do it.
Aitor who is the owner of El Kano is going to show us
exactly how to fillet a rodaballo
In the same fish, you can find different tastes and textures
To know the fish, this is the concept.
First: to be near fresh.
Second: where they eat.
Third: the season that the fish has.
It's not the same before making babies
or after making babies.
I have never eaten rodaballo
but this fish looks incredible.
and after hearing how dynamic the fish is,
how many different cuts of meat there are
on the fish
I'm really looking forward to trying it for the first time.
Wow. And washed down with a nice glass of Txakoli.
Back in the day when they would catch these fish
they didn't have kitchens on the ship,
so they would cook it over the open fire.
This is a Michelin Star restaurant
so they give you knives and forks.
But, because this place is based on tradition,
you don't have to use them.
You can eat this fish, literally, with your hands.
Bon appetite.
It's a tactile eating experience.
Even though there is white linen on the table,
you can use your fingers, and it's encouraged.
So we've just arrived
at this beautiful caserío
El Kano Txakolina
and this is a winery,
a Txakoli winery
in the hills above Getaria.
We're going to explain a little bit more
about what Txakoli is
by having a couple more glasses
and speaking to the owners.
I don't like a lot of white wines,
but what I love about Txakoli
is that it has that slight carbonation.
It's a little bit acidic,
and it's super refreshing.
Ikaitz is the sixth generation of wine
maker in the family.
This place was opened in 1830 originally.
Pretty funny. Alex describing this drink.
He says this wine, Txakoli, reminds him of drinking
Gatorade after running. No, no,no.
I think you're trying to say it's refreshing.
You sip from it,
and you instantly feel refreshed.
It has the bubbles.
The bubbles is what I'm talking about.
But yes. Try to describe that your wine
tastes like Gatorade? Maybe.
It's so amazing. They say that even the grapes
that face on the ocean tastes different than the grapes
here, facing towards the mountains.
That's what gives the wine its flavor,
the mineral flavor. It's the essence of the sea.
I think anywhere where you have
both the ocean and the mountains,
you're going to have an interesting climate
and obviously the Basque Country is so well positioned
for food and grapes.
Pretty much any thing to do with living well,
this place excels at it.
Next up, we're going to hop in the car
and head to another place with
an interesting story
that affected the rest of the world.
All right guys. We have left the
Txakoli bodegas behind, and we are
on our way to Azpeitzia
where we're going to go visit the sanctuary
of Loyola.
We're about to get to the sanctuary right now.
We'll tell you who Loyola was
and what he did in just a bit.
We're in the village of Azpeitzia
in this place called the Sanctuary of Loyola
Who is this guy?
You guys have heard the word Loyola, for sure.
In L.A. there is a school called Loyola Marymount
He is the founder of the Jesuits.
This building is enormous.
I think that just goes to show the impact
that Iñigo had on the world.
By the way,
the name is Iñigo Loyola.
Not ot be confused with the guy from the Princess Bride
Iñigo Montoya "You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Iñigo started out as an aristocrat
of the times.
He liked three things principally: Women, weapons, and wine
He got wounded in battle, had a conversion to God
Basically, he founded the Jesuits
after his conversion
they grew to become the largest religious order in the world
Let's go inside because supposedly it's
more even impressive inside
Guys, this place is insane
There's gold everywhere
so ornate and intricate
look at the ceiling!
Alright guys, well as you can see we are in yet another
place of stunning natural beauty - Zumaia
Hopefully you're starting to get the picture
The Basque Country is super diverse
It's got amazing stories
And it's a place that we're really passionate about
Today's idea was not just
to show you beautiful places on the coast
because there's Getaria, Hondarribia... there's tons of awesome villages like this
But also the idea that, although the Basque Country
there have been a lot of Basques who've gone out into the world
and made their impact on it
and I think that's one of the things we respect a lot about the Basque Country
Anyways, guys, if you enjoyed this video, you know what to do
Thumbs up, share it with your friends and subscribe to Vagabrothers
if you have not already
And in the meantime
Stay curious, keep exploring, and we'll see you guys on the road
Agur!!! [Goodbye in Basque]