This book is about the food culture of the Basque Country, the region located in the western Pyrenees that straddles the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay.

In recent years Basque food has become much more well known through such traditions as pintxo — small, snack-sized appetizers — served in bars around the world. Culinary excursions in the Basque Country, including pub-crawls (Txikiteo) to sample pintxo, involve coming across locations, restaurants and dishes with what to non-Basque speakers carry explosive sounding names Berasategui, Arbalaitz, Arzak, and Atxa, reflecting the fact that the Basque language is unrelated to any other language family.

The food is as unique as the Basque language and needs an accomplished cook and food historian to help introduce it, a role which the legendary Caroline Conran in By the Atlantic masterfully fullfils.

Caroline Conran