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Gascony and the Pays Basque
The influence of the Spanish is strong in the Pyrenees mountains, which define the southwestern border of France and the Gascony region. At the very extremity of the country, right on the Bay of Biscay, the Basque language is still spoken. It is a language whose origins are still in dispute -- so far all efforts to establish its relationship with any other linguistic system have failed. The Basque were once whalers who captured their prey in the Bay of Biscay; they now harvest such ocean fish as tuna, sardines, and swordfish, all of which play a major role in Basque cooking, but less so in Gascony. Ortolans, small birds, popular throughout central and southern France, are especially well-liked in the southwest where they're fattened before being roasted. The town of Bayonne gives its name to the area's famous dry-cured ham and is believed by some to be the birthplace of mayonnaise. Other local specialties include garbure, axoa, and foie gras. Cornmeal polenta, known here as broye or cruchade, is made from maize, the New World import that arrived in the 16th century and took the place of millet as a popular food grain. Another adoptee from the Americas, the pepper (or pimento), in both sweet and hot variations, has been so incorporated into the cuisine that peppers are the defining ingredient of sauce basquaise. |
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