For many holidaymakers, the highlight of travelling abroad is indulging in local cuisine and bringing home favourite recipes.
While countless food enthusiasts flock to popular tourist destinations like Rome, Barcelona or Paris to feast on pasta, tapas or pastries, a hidden gem has been crowned as Europe’s gastronomic paradise.
Tucked away on the northern coast of Spain, just a stone’s throw from the French border, lies the quaint port and fishing city of San Sebastian. Overlooking the azure waters of the Bay of Biscay, this city once thrived on its fishing industry and now prospers through its culinary prowess.
This Basque city boasts the highest number of Michelin Star restaurants per capita globally. Despite having a modest population of just 180,000, the city is home to an impressive 12 Michelin-starred establishments, including three highly sought-after three-star restaurants and three two-star eateries.
Securing a reservation at prestigious venues such as Arzak, Akelare, and Martin Berasategui may be challenging and beyond many people’s budgets, but the city’s foodie culture permeates down to the streets, reports the Mirror.
The charming Iberian streets of the city are dotted with pintxos bars (pronounced pEEn-chos), delightful little haunts frequented by locals that serve bite-sized morsels of bread topped with local meats, cheeses, fish and whatever else the chef desires, ideally accompanied by a chilled beer or glass of sangria.
An evening can effortlessly be whiled away jumping between establishments, sampling delectable morsels, with the occasional slice of tortilla or other tapas favourites, before concluding with a renowned portion of Basque cheesecake.
However, for those seeking something far more substantial, the region boasts what has been hailed as the “best steak in the world”.
During a visit to the city, Isaac Rodgers from the Steak Society embarked on a quest throughout the area to discover the finest Txuleton steak available.
The Txuleton steak represents a local speciality served from considerably more mature cattle than typically encountered – generally around 18 years old – from the particular Rubio Gallegia breed.
After consuming such quantities of beef that he gained 4.5 pounds during his journey, Isaac determined his top choice originated from Gandarias Jatetxea.
He wrote: “This wasn’t my first visit to Gandarias. I discovered Gandarias after searching for Steakhouses back in 2014 and was thrilled by a very reasonably priced and delicious melt-in-the-mouth steak. I’ve been wanting to go back ever since.
“We ordered Octopus and a 1.1kg ‘Old aged T-Bone steak’, a delicious new take on surf and turf, I suppose.
“The steak was unexpectedly tender as well as being quite beefy (but not as much as expected). The steak closest to the bone was also the most tasty. Given the cut of steak and the breed of cow, there were copious amounts of fat. Combining some of the chunks of fat with the beef created an insanely pleasurable taste.”
While flights from the UK to San Sebastian tend to be quite pricey and infrequent, budget-friendly alternatives are available. Flights to nearby Bilbao in Spain can cost as little as £21, with similarly priced options to Biarritz in France, just a short journey across the border.