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Erromeria painting. José Arrue.

In all societies and times, food has been a basic need for daily life, regarding both work and festive days. In the latter case, its diversity or patterns were limited to specific periods of food production or fruiting. For this reason, throughout people’s life cycles, certain foods are designated for specific commemorative moments (birth and baptism, youth and marriage, adulthood or death). At the same time, annual activities and celebrations, both professional and festive, have been traditionally linked to specific gastronomic products of the moment. Thus, in autumn, nuts (chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc.) and mushrooms were popular; in winter, stews and soups; during Christmas (chicken, bream, snails, rice pudding, intxaur-saltsa (traditional Basque dessert consisting on walnuts, milk and sugar)); Carnival (pork and French toast, etc.); Lent and Easter with their fasts, meat or fish, and the abundance of garden products or harvest for patron saint celebrations. (more…)