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Doreen
Pendgracs |
Travel Samples: Ordizia Farmers’ Market: Going Strong Since 1512 It’s all well and fine to visit the splendour, history and culture of Europe’s larger cities, but as a country person, I am more interested in seeing the rural form of life that Europeans are living today. So I was thrilled when our recent trip to Spain allowed for a visit to Ordizia, a small village with a huge farmers’ market – locally called the Ordizia Fair. Ordizia is located in the Basque region of northern Spain, very near the French border. So you can be sure that gastronomy and the fruits of the land are very important to the people who live here, and to the thousands of visitors who come each year to taste the region’s treasures.
The Ordizia market has been held every Wednesday since 1512, but once each year they hold what is called an “extraordinary market” where, in addition to the cheese judging, there are special pilota (handball) games, Basque music and Basque people in traditional costume. Activities run from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. There are plenty of fresh foods (including a wide variety of ready-to-eat olives, cheeses, cured ham, wonderful cakes and pastries and locally made apple cider) to enjoy on-site, but also an interesting variety of local items you can take home with you, such as marinated wild mushrooms and local olive oil and fresh honey. The most popular food item that you will find in Ordizia is the Idiazabal cheese, a hard white cheese, strong in flavour and high in acidity, made according to centuries-old family recipes (available in both smoked and un-smoked varieties.) You can still buy the cheese directly from the shepherds who make it from the milk of their latxa and carranzana sheep, two indigenous breeds to the area. This farm-to-market grade of Idiazabal is called the “black label” and is the freshest, most desirable – and also the most expensive. The next best grade is the green label varieties, made by people who buy the sheep’s milk directly from the shepherds and then make the cheese from the raw milk. It’s hard to believe that 300,000 kilos of Idiazabal cheese are sold in this tiny village of Ordizia each year! The cheese is pricey, but worth it, and considered to be one of the 15 best gastronomical products in Europe. It is somewhat similar to the top quality Parmigiano Reggiano cheese of Italy that has become so popular worldwide. We are told that the Idiazabal cheese is especially flavourful as the sheep feast on the lush green grass that graces the local pastures. This region gets light rain on a continual basis which keeps the vegetation growing thick and lush. We were fortunate in that the day of our visit, the weather was completely clear and sunny. If you want to bring some of that wonderful Spanish cheese home with you, it must be vacuum packed in order to avoid difficulties with border agents on your return home. (Fresh dairy products are a restricted item on Canada Custom’s current list of prohibited items.) So only buy at the market what you will consume locally and buy your vacuum packed cheese at a commercial establishment such as a grocery store or at the airport.
The town of Ordizia was founded in 1268. So there is a lot of history here, and a lot of pride in the Basque people who still populate this region. You can learn much about the village and the region by visiting “Delikatuz,” the Tourist Information and Gastronomical Centre located at Santa María 24 in Ordizia. This is a modern facility built in an historic building, where you can watch informative videos and see a variety of interesting interpretative displays – in English and several other languages. To get to Ordizia and the 17 other communities that make up the Goierri region of Spain, you can fly to the nearby city of Bilbao on Iberia Airlines, Spain’s national airline. There are frequent domestic flights between the large and smaller centres, but they are expensive. It is a one hour flight from Madrid to Bilbao. You can also fly directly to San Sebastian (a seaside airport which is closer to Ordizia) from Madrid, but there are less frequent flights. Driving within the rural areas of Spain is safe and pleasurable, but if you want an automatic transmission and air conditioning, be sure to reserve your vehicle well in advance and be prepared to pay more. See: www.delikatuz.com for more information about the gastronomy of Ordizia. Much of the site is presently posted solely in Spanish, but if you e-mail delikatuz@ordizia.org and ask for a copy of their English-language literature, they will be happy to respond. -30-
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We were especially fortunate to time our visit in conjunction with
the annual cheese judging held the first week of September at the Ordizia
Fair. The cheese is judged on the basis of eight criteria including
taste, smell and consistency.
As the Ordizia
market is held year-round, when you visit will determine what types
of goods you will find. In spring, you will find more limited varieties
of fresh produce. Green onions and peas are featured. In summer,
you’ll find more tomatoes and beans. Walnuts, chestnuts
and suckling lambs are popular fall items. And in winter, there are
more meats and cheeses and less fresh produce available.