Basque Carnaval

More cooking and a lot more dancing!

Kaixo! Welcome to yet another update from vibrant San Sebastian where the festivities don’t seem to end! In the last Edit, I announced I did my first hours back in the kitchen since leaving Rotterdam and I told a little bit about the bizarre Dia de San Sebastian. With a new festivity on the horizon, there is again, a lot to tell. But first, let’s talk about work.

Back at Londres

I was on a high when I wrote the last Edit because I found work! In the first week I worked around 35 hours or so and with full excitement I went into the next week. The only problem was, the hotel didn’t need extra hands for that week. There was no big catering, the guests in the hotel were low and so just like that I was back at 0.

Luckily the past week I’ve picked up a few more shifts at the Londres. The uncertainty of working at the Londres is something I have to accept and so, during my off days, I keep looking for a more stable workplace. Saying I’m back at zero would be an understatement since I’m making connections with other chefs who often give recommendations for places to apply to.

Next to that, working 3 or 4 days a week at the Londres is good fun. I’m still learning a lot of new things, every day is filled with new activities and the things I get to do are getting more advanced by the day.

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The Bisque Meastro

For example, I came in at 9 in the morning yesterday. There was one other chef in the kitchen at that time and the conversation went as the following:

César: Buenos dias, que puedo hacer? (What can I do?)

Chef: Hola Cesar, buenas dias. Sabes hacer un bisque de langostinos? (Have you made a bisque before?)

César: Si, por supuesto. Con que ingredientes y tienes un receta? (Of course, do you have the ingredients and a recipe I should follow?)

Chef: Haces el clasico. Te digo lo que necesitas y cuanto. Coge los langostinos, 10 puerro, 8 cebollas blanco, 15 tomate, 2 pan, 1 cabeza de ajo, 3 litros de vino blanco, 8 zanahorias y una cacerola grande. Vale? (Make the classic, I’ll tell you what you need)

César: Vale

With all the ingredients in mind, I walked over to the refrigerator to retrieve them. However, every chef is familiar with the mysterious portal you walk through when you reach the refrigerator. It's an invisible portal that causes you to forget either a portion or the entire reason why you came there. And sure enough, as I stood in front of the refrigerator with 1/3 of the ingredients in my hand, I completely forgot about the rest. And so I headed back to the kitchen.

When I came back, no one was there. I heard no one and saw no one, checked every corner but no. I was on my own in a very big kitchen. I went back to the refrigerator and started thinking about the bisque I made at Berta. The quantities at Berta were smaller so I decided to quadruple the ingredients we used and do it in a similar style. Put the langoustine shells in the oven for a short period, clean and cut the vegetables, fry them for a short period together with the shells, and deglaze with white wine.

It was still only me in the kitchen. After 30 minutes or so, the chef came back and the conversation continued:

Chef: Todo bien? Pudiste encontrar todos los ingredientes? (How’s it going? Did you find the ingredients?)

César: Creo que si, todo esta en la sartén. (I think so, everything is in the pan)

Chef: Se ve bien pero olividaste una cosa. Donde esta el pan? (Looks good, but where’s the bread?)

César: Pan? Pan en bisque? (Bread in a bisque?)

Chef: Jajajajaja, tienes razon. Fue una prueba, si sabe bien, lo has hecho bien. (No, you’re right, it was a test. Let’s if the taste is right)

45 minutes later, when I removed the langoustine shells, the bisque was ready to taste. In the meantime, the head chef and sous chef were also in the kitchen, and everyone wanted to try it. With sweaty hands, I gave the chefs a spoon and anxiously awaited their judgment. It felt like I was in an episode of MasterChef.

"Eras maestro de pintxos pero ahora te han ascendido a maestro de bisque!" the head chef exclaimed, with the other two chefs nodding in agreement. The chef asked if I used their recipe or my own. I admitted that it was a combination of both, as I had forgotten the ingredients. In a serious tone, he switched to English and said, "Next time, use mine. The taste is good, but the proportions are off." Yes chef!

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¡Carnaval!

The past week has been quite eventful. On several evenings, the streets in Parte Vieja have become crowded, with loud drums being played and dancing groups making their way through the maze of the old part. Each time, I rush to the window to see what is happening and then head out to the street to investigate.

Remember that I told you in the past Edit that I had no idea what was going on at Dia de San Sebastian? That has happened 3 times now in the past few weeks. For the first time, the streets were filled with people who were dressed up as a combination of pirates and gypsies. They walked around the Parte Vieja, stopped sometimes to sing a song, and slammed on their small pans with hammers. See the video below:

The day after, was a bit less eventful in the streets of Parte Vieja but you would meet small groups of pilgrims who would sing in front of you and would ask for a small donation. The third day that left me baffled was yesterday. Reacting to the sound I looked out of my window and saw a small white converter with a huge group of dressed-up children behind it. Later when I went out I found another group of children dressed up in formal clothing while dancing. What is going on?

Well, it's carnival season in San Sebastian. In fact, the region has been celebrating carnival for almost a month already, Dia de San Sebastian is the starting sign of the carnival period. However, the most festive period is from February 8th to 13th, when multiple performances and parades are organized.

These performances and parades are organized by the same groups we talked about last week, the carnaval clubs. Each carnaval club is dressed in a different theme that changes every year, the parades are being held to display the dress-ups to the people of the city. This year we’ll see hens, farmers, tennis players, and even percebes (goose barnacles)!

Carnaval will conclude on Tuesday with a grand event known as "the burial of the sardine." This is essentially a funeral procession where the people of Donostia mourn the final moments of the sardine's peaceful existence. This is because, after this day, the sardines will migrate to the Basque coasts, where fishermen eagerly await their arrival. A giant sardine is being carried throughout the city with a funeral procession behind it. The procession will end in front of the old Casino where the sardine is set in flames. Carnival is over, let the sardine feast begin!