Start: TolosaFinish: Vitoria-Gasteiz

There are many recipes to taste this legume, cultivated in small vegetable gardens in the Basque farmhouses. In most of them, beans are accompanied by any kind of cabbage. One of the most valued beans is the black bean from Tolosa. This grows in the green fields of Tolosaldea and Goierri region, in symbiosis with corn, as it does in its homeland, America. Beans are cooked over a low heat for some hours, adding a splash of olive oil. Then the dish is presented with a good blood sausage from Goierri, Ibarra chilli peppers and cabbage. Many neighbours and visitors come together in the restaurants at the side of Ernio Mountain to enjoy this traditional recipe. Every November the Beans Festival takes place in Tolosa.

This is not only a fair, but also there are several contests, where beans are the main characters. Gernika beans are very similar to Tolosa ones, and they also have the Basque quality label. In Bizkaia, there is also another typical dish based on beans: the putxera (railway stew). This name comes from a cylindrical receptacle that has a small oven below for embers. This was an important cook tool for men working at the railway. They used to place a pot containing a half-cooked stew, which kept on cooking while men worked. This tool is still used in Las Encartaciones zone, for instance, in Balmaseda, in the middle of October; they celebrate the putxeras festival.

In Alava we cannot forget the cranberry bean, holder also of the Basque quality label. Every year, on the second Sunday of October, the town of Pobes (in Ribera Alta) celebrates a fair, in which this legume rules. Beans are typical of autumn, although in spring we can find tender beans. Not much ago, "babazorro" or "beans eater" was a kind of insult in the region. However, in Vitoria-Gasteiz there is a typical recipe: cook the beans, add some sautéed ham and bacon. Keep on cooking until stock thickens. This type of beans is also called "pochas", and in Bizkaia they are served with a bit of spring onion and tender pepper.

Stage : Tolosa-Vitoria-Gasteiz