Pioneers of the New Basque Cuisine

In the mid-1970s, a group of chefs headed by Juan Mari Arzak and Pedro Subijana created the movement known as the New Basque Cuisine. It included the chefs Karlos Arguiñano, José Juan Castillo, Tatus Fombellida, Ramón Roteta, Patxi Kintana, Luis Irizar, Ricardo Idiakez, Xabier Zapirain, Pedro Gómez, Manolo Iza, Jesús Mangas, and Ramón Zugasti. Their main aims were to revisit and rediscover lost recipes, ensure that authentic ingredients were used in their cooking, and, of course, to innovate.

As Juan Mari recalls, "After the hardships of the post-war period, Basque cuisine—like all Spanish cuisine—had lost its best qualities. It had become routine and ordinary, and international haute cuisine was becoming a victim of its own rigid and immutable principles. Using the innovative example of French nouvelle cuisine, our group of restless chefs was the driving force behind the movement that would come to be known as the New Basque Cuisine."

"Its journey began in a significant year, 1976, after an equally significant event: the first Gastronomy Roundtable, organized by 'Club de Gourmets' magazine, founded in April of the same year. That was the first step in the monumental culinary revolution that went on to take place across the nation."