Rio-oja Round 3

Sunday, June 24th
After an exhausting six-hour bus ride back to Bilbao, the rest of today's afternoon was reserved for simple relaxation. Of course, this meant another round at Rio-oja to sample typical Basque cuisine one last time.

My last time at Rio-oja

This time around, I wanted to try two very traditional dishes that were recommended to me by the USAC admins: bacalao and caracoles. The former is a sort of dried salted cod that has been rehydrated and served in one of a variety of sauces. The part that was served came from some portion of the fish (possibly the collar) between the body and the head. Although tender, it contained a burdensome amount of bones that detracted from the overall flavor and texture. However, if I am ever given the opportunity to try it again, I would not hesitate to order it as the USAC admins assured me that the bones I encountered must have been an anomaly. On a positive note, the "al pil-pil sauce" was tasty (through oddly gelatinous) and the roasted garlic pieces added another flavor dimension to the dish.

Bacalao al pil-pil, fish jello gone wrong

As for caracoles, I felt almost guilty eating them, and by them, I mean roughly 30 sea snails. Like some other dishes I've had here, they were served in a boiling sauce. This time, it was a spicy, rustic tomato/pepper sauce that served to cut the natural bitterness of the snails. Although I've had "escargot" multiple times before back in the States, they were always served already out of the shell and in either a rich butter or mushroom-based sauce. Thus, this presentation of snails was a novel experience given the relatively low savoriness of the sauce and the fact that all the snails were cooked and served in the shell.

A family gathering

Shucking snails from their shells

Given only a small tin of toothpicks, drawing the snail carcases from their warm abode required a trial-and-error technique.  After struggling for through the first bites (in which I would simply create a sizable hole in the shell), I soon became able to pick out these delicate morsels using a two-toothpick stabbing technique similar to, well, knitting. As for the flavor, it was very earthy and I could only chew the snails so long before their bitterness overtook the sauce. However, seen in the following picture, I thoroughly enjoyed every last bit.

The last one bites the dust...