Surprise on a Spike or a Mouthwatering Trip to the Basque Country

I'm sure no one would be able to object if I say the Basque Country is the motherland of Spanish culinary gurus. This unique creative community is situated on the Northern coast of Spain, sharing a frontier with France. The Basques are known for their own (completely incomprehensible) language, stone-throwing sport, delicious white Txacoli wine and extraordinary culinary skills, particularly expressed in a mind-blowing variety of "pintxos".
"Pintxo" (can be translated as a "spike" from Spanish) is a typical small snack served in bars, an immense variety of ingredients, normally served on top of a piece of baguette (and fastened all together with a spike). Nowadays one can try the typical ones almost everywhere in Spain, but it will be nothing compared to Euskadi*, where in no bar you will be able to find the same ‘set’ of pintxos, where they come in all (un)imaginable forms and ingredient combinations. Here is just a tiny bit of the "reportage" on the symbol of Basque culinary creativity:

some pintxos found exploring Bilbao old town, among them, smoked tuna with cherry&mango sauce

3 in 1: 2 small pintxos mounted on top of the bigger one. Neat! 

 ‘Irrintzi’ bar with great pintxos and a bit of Japanese flare in Bilbao 

However, the first prize, undoubtedly goes to a Donosti** bar ”Zeruko”, whose chefs managed to bring the creation of pintxos up to a level of art.

Each pintxo is an eye-candy, each of them a surprise, being it the ham-flavoured jelly balls with the egg gently exploding in your mouth, gold-plated artichokes with warm foie gras, or freshly smoked codfish with some effervescent salad… in a flask.

Each single one is promised to be a discovery. 

The star of the menu – “Bob Limón”, chef’s desert looking quite like a fried egg with bread (thus should be eaten the same way: dipping the bread in the ‘yolk’!), while it’s in fact a delicious mixture of cream, jelly-like jam, berry toffee, cold spongy sweet ‘bread’ and, to top it all, special Chinese flowers, that provoke mild tingling and refresh your mouth. Exceptional indeed.

 * Basque Country in the Basque language
** Basque name for San Sebastian