The perfect Gilda: a tasty tribute to Basque pintxos

What's a pintxo?

Pintxo is the Basque word that comes from the verb pinchar, which means to prick, skewer or pierce. Basque pintxos were originally served on a stick, but later, also on bread held together by a skewer.

Why is the spiciest pintxo called Gilda?

Gilda is a 1946 film starring Rita Hayworth, who was known for her flamboyant style. The film was shown at the San Sebastian Film Festival in 1948, and the most popular and spicy pintxo was named Gilda at Casa Vallé, in honour of Rita Hayworth's curves.

The best Gilda: quality above all else

You make a Gilda with the best ingredients. Only the highest quality is good enough for this simple pintxo.

Olives: make the right choice

Use pitted, green Manzanilla or Gordal olives. These can be optionally stuffed with garlic, almond, lemon or paprika. Manzanilla olives have a firm texture and mild flavour, while Gordal olives are thick and fleshy.

Anchovies of the Cantabrian Sea: the best in the world

For the perfect Gilda, use only the best anchovies from the Cantabrian Sea. These anchovies “Made in Spain” are renowned for their quality and taste for the following reasons:

• Fish stock: The European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) lives in the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Sea, where the fish stock is in good condition thanks to the low exploitation rate, unlike other parts of Europe.
• Fishing period: Anchovies are caught in May along Spain's northern coast when the fish have maximum concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and are at their best.
• Sea water: The water of the Cantabrian Sea is cold, nutrient-rich and pollution-free, which contributes to the growth and optimum flavour of the fish.
• Sustainable fishing: Anchovies are caught sustainably, with respect for the marine ecosystem and according to catch quotas that follow the advice of ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea).
• Artisanal processing: After being caught, anchovies are artisanally processed. They are beaten to drive out the blood, scaled, cleaned, salted and then matured for months.
• Olive oil: The anchovies are preserved and packed in extra virgin olive oil of the highest quality.

Piparra: the perfect pepper

The piparra is a chilli pepper from the region around Ibarra in the Basque Country. These peppers are bright green, have a soft skin and texture, and are slightly spicy. They are thin and can be up to 15 cm long. To tone down the strong vinegary flavour of pickled piparras, just rinse and dry them using a lettuce whisk. Repeat the process to remove any excess vinegar in the hollow peppers.

Olive oil: the golden ingredient

The prepared Gildas are topped with extra virgin olive oil of the highest quality.

The skewer: small but significant

Even the skewer matters. Use good-quality wooden skewers, about 10 cm long and with one pointed end. Originally, flat wooden sticks were used to prevent the ingredients from spinning around. 

Pintxos versus tapas: what's the difference? 

Pintxos and tapas are both delicious snacks, served with drinks before a meal. They might seem to be similar, but they're actually quite different in the ways they're prepared and served.

Tapas: it's all in the simplicity

Tapas are small portions of simple dishes served on a plate. They are often offered for free with a drink, especially in central and southern Spain. Cities such as Granada, León, Madrid, Seville, Cordoba and Salamanca are known for their delicious tapas. Typical tapas include green olives, boquerones in vinegar, patatas bravas and cubes of tortilla.

Pintxos: a sumptuous snack

Pintxos are more elaborate than tapas and consist of richly topped pieces of bread or garnished skewers, also known as banderillas. The carefully chosen and highly stacked ingredients are often held together with a skewer.

Pintxos are a Basque tradition and are not offered for free. They're usually eaten in a bar while standing, accompanying a glass of local wine, beer or cider. Bars in the Basque country often showcase a wide range of carefully prepared pintxos to choose from. Hot pintxos can be ordered from a menu typically hanging on the wall.

Gilda and banderillas: the pintxos that are ‘en vogue’ again

Until a few years ago, the Gilda and its variants were fairly unknown outside the Basque Country. Now you can find them in many bars all over Spain, sometimes with surprising combinations of ingredients.

Indurain: a pintxo named after a cyclist

Indurain is a Spanish cyclist who became the first Spaniard to win the Tour de France. He became world-famous for his five consecutive victories in the Tour de France from 1991 to 1995. As a tribute to this exceptional athlete, the ingredients of the Gilda were enhanced with a cube of albacore tuna at the bottom and a piece of onion at the top. The result was the pintxo Indurain.

Banderillas: colourful combinations

Over time, there've been many different versions of the Gilda and the Indurain. For example, quail eggs, chunks of peppers, garlic confit, octopus, cheese, artichoke, boquerones and even smoked salmon were added. These skewers are known as banderillas, which is a term that comes from the colourful spears used during bullfights.

Here are some favourite combinations:

• Olive, anchovy, paprika, artichoke
• Olive, feta, dried tomato, anchovy
• Olive, octopus, pickle, pickled onion, pepper
• Olive, quail egg, boquerones, piparra
• Prawn, piparra, octopus, pepper
• Piparra, pickled oyster, onion, gherkin
• Olive, artichoke, jamon, piparra
• Olive, piparra, anchovy, quail egg, cherry tomato
• Tuna, piparra, olive, gherkin, macedoine of onion and peppers
• Tuna, white asparagus, olive, piparra

Recipe: the perfect Gilda

The Gilda recipe is pretty much as easy as they come: just three ingredients on a stick. But as I said before, the quality of your Gilda depends completely on the quality of the ingredients. When I was in Spain last, I went shopping in Bilbao and San Sebastián, but there are lots of online shops that sell really good Spanish products too.