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Cuisine in Biarritz, France

"With its blend of Pyrenees mountain, ocean and New World produce, Basque gastronomy has lately been praised as the best in Europe !"

Offering a wonderful mix of French, south western and local Basque cuisine, Biarritz offers diners an excellent mix of brasseries, bistros, and more formal dining. Seafood is the obvious specialty of this French coastal town, with two main factors – the ocean and the town’s location in the Basque Country – influencing the food in Biarritz.

With its blend of Pyrenees mountain, ocean and New World produce, Basque gastronomy has lately been praised as the best in Europe and is served in many of Biarritz’s restaurants alongside the excellent local wines produced in the region’s wine districts.

When visiting Biarritz, some of the wonderful Basque specialties to taste include: piquillos, sweet red peppers stuffed with either morue (eel) or cabillaud (cod); pibales (young eels), hake and chipirones (baby squid); axoa (pronounced achoa), a traditional veal stew with peppers and Espelette chillies; omelette Basquaise with tomatoes, Espelette chillies, and Bayonne ham; and piperade, a ham, pepper, tomato and onion mixture. Meat and fish is also cooked the Spanish style, “a la plancha”, on an open hotplate in its own fat.

French Basque cuisine also favours foie gras, duck magret, Ardi Gasna ewe's cheese served with a delicious black cherry jam, and - one of the more surprising delicacies - cojones, the stuffed testicles of the bull from the bullfighting arena!

Of course mention must also be made of the famous jambon de Bayonne (a salty ham). Flavoured with salt from the Bassin de l'Adour near Biarritz, and left to dry in southerly and westerly winds for six months in accordance with the ancestral rules, it's the region's signature gourmet item. Naturally, it should be tasted along with a good Irouléguy wine, which was a great favourite among the pilgrims on their way to Compostella in the 11th century. The vineyards are set on the steep, sunny mountainsides surrounding the Baïgorry valley. Original Basque vine-varieties are used to make this character-filled wine. Another local drink is Paxtaran, a liqueur made from aniseed, wild prunes and vanilla, and Txakoli - once a farmer's thirst-quencher, now a petillant local white wine that's perfect with seafood.

For those with a sweet tooth, you must try the ultimate Basque dessert, gâteau basque, a cake filled with rich cream and cherry preserves; the region’s specialty chocolates; tourons, a delicate mixture of almonds and sugar; and muxus (pronounced mouchous and meaning “kiss” in Basque), a type of macaroon with marzipan.

For days when you are simply happy to enjoy informal beachside eating, tiny crêperie cabins and ice-cream stalls are scattered around the beach, offering superb views and an ocean breeze.

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