In the world of gastronomy, very few regions worldwide can compete with the richness and diversity of the Basque country cooking. And part of that secret, according to some of the top chefs like 3-michelin starred Juan Mari Arzak, is the secretive world of the "Txocos", a traditional club where men (and more recently women) meet to cook and share the spoils of their labors. The word "Txoco" comes from the Basque word for a corner or small space.
It's an interesting phenomenon for several reasons: first of all, until recently it was almost entirely a men's club, but not your typical men's club for playing cards, soccer, smoking cigars, etc, oh no: it is a cooking club. And secondly, the members actually do the cooking. They don't meet to watch someone else cook; they cook. And then they eat. And the result can be seen in the sheer number of restaurants and eating establishments in the area, which numbers more than 15,000!
If you get the chance to visit the Basque country, you probably won't get the chance to sit in on one of these clubs, but you will get the chance to sample the wonderful fruits of the labor of generations of cooks.
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