September 6 - Happy Birthday, Karlos Arguiñano

Posted on September 6, 2019

Last year's birthday celebration!

When you are the oldest of four kids and your mom is disabled...you end up helping out a lot at home. You may end up cooking for your family, at least some of the time.

If you are talented and lucky enough to be today's famous birthday, you could end up inspired enough by cooking as a child to study culinary arts as an adult...

And become a chef, start a TV cooking show, and open a restaurant!

Karlos Arguiñano is referred to as a Spanish chef, but he is also a Basque chef.

Basque?

Basque Country is an "autonomous community" in Northern Spain. It has the status of being a nation - even though it is also part of a larger nation - and it rules itself in local matters.

Way back when (starting in 1960), Basque extremists demanded independence and used violence and assassination in an effort to achieve that goal - but they didn't succeed. Nowadays, most Basque people don't want full independence and (according to polls) many label themselves Spaniards as well as Basques.

But the Basques want to hold onto their separate culture and language. Because of their location, in between mountain ranges and on the edge of the Bay of Biscay, the Basque people have had a history of being isolated from other populations. As a result, Basque people have distinctive DNA and a unique language unlike the languages of the surrounding countries - and, actually, unlike any other language alive today!

Now, back to our chef...

One way to keep a culture alive is to celebrate and further develop the cuisine, and Arguiñano has done that with his cooking show and his hotel-restaurant on the beach at Zarautz. He is also a Basque pelota businessman who keeps the sport alive in Basque country. This sport is called Jai Alai in some other places...

Check out Arguiñano's Basque food: