Where to find cider houses (sagardotegiak) in the Basque Country and Gipuzkoa

7 years ago

The sagadortegi (cider-houses) is something very typical and traditional of the Basque Country that it active season is from March to April. It consists of a restaurant in a baserri (hamlet) in which the typical food of the place is served: txuleton (ribeye), cod omelette, croquettes, cod to the Biscay, seafood grill … surrounded by kupelak (barrels).

The sagardotegi is the house of the cider, the baserri in charge of macerating the apples and creating the sagardo (cider). Formerly the tasters interested in buying the cider took their own food to make the tasting. Currently this tradition is lost commercially, and the sagardotegi has become an establishment where you can taste the traditional food served with the macerated cider of each baserri.

The most typical food in the sagardotegi is the txuleton, sometimes mistaken from the chop. The chop is a cut of the meat that is just above the rib of the pig, the cow or the veal, or the lamb. In general, each chop is cut with the rib section that accompanies it. The ribeye, whether beef or ox, includes both the upper part of the rib of the animal and the meat that surrounds the bone on both sides of the rib. But the best ribeye and the typical basque is the ox one.

The sagardotegi is the place to be reunited with friends, family or even for bussiness. It’s known for everyone that the best moments are created between food and good company, and we the basque know about that. Furthermore, in some sagardotegis they continue singing typical Basque songs while the guests enjoy the sagardo and the food.

Therefore, it is a unique place in the world worth visiting if you go to the Basque Country.

The most typical places where there are sagardotegis are Asturias and the Basque Country. But on this occasion, we will only put places of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia to know where to taste this incredible Basque tradition:

BIZKAIA