In the best possible taste

LOGRONO CITY, the regional capital of the La Rioja region in northern Basque Spain, is ring-fenced by apartment blocks but the old quarter, centred around the cathedral, is a warren of alleyways and small squares, warm, bustling bars and cafés leaking patrons at the seams, the overflow bringing the party outside.

We pay dutiful obeisance to the cathedral, throwing out a few oohs and ahs, but we are on a mission, a tapas or more correctly pintxo tour of the Calle del Laurel (Path of the Elephants), home of some of the best pintxos in northern Spain.

Pintxo is the Spanish Basque version of tapas, the difference being they are held together by a cocktail stick or ‘pincho’ (spike), invariably on top of a slice of bread. A roast cod in tomato sauce kicks us off and I’m quite amazed at how well it holds up with a beefy Campo Viejo Gran Reserva, a fine example of local cuisine melding with local wine. And so it goes, a social pintxo (squid, beef, fois gras, pork) with a glass of rioja, then move on; a pub crawl without crippling inebriation.