Celebrate Basque Tradition with Cider Pairing Dinner in Salt Lake City

The vibrant Basque tradition of Txotx comes to life at Finca’s cider pairing dinner in Salt Lake City, blending expertly crafted ciders with flavors that celebrate the heart of Basque culture.

Ted Scheffler

November 22, 2024

In the Basque Country, January 20th marks the start of the cider season, Txotx, referring to when the “sagardotegia” (cider makers in Basque) expose the ciders they have been producing during the year to the market and the whole Basque community goes out into the streets to taste them to the sound of “txotx”. The custom runs from January to April and is signaled with the planting of an apple tree and an apple tree dance called sagar danza.

The folks at Finca Pintxos Bar are getting a head start on Txotx with a special celebration of cider, sidra, and the Basque tradition of Txotx with a cider pairing dinner at 6 pm on Sunday, November 24th.

Cider expert Mathew Ostrander of Ibantik Craft Beverages and owner/sommelier Scott Evans will be on hand to discuss the ciders and food pairings. The tasting menu looks like this:

Pintxo

huevos rellenos | deviled egg

Romilly Rosé | Normandy Cider, France

Pintxo

croqueta | duck fat potato croqueta, Mt. Gog Montasio cheese, cranapple butter

Finnriver | Cranberry Rosehip Cider

Pescado

ostras | duo of raw and wood roasted oysters, pink lady mignonette, green olive butter

Fanjul Sidra Natural | Sidra, Asturias, Spain (via traditional long pour)

Carne

costilla de cerdo | Iberico pork ribs, membrillo glaze, apple and watercress salad, patatas bravas

Shacksbury ‘Luna’ | Basque cider blended with Vermont grapes

Postre

torta de santiago (V) | Spanish almond cake, amontillado sherry sauce, fizzy blackberries

Sea Cider ‘Bramble Bubbly’

Tickets are $80 per person and can be purchased on TOCK.

Food & Drink, Sips, Utah Bites, Wine, Spirits and Beer

Ted Scheffler

Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine, and travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, music, and reading, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers. Ted is also the author of the Utah Bites newsletter, which is published in partnership with Utah Stories. Before moving to Utah, Ted lived in New York City, and numerous states in the US, as well as in various countries overseas, Spain, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. He earned a Master’s Degree in Anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social Research.