Sammic | BasqueStage

Basque Cuisine at Xarma

Posted by marti | Posted on 01-06-2013

You may have been wondering how our Sammic Rising Stars Scholar Justin has been holding up on his BasqueStage experience. Well, the answer, as you may be able to guess from the ‘tomato salad’ above, is….fabulous.

Justin’s three-month stage is at Xarma Restaurant, in San Sebastián. Xarma’s guiding principles are freshness, color, attention to vegetables as well as proteins. It’s a youthful cuisine, open to incorporating elements and techniques from other cuisines. It’s playful and vibrant.

The young chefs at the helm, Aizpea Oihaneder and Xabi Díez, bring technique and innovation to the table at their small restaurant. Their combination of commitment to the best Basque produce and their willingness to experiment makes Xarma a very special spot.

For more updates on Justin’s adventures, follow him on his blog. To check out Xarma’s menu, visit their website.

Touring the Sammic Factory

Posted by marti | Posted on 27-07-2012

Category : BasqueStage

Tags: brenden darby, luuk hoffman, Sammic, sponsors

So what’s got our BasqueStages Brenden and Luuk so interested?

Earlier this week we toured the Sammic factory. Sammic is the sponsor of the Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage, based out of Azkoitia, a village inland from San Sebastián. They make all manner of professional kitchen equipment, from immersion blenders to vacuum sealing machines to dishwashers. The factory, where they forge the metal and assemble all machines, is onsite with the business offices.

Luuk and Brenden got the VIP treatment and a personal tour of the premises.

With Amaia from marketing, they went through the whole process of making these high-quality machines, from start to finish. The top photo that has them so enthralled is the polishing machine, filled with tiny balls that shine up each piece of metal. Then, we took a tour of the studio, where videos (like this from our former stage Marco) are made to demonstrate Sammic machinery.

The boys got the red carpet rolled out for them…next time they’ll have their chance to star in one of the Sammic machinery videos…

Scholar Spotlight : Luuk

Posted by marti | Posted on 09-05-2012

Category : Winners

Tags: BasqueStage, luuk hoffman, Sammic, Scholars

Luuk Hoffman, IV Sammic Scholar for BasqueStage

Luuk is a recent graduate from Hotelschool The Hague, where he received two cook degrees. He is now studying for a professional degree at Sterklas university. Luuk was born to Dutch parents in Lutong, Malaysia, and has lived in The Netherlands and Oman. His goal is to cook in top restaurants around the world and find a place that is most suited for his own restaurant. On his bucket list are Alinea, Fat Duck, Librije, and Quay. All these chefs have different styles and ideas about cooking which he wants to experience. Luuk believe “sour and bitter tastes make good dishes great. From a chef I used to work with (Roel Gillisen*) I’ve learned that it takes all four flavors (leaving Umami out or now) to balance a dish. I prefer lighter dishes where structure is very important in order to keep the palate interesting.” He sees the final step in his career as opening up his own restaurant so he can leave diners wanting one more bite.

Scholar Spotlight: Brenden

Posted by marti | Posted on 07-05-2012

Category : Winners

Tags: brenden darby, Sammic, Sammic Scholarship

Brenden Darby, IV Sammic Scholar for BasqueStage

Brenden is a recent graduate from Johnson & Wales University In Providence Rhode Island where he received a Bachelors in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management as well as a concentration in Sommelier Studies. Brenden grew up in Lake Tahoe California with his parents and older brother. Throughout his college career he has worked and volunteered at restaurants in San Francisco, Denver, United Kingdom, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia but his favorite place he had ever been is Bukit Lawang, Indonesia where he had the honor of learning how to cook a traditional tribal wedding dinner. Traveling has been one of Brenden’s biggest passions second to cooking. His favorite cuisine to cook is Japanese because he loves the preciseness and the elegance of the food. His food mentor was his first chef Clark Robb who showed him how to do every job in a restaurant from washing dishes to cooking entrees. Brenden is most looking forward to experiencing the culture of San Sebastian and learning new things in the kitchen.

Last Day to Apply

Posted by marti | Posted on 31-03-2012

Category : BasqueStage

Tags: BasqueStage, Candidates, Sammic, Sammic Scholarship

Today is THE LAST DAY to apply for BasqueStage.
What are you waiting for? Get on over to the application, which takes about ten minutes to complete, and get your name in the mix!

Do you need some motivation? Why should you apply for this incredible opportunity? Well, we’ve got some reasons for you, if you really need them:

What other chance will you have to be surrounded by so many Michelin stars (four three-star restaurants, plus the many with one and two stars)?
Learn how to make all the traditional Basque dishes, like kokotxas al pil pil and patatas con chorizo.
Don’t just do a stage. Get PAID to do a stage.
There are about a million miniature reasons to live in this region of the world. They’re elaborate, delicious, and they’re called pintxos (not tapas).
Live among and learn more about one of the world’s most intriguing cultures, the Basques.
Practice your Spanish (and Basque).
Learn to cook under the wing of one of the great masters, Chef Martín Berasategui, who has restaurants across the world with Michelin stars.
Step straight into the spotlight as you chronicle your experiences on your BasqueStage blog, twitter, and videos.
One word: visa. We’ve got you covered.
Finally, don’t take our word for it. Check out the experiences our stages (current and past) have had on their blogs.

Good Luck!

Thirty second round finalists will be announced on Monday.

BasqueStage on Eitb

Posted by marti | Posted on 09-03-2012

Category : BasqueStage

Tags: 2012, media, news, Sammic, Sammic Scholarship

Today the Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage appeared on the front page of Eitb.com, the English portal of the largest Basque news source. The exclusive source of news about Basque Country in English, Eitb is read by people all over the world.

As the scholarship becomes more and more well-known, don’t forget that we need you too to spread the word. Have a friend that is food-obsessed? A cousin who just graduated culinary school? An acquaintance in the kitchen at your favorite restaurant? Do them a favor and tell them about BasqueStage….they stand to win 6 months paid in Basque Country, working in a 3-star Michelin restaurant.

Send them to Twitter or Facebook, where they can get more information, and of course here on the website.

You can read the article in its entirety here.

Apply Now for the IV Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage

Posted by marti | Posted on 22-02-2012

Category : BasqueStage

Tags: 2012, BasqueStage, Candidates, Martín Berasategui, Sammic, Sammic Scholarship

Applications are now open for the IV Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage.

You can apply for the scholarship’s first round right here, in a new streamlined process that will take you about five minutes.

So, what is it? Why apply?

BasqueStage is a program that carries on the tradition of nurturing young chefs, which is one of the peculiar characteristics of the culinary community of Basque Country, and one of the principal reasons it is home to more Michelin stars per person than anywhere else in the world. The stages work at Martín Berasategui’s three-star restaurant in Lasarte, Spain, just outside of San Sebastián in the Basque Region of Spain. The jury that chooses the two winners is packed with culinary luminaries, such as Daniel Bouloud, Thomas Keller, and Pedro Subijana.

BasqueStage winners receive a 6-month, all-expense-paid stage. This includes housing, airfaire, health insurance and an instant platform to share their experiences with other chefs and lovers of food, through blog, video and social media.

The scholars’ rich experiences here, immersed in the kitchen life at Martín Berasategui as well as the enchanting community of Basque Country, have been chronicled for you to enjoy. Our current scholars are Ruth Selby and Elisha Ben-Haim, talented young cooks out of New York City. Tracy Chang and A thena Thickstun were the winners of the first round of BasqueStage, which took place from January 2011 to June 2011. Our II Sammic Scholars were Marco Bahena and Cameron Rolka.

Read and follow these scholars and apply today for your chance of a lifetime!

Stages, Meet Sammic

Posted by marti | Posted on 03-02-2012

Category : BasqueStage

Tags: 2012, BasqueStage, elisha benhaim, free time, ruth selby, Sammic, Sammic Scholarship

This week, Ruth and Elisha met all the gang behind Sammic, the company that has sponsored this and the previous two rounds of scholars for BasqueStage. We headed out to their headquarters in Azkoitia, about forty-five minutes from San Sebastián.

There, Ruth and Elisha got the red carpet rolled out for them.

They had tour of the factory, where nearly all the goods Sammic sells are produced. The beautiful part is that they are produced by people from the town, often people that have generational ties with the company. 90% of the workers have a share in the company, a remarkable number.

Ruth and Elisha thoroughly enjoyed meeting the people who are working to further the future of Basque cuisine, by bringing young chefs to the Basque country to learn from the best. Quality is key in the Basque cuisine, right up there next to authenticity. Something that our stages learn every day, even on the days they aren’t in the kitchen.

don’t call them tourists….

Posted by marti | Posted on 31-01-2012

Category : BasqueStage

Tags: 2012, basque, BasqueStage, elisha benhaim, ruth selby, Sammic

That’s our Ruth, one of our two brand new Sammic Scholars for BasqueStage.
And whatever you do, don’t call her a tourist.

Elisha and Ruth are buried in the kitchen at Berasategui, and every weekend they surface to see some of the surrounding beauty, experiencing it as only a local can…in car, winding through the picturesque mountains.

This weekend, we went to visit the Sammic factory in Azkoitia, but before we get to that, we have to talk about….what we ate on the way. Clearly.

We stopped at a SERIOUSLY rural restaurant, and we got the traditional Basque treatment. A bowl of free soup to knock the chill. A choice of first course: mixed salad, ensalada rusa, fried things (above, croquetas and calamari)…and then seconds: roast beef, roast chicken, sole with a hard-boiled egg sauce…. followed by dessert of natillas, arroz con leche, and coffee. All next to a crackling fire.

Stay tuned for the Sammic visit!

in the booth with sammic at san sebastián gastronomika

Posted by marti | Posted on 23-11-2011

Category : San Sebastián Gastronomika

Tags: cameron, gastronomika, marco, Sammic

In between famous chefs and up-to-the-moment tastings of their latest plates, Marco and Cameron have been hanging out in the Sammic San Sebastián Gastronomika booth. They’ve been sharing their experiences using Sammic machinery with the attendees of one of the the world’s biggest and best food conferences.

They’re also spreading the word about BasqueStage to the top chefs passing through. Heston Blumenthal, Grant Achatz, Alex Atala, Andoni Luis Aduriz: they’re all here.

If you’re in the neighborhood, make sure to drop by the Sammic booth and talk firsthand to two of the luckiest, most talented young cooks around!

Basque Cuisine at Xarma

Touring the Sammic Factory

Scholar Spotlight : Luuk

Scholar Spotlight: Brenden

Last Day to Apply

BasqueStage on Eitb

Apply Now for the IV Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage

Stages, Meet Sammic

don’t call them tourists….

in the booth with sammic at san sebastián gastronomika

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