Rendezvous at 8pm on Friday in front of the church in Urrugne. We arrived punctually, although rather surprised by the time scheduled for a dinner in Spain. Then, having organised who was going in which car, we hit the road!

Exit Donostia- Saint Sébastien, direction Guernica, and just 45 minutes later we were in Astigarraga. We drove past the nearest cider houses, up a steep road and there we were…

The ribs of beef were already grilling on the barbecues, filling the air with tantalising smells that instantly made out mouths water with impatience.

“Sortzi gira… there are eight of us.”

As soon as we stepped inside, the giant barrels started spouting their cider. The idea is to stand at a certain distance from the barrel with the glass at the ready and everyone takes it in turns to catch the fountain of cider. The whole process was great fun and there was much jollity among the many people who had arrived before us even though we were there quite early.

At our table we pushed the benches away and ate standing up – a tradition dating back to the time when the cider houses where just cider production mills.

We went to get our first glass of cider. The opening is sealed up with beef fat. The landlord removed it and the cider gushed out. Each in turn, we placed our glasses in just the right place away from the barrel so that the cider has the chance to be aerated before ending its flight in our glass. We served ourselves to just a little at a time so that we could drink the cider at a fresh temperature.

One barrel at a time; then P. closed it up again and went to open another one.

In the meantime, the salt cod omelette had arrived at our table. No plates, just a serving dish, cutlery and bread. We served ourselves directly from the dish – delicious! From time to time, we went to get another glass of cider. It was all very friendly and there was the opportunity to chat with people from other tables who came, like us, to refill their glass. There were a lot of people speaking Basque as well as Spanish. It was easy to chat as everyone was standing up.

After the omelette, came the salt cod – cooked to perfection and with just enough garlic. And then, the ribs of beef that we had seen cooking on the barbecue. We cut small slices so that it was easy to eat, the only problem being that the meat went cold quite quickly.

To finish, we had cheese with membrillo (quince jelly) and walnuts…

After such a wonderful evening, we couldn’t go home empty-handed! We bought some bottles of cider so that at least our drivers could taste and enjoy once we were safely home…