Galparsoro Okindegia
Sesame Palmier
Museli Bread
Butter Croissant
Sesame Croissant
Walnut Croissant
Chocolate Snail
Pear Turnover
Chocolate Brioche
Making way to Bordeaux by way of San Sebastian on a Sunday morning after a late night out and early morning in the gym a stop at the city’s most legendary bread maker seemed a perfect way to break up the drive and grab something wonderful to eat, and although the GPS at first attempted to lead me headlong into a pedestrian only car by car it was not long after attaining parking and navigating narrow streets that the smell of yeast, sugar, and slowly burning wood led me straight to the door, no less than three other panaderia and pastellaria eyeballed along the way.
Small and unassuming for a place supplying bread to many of the best kitchens in the city, the standing space not large enough for more than a handful when accounting for racks, glass cases, and cages full of goods, it was to Spanish only service that I was greeted and although interior photos were quickly nixed when the clerk blurted “no, no, no” waving a finger, it was clear the woman was annoyed by my presence as a total of eight items were quickly bagged and sealed with a twirl for €13.50, then taken seaside to eat.
Embracing a style of old-fashioned wood-fired baking that is rarely seen back home, every item slightly tinged in smoke without masking any of the subtlety of ancient starters and organic grains, tasting of Galparsoro’s goods began with a toothsome baton of oats and ground grains packed with dried fruit plus nuts and continuing a slightly savory trend with palmiers and croissants studded with sesame the quality of construction was absolutely textbook, the toasted seed’s flavor a basenote amidst the butter and yeast.
Finding the butter croissant a marvelous version with shattering arches surrounding wispy caverns of butter lightly kissed with salt, it was without an almond iteration that the famous bakery was found, but opting instead for a golden curl packed with ground walnuts the resultant croissant performed on a level as high as any in Spain or France, the bitterness offset by a dusting of powdered sugar while the center was completely sog-free.
Unable to resist a few sweeter selections, the turnover so hot that it actually warmed the rest of the bag, a parade of hits continued with the pocket of toasty pears that shattered and flaked while making quite the mess and although the brioche was a bit more dense than one might have hoped the chocolate snail continued the trend set by everything else that was laminated, the lacquer of sugar pushing the pastry itself quite sweet while chips of dark chocolate scaled the sugar back without making the springy center of the coil too rich.
http://galparsorookindegia.eu/