Spanish Gildas Recipe: The Original Basque Pintxo

If you want to travel to San Sebastian without leaving your kitchen, then this Spanish gilda recipe is for you! The original pintxo (a Basque-style tapa), it is so-called after the Rita Hayworth movie of the same name because it of its “spicy” nature.

Today, the gilda can be found in virtually every bar in the Spanish Basque country and it is a very common aperitivo throughout Spain.

It’s one of the most perfect dishes to start out with as you’re hopping from bar to bar while in Spain, but it’s also easy to make at home and is a fantastic appetiser no matter the occasion.

For those who love briny, salty flavours, then you’re sure to love the Basque gilda – the original pintxo is absolutely delicious and so so simple to throw together.

How to Make Spanish Gildas

Today, there are numerous different kinds of gildas and you will find variations of them throughout the Basque Country and Spain as a whole. The kind that I’ve developed for this recipe is known as a matrimonio – which directly translates to a marriage.

In practice, this means that it uses both an oil-packed anchovy (referred to as an anchoa in Spain) and a marinated anchovy (known as a boquerón en vinagre). This is my personal preference as I like the combination of the briny acidity of the boquerón along with the salty umami of the anchoa.

It’s important that you use high-quality oil-packed anchovies – generally, these are found in the refrigerated section rather than in the shelf-stable tinned section. Because you’re eating this straight, you want it to taste as good as possible!

Making the gildas couldn’t be easier. First, you want to spear a pitted green olive onto a toothpick or small skewer. A manzanilla olive would be the most common variety used in Spain, but you can go ahead and use any kind of high-quality green olive you can find.

Follow the olive with an oil-packed anchovy that’s been folded in half. Push this up to meet the olive.

Next, spear a guindilla pepper (these can be bought online here) onto the skewer. If you’d like to remove the stem beforehand, go ahead, but it really isn’t necessary.

After the pepper, add a marinated anchovy the same way that you added the previous anchovy. Follow this with another guindilla pepper.

Finally, spear a final green olive to your skewer. Then, repeat these steps with your remaining gildas! Finish them off with a drizzle of a good extra virgin olive oil and serve.

Gildas go particularly well with a glass of a nice vermouth (the saltiness pairs very well with the sweetness of vermouth), but they’re sure to be a hit no matter what you serve!

And if you’re looking for another great appetiser to serve alongside these, my briny and simple olive tapenade, padrón peppers or my mojo picón olives are great accompaniments!

Making Spanish gildas is a great way to bring one of the Basque Country’s most iconic pintxos into your own home. Just want bite will make you feel as if you’re wandering the streets of San Sebastian or Bilbao.

Do you want to make gildas? Have any questions about this recipe? Let me know in the comments!