La Ribera Gastro Plaza ★ 3.9
La Ribera Gastro Plaza inside the Mercado de la Ribera in Bilbao runs a daily food hall with txakoli, pintxos, charcuterie and riverside tables.
Try: Riverside pintxos and bocadillos
History
Talo is older than wheat bread in the Basque country, made from maize flour brought from the Americas after 1492. Rural Basque cooks made talo on hot stones, before the wood-fired oven became standard. Today, talo de txistorra is the canonical street food of the Santo Tomas market on 21 December in Bilbao's Plaza Nueva, where rural baserri stalls grill the txistorra (fresh chorizo) and fold it into the warm talo with a glass of txakoli or cider.
Common allergens: Pork
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 200g fine maize flour (yellow cornmeal)
- Pinch of salt
- 200ml warm water
- 300g txistorra or fresh thin chorizo
- Oil for griddle
Method
- Mix the maize flour and salt in a bowl. Add the warm water gradually, kneading to a soft dough.
- Divide the dough into 6 balls. Press each between sheets of baking paper into a thin round about 15cm across.
- Heat a heavy dry skillet or comal over medium-high heat.
- Cook each talo 1 to 2 minutes per side until lightly toasted but still flexible.
- Grill the txistorra in a hot pan 4 to 5 minutes until cooked through.
- Fold a warm talo around a length of txistorra, eat immediately.
Tip from the editors. Use a comal or a heavy cast-iron pan; nonstick produces a steamed-feeling talo. Keep the dough wet enough to roll thin without cracking.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat talo de txistorra
More cities are in research. Want talo de txistorra covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.