New York — By Steve Mirsky on February 6, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Filed under: Announcements, Attractions, featuredarticle, Food & Beverage

Kingdom of Navarra Comes to NYC

Navarra… sun-drenched fertile valleys, cool uplands, and comfortable year round temps make this region in Northern Spain perfect not only for culture hounds but also top quality produce and tasty wines. Bordered by France, Castilla, Aragon, and the Basque Country, its off the beaten path location keeps the ambiance unique and untrodden. Among the many local festivals celebrating Navarra’s rich cultural history, best known is the 9 day Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona. Immortalized by Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises, it’s bull running in all its glory.

Fresh Piquillo Red Peppers

Not only do climate and topography make Navarra an extraordinarily fertile region, its distinctive cuisine is steeped in history with multi-national influences. Navarrese cooking relies on high quality local produce such as a wide variety of mushrooms and other fungi; Cantabrian fish; regional cheeses like Roncal, Aezcoa-Valcarlos and Idiazabal; and artisan olive oil.

Now you can savor Navarra without a passport here in NYC February 6th – 14th. Chefs at participating restaurants will prepare tantalizing cuisine showcasing a cooking style of complex flavors and distinct textures like Warm Partridge & Jabugo Ham Salad, Artichokes fried with Tocino (Jabugo Ham), Piquillo red peppers stuffed with meat or fish, Pochas beans, roast suckling pig, sautéed wild Mushrooms and white asparagus, Lobster, Puff Pastry with Potato & Foie and Sweet Wine Sauce. Complement these exciting flavors with a Navarrese Rosado wine.

In addition to menu offerings, keep an eye out for accompanying special events featuring onsite chefs and wine experts conducting tastings and culinary exhibitions. On February 9th, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the W Union Square Hotel, sample seventeen wines and olive oils, view the first 3D Screening of Running with the Bulls (“Encierro”) and enjoy Pintxos (Hors Dóeuvres) by Michelin Star Navarran Chef David Yarnoz from Restaurante El Molino de Urdániz”.

photo courtesy of Navarra Tourism Office