Bizi Ona — The Slow Food community of the BasqueCountry
Denbora Hartu: take the time
Bizi Onais the Slow Food movement of the Basque Country, born from the conviction that our way of eating reflects our way of life.
Our goal: to promote a virtuous mode of consumption, rooted in our traditions, our history, and respect for all living things.
Here, every product has a soul, every recipe a memory, and every action a meaning. We champion good, clean, and fair food —good for taste and health, clean for the environment, and fair to those who produce it.
Because our local producers sustain our mountains, valleys, and coasts, Bizi Ona wants to amplify their voices. :
They have the know-how, we have the know-how to make it known !
Taking the time — Denbora Hartu — also means reconnecting with the rhythm of the land, with the cycle of the seasons, with the simplicity of a shared meal.
It is an invitation to rediscover the richness of our culinary heritage, to support the local economy, and to build together a sustainable and delicious future.
2002 The creation of the Slow Food convivium of the Basque Country: BIZI ONA
Bizi Ona: the movement that is reinventing the Basque plate for tomorrow
In the Basque Country, our culinary traditions were the envy of many. Yet, junk food, climate change, and rural depopulation threaten our food heritage. In 2002, five citizens said enough : Bizi Ona, the local Slow Food movement, was born to defend healthy, fair, and resilient food.
Because even here, supermarkets are crushing small producers, younger generations are abandoning vegetables in favor of ultra-processed dishes, and our iconic recipes (piperade, axoa, Basque cake…) are being distorted, standardized, and emptied of their meaning.
A tribute to Henri Bernard Lapeyre, Jean Roland and Jean Bernard Hiriart: pioneers who worked tirelessly to transmit knowledge, educate and resist. Their struggle is our struggle.
Our manifesto: 3 pillars for a local food revolution
1. Reviving forgotten sectors.
We visit the producers, listen to their challenges (drought, land pressure, lack of successors…), and taste their products. Because protecting means first understanding.
2. Saving what unites us: We integrate endangered treasures (heirloom varieties, artisanal techniques) into the Ark of Taste and Slow Food Presidia programs. No know-how should disappear.
3. Building connections, not just customers.
Workshops, tastings, meetings: we connect those who produce with those who consume. Because eating is a political act.
The members of Bizi Ona are actively involved throughout our territory.
Bizi Ona Bayonne Festival 2024
Bizi Ona preparation of Patxaran 03/08/24
Banka trout 07/09/24
Enautenea Farm, Tambourin family 07/09/24
Grape harvest at Pomerol Clos St André 21/09/24
Discovery of the Pagos de Araiz estate in Navarre on 26/09/24
Kattalin Kesting
Valérie Thiebaut
The members of the board are missing Graziella, Valérie, Eric, Adrian, Jacques, Alain, Laora, Susi.
Iban Lavaud
Virginie Hildelbert
Virginie Hildelbert
Florence Devemy
Arthur Jamin
Bixente Marichular
Karine Alvareda
Fermentation Festival St Jean de Luz 19/10/24
For 15 years Bizi Ona organised the exceptional market on the port of St Jean de Luz and then around the Halles, our market of the land.
Hundreds of people attend the World Black Pudding Championship . For the winner, it's a huge publicity coup.
Ah! The melody of black pudding sizzling in boiling pans. The aroma of charcuterie wafting around the Ciboure pelota court from 10 a.m. onwards. And those hundreds of food lovers waiting for their hot plates before tucking into an aperitif (unless it's to digest the previous night's)... Let it be known, the World Black Pudding Championship of the Northern Basque Country, organized by the Ciboure Festival Committee and Bizi Ona Slow Food during the Bixintxo festival, is a true celebration.
But just because it smells like a feast doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. "It's a very serious competition, because it's prestigious. We estimate that the professional who wins sees their turnover increase by 10 to 15% in the following weeks," assure Rafaël Indo, of the Basque Gastronomy Brotherhood, and Bixente Marichular, vice-president of Slow Food Bizi Ona. For this sixth edition, Pantxoa Aizpurua, from the Boucherie du Golf in Ciboure, won the Txapela (honorary beret) for the champion in the professional category (butchers, delicatessen owners, producers).
When black pudding becomes a science… an art
The best in the world?
Please note that, as stipulated in Article 9 of the competition rules, the organization's quality commission reserves the right to monitor the quality of the winning products. "In the event of non-compliance with quality control for the black puddings, the commission reserves the right to publicize this through the press." As we've mentioned, the organizers of the Iparralde World Black Pudding Championship are keeping a close eye on things. But why is it called a world championship when the competition is only open to producers from the French Basque Country? "It's a translation issue," smiles Jojo Aramburu,. "We wrote 'grandiose' in Basque, and it became 'mondial' in French. But we've kept the original title anyway."
We organised the Iparralde World Black Pudding Championship competition with the Ciboure festival committee and the Cofradia de Donostia
From the Basque Country to Italy
Sensitive to the principles of the Slow Food movement and the promotion of food good, clean, and fair, many Basque producers traveled to Turin, Italy, to participate in the Slow Food International Fair "Terra Madre ." This event, held every two years near Bra, the birthplace of Slow Food, brings together producers and movement members from around the world dedicated to preserving biodiversity. These Basque producers had the opportunity to meet other producers from across the globe, share their expertise, and discuss their stories and work during conferences. Following this experience, Lurrama , the Basque Country's fair for small-scale and sustainable agriculture, was born.
Keen to protect and promote their know-how related to traditional products of the region but threatened with extinction by the pursuit of profitability in industrial agriculture, some of them, gathered in sectors, have worked to have their products included in the programs offered by Slow Food for biodiversity such as theArk of Taste and the Sentinels.
After a long process of consultation and drafting of specifications dedicating their histories and methods, submitted to one of the 5 representatives of biodiversity in France, 4 are now admitted within the products of theArk of Taste and 8 within the Sentinels.
On the side of theArk of Taste , which recognizes a traditional technique, breed, or variety of the territory threatened with extinction, we find:
Line-caught hake from Saint Jean de Luz.
Bluefin tuna caught with a rod and line.
Other sectors currently applying:
Euskal Gaztaina, the Basque chestnut.
Erle Beltza, the black bee of the Basque Country.
cow Pirenaica.
Ultimately, the sector will have two other dimensions:
Social: by enabling all actors in the sector to structure themselves and help each other;
Environmental: by moving towards more natural and environmentally friendly practices.
They can claim the status of " Sentinel ", as is already the case for:
Three of these Sentinels are now in quality signage:
the Kintoa,
Sheep's milk cheese, Ardi gasna ( Ossau-Iraty) with a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin)
Sweet peppers from the high-quality brand "Biper Eztia" with its Label Rouge certification
The Basque Grand Roux Maizehas its own quality brand "Arto Gorria" Organic.
We are working to mobilize chefs who champion Basque gastronomy in order to showcase and promote these high-quality local products, in close collaboration with Laborentza Ganbara.
