32 - Wednesday, October 5, 1988 - North Shore News HOW I-wish someone would open a Basque restaurant on the North Shore! How do you recognize a real Basque restaurant? First, you always enter through a door off. the bar. The bar will serve, among other things, “‘Picon Punch’’. Rec- ipe follows. Don’t have more than -one' of these — I had two and :found it difficult to pronounce certain words, — Second; don’t look for a table- for-two. Basque food is served family-style — trestle tables, seating at least eight. You, your partner and six strangers. . budget beaters Barbara McCreadie ‘If you get a’mennu, it only tells you what you will eat. Choises are rare and only deal with the alter- native to the two. (huge) main | courses. For exampie, the main course’. will be New York steak AND chicken (or) fish. Here is a sample menu: Soup. A hearty mixture — probably a vegetable-bean or perhaps clam chowder. Bread. Crusty and fresh with a huge mound of real butter. Salad. Fresh, crunchy and a. combination of many greens, other raw vegetables and tossed with an oil-vinegar dressing. . ’ Basque Beans. Made from scratch, the sauce is generally quite liquid — all the better to dip your bread in or eat with: Shellfish or chicken with rice. Sample recipes follow. Potatoes. I’ve had them many ways —- fried sliced new potatoes; mashed with butter or casseroled with cheese. Always good. ; Roast meat or steak. Either a whole, sliced roast, smothered in gravy or a plate of grilled steak. Vegetables. Sometimes omitted; often one of the root vegetables, buttered, or peas (a favorite with Basques). A simple dessert — sherbet or ice cream. And. that’s a Basque dinner. Just had one at Louie’s Basque Corner in Reno — 301-E. 4th St. Wonderful! Cost, including wine, $12.50 per person. Don’t miss it. Louis and Lorraine Erreguible have been operating the restaurant forever. He ininds the kitchen while she does the business end and P.R. for visiting food writers. Lorraine gave me a cookbook that I cherish. She also gave me See Purchase Page 33