Kern County Basque Club Photos
You might also consider
More like Kern County Basque Club
Recommended Reviews - Kern County Basque Club
Start your review...
Kern County Basque Club is the cultural center of the Basque community. The only other significant Basque community in the U.S. that I encountered was when I visited Boise, Idaho where I also went to their community center to see Basque American youth learning to dance the traditional dances as well as dining at restaurants such as Guernika. The Basque live straddled between Southwest France & Northwest Spain & apparently predate the formation of the French & Spanish nationalities. They seem to be people so ancient that their language has no affinity to any other languages in Europe as well as rest of the world. Perhaps they may have been the authors of the cave paintings at Lascaux or Altamira 11,000+ years ago. We went on the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend. There was a Catholic mass at 10am that was performed in a cool combination of English & Basque in an outdoor park-like setting with plenty of shady mulberry trees providing respite from the hot Bakersfield sun. The program had the songs written in Basque which was pretty easy to pronounce if you know Spanish although there were some differences which could be easily decoded. Monsignor Craig Harrison was great in leading the mass by not being too heavy handed, doom & gloom type and did an uplifting performance w/ a bit of droll humour added in to act as a catharsis here & there. There was pageantry w/ a Klika band leading the procession w/ plenty of horns & drums to lend a military cadence, pomp & circumstance. The Monsignor trailed behind to elegantly end the processional. Lunch was a feast w/ two thick meaty, fatty, smoky, outdoor bbq'ed pork chops that were cooked medium marinated w/ a garlicky herbal tone. Succulent, fall apart lamb stew meat w/ potatoes in a light au jus. Obligatory beans in brown sauce; piquant tomato based salsa; green salad. This delightful lunch can feed two moderate eaters. To keep the Basque theme we bought Isastegi, Sagardo Naturala/natural apple cider. It's a still cider tasting of mild apple scents & a natural funky sourness from the fermentation process. It's a good offset to the rather fatty lamb and a good hot summer time drink that slakes the thirst w/ its tartness. Basque, many wearing berets, drank red wine from a Gota, an animal skin flask, where you shoot a thin stream of wine directly into a wide open mouth. Afternoon was the time for the performers of the Basque folk dances & Klika band. It's evident that they practiced many weeks if not many years perfecting their art. I was told the Klika band may have originated from the influence of French military bands centuries before. The drum majors in quasi military regalia had a great time twirling their red, white, green batons/colors of the Basque flag & hurling them high in the air. The dancers ranged in ages from preschool & beyond. It's so great that they are being passed on Basque traditions & customs. In their air conditioned club house, I had their Picon Punch which is a combination of Amer/bitter like Campari, grenadine, brandy. When I ordered, I was referred to the resident expert who made the best Picon that I have had w/ the exception of the Picon made by an affable moustached, Basque bar-t at Wool Growers'. Also ordered the Lukainka, a rough ground, meaty, garlicky thick sausage w/ skin that had a good snap barbecued over the same pits as the lamb and came in a roll. Great way to end a laid back day at a tradition filled Basque family picnic. read more
Preserving local Basque history and creating social events is the prime mission of this outstanding Kern County Club. In addition to organizing the annual Basque Festival, they organize other social events and truly try to keep the Basque culture alive here in Bakersfield. read more
