Learn Basque cuisine in an immersive, English-language class at Mimo, inside Hotel María Cristina in San Sebastián. Seasonal recipes, market-fresh produce, wine pairings.
In San Sebastián, food is not a scene—it is a civic art. This Basque cooking class places you at the center of that culture, working alongside professional chefs in a contemporary, 400-square-meter kitchen a few steps from the Old Town. Over a focused five hours, you’ll prepare seasonal dishes drawn from the coast and the mountains, practice techniques that define the region, and sit down to a convivial meal with wine pairings. Hosted by Mimo, the city’s flagship cooking school, the experience is welcoming to curious beginners and confident home cooks alike. It is equal parts technique and storytelling: ingredients from the Cantabrian Sea, slow stews from the hinterland, the science behind a perfect pil-pil emulsion. For travelers considering cooking holidays, it offers a practical bridge between restaurant admiration and real kitchen mastery—an elegant, enjoyable way to learn French cuisine’s neighbor while deepening your grasp of European culinary traditions and French gastronomy’s Basque influences.
- City: San Sebastián (Donostia)
- Region: Basque Country, Spain
- Price: About €190 per person (group class)
- Duration: Approximately 5 hours (typically 10:00–15:00)
- Conditions and restrictions: Adult class, conducted in English, hands-on format with seated tasting; advise of allergies/dietary needs in advance; comfortable shoes recommended
- Provider: Mimo (cooking school and gastronomic experiences, inside Hotel María Cristina)
Where you’ll cook and what you’ll learn
A modern classroom in a culinary capital
Set within the landmark Hotel María Cristina, Mimo’s light-filled kitchen is designed for teaching: individual workstations, professional burners and ovens, and ample space for demonstration and service. The set-up encourages genuine participation rather than passive observation. You prep, sear, emulsify, plate, and taste—guided at every step—then sit down to enjoy the fruits of your work at a shared table with wines selected to complement the menu. This is an immersive culinary experience in France’s orbit, yet resolutely Basque in tone and produce.
What’s on the menu
Menus change with the market, but expect a balance of sea and land: perhaps hake in green sauce, seasonal fish grilled or roasted, a slow-cooked ragù from the mountains, and a circuit of pintxos that show off the region’s small-plate culture. You’ll see how both tradition and innovation coexist: the clean flavors Basque cooks prize, along with modern techniques that elevate texture, aroma, and precision. Throughout, the chefs emphasize ingredient integrity—olive oil quality, fish freshness, the role of bone gelatin in sauces—so you can replicate results at home.
Meet the chefs: technique, terroir, and teaching
Mimo’s leadership blends international perspective with local mastery. Co-founder and chef Patricio Fuentes, a Chilean who made the Basque Country his culinary home, brings a precise, generous teaching style that demystifies professional technique. He is known for clear explanations, mise en place discipline, and a talent for guiding mixed-ability groups so that everyone cooks with confidence. Chef Eneko Irizar, born in the region, roots the program in Basque tradition—sourcing from trusted fishmongers and butchers, respecting seasonal calendars, and championing classic sauces and stews. His approach favors clarity of flavor with meticulous control of heat and time.
A typical class is co-led by a member of this core team or by senior Mimo instructors trained to the same standard. Beyond knife work and searing, they teach you to think like a cook: when to salt and why, how to read doneness by touch, and how to organize a workstation. Their bilingual delivery and approachable manner make the class accessible to international guests. Crucially, they counsel on substitutions—what to use at home if you can’t find local hake or Ibarra peppers—so the learning travels with you. Their shared aim is simple and ambitious: to turn admiration for Basque restaurants into practiced, confident cooking.
Inside the class: from mise en place to shared table
The format—step by step
Your session begins with a short briefing: menu overview, ingredient provenance, and the techniques you’ll practice. After a safety and hygiene check, it’s straight to mise en place—trimming fish fillets, portioning meats, prepping vegetables, and measuring aromatics. The first demonstration typically covers a foundational technique such as forming a pil-pil (an olive-oil emulsion built on fish gelatin), searing for crust without overcooking, or anchovy handling for pintxos. You then rotate through stations, cooking in small teams with chef oversight.
Midway, hot preparations are coordinated—one team reduces a jus while another finishes a ragù or mounts a sauce with butter. Timing is coached closely, teaching you to bring multiple components to the pass simultaneously. Plating follows the Basque minimalist aesthetic: clean lines, a focus on texture, and restrained garnish that respects the product. Along the way, you’ll practice temperature control, seasoning in layers, knife grips and cuts, emulsions, and the difference between confit and sauté.
The class culminates at the table. You sit down to a chef-guided tasting sequence, with wines poured to highlight acidity, fruit, or structure against the dishes you’ve cooked. This is where technique meets palate: you compare textures, discuss balance, and learn pairing logic you can apply anywhere. Printed recipes and technique notes round out the learning so you can reproduce the menu at home.
Why Mimo stands out
Substance, not spectacle
Mimo’s classes are deliberately hands-on and capped for quality, which means more guidance, real cooking, and skills that stick. The kitchen’s professional layout helps you cook like a brigade, learning timing and teamwork—critical elements that most leisure classes overlook.
A benchmark for Basque technique
From market-driven menus to the nuances of classic sauces, Mimo teaches the grammar of Basque cooking: when to respect tradition, when to adapt, and how to keep flavors bright. You leave with transferable skills—emulsions, reductions, heat control—that raise the standard of your home cooking far beyond a single recipe.
Hospitality and context
The location inside Hotel María Cristina positions you at the cultural heart of San Sebastián, steps from the Parte Vieja. Bilingual instruction, a friendly service culture, and seated tastings with wine make the day feel like an insider’s pass to the city’s culinary DNA. For travelers invested in French cuisine across the border, it is also a lens on how Basque methods have long influenced neighboring kitchens—useful context if you plan further French cooking lessons or cross-border cooking class in France experiences.
What you take home
Beyond a satisfying meal, you bring back a working toolkit: sharper knife skills, a calmer prep routine, and a clearer sense of how to season, cook, and plate with confidence. You’ll also gain a deeper appreciation for regional specialties, an understanding of wine pairing principles, and printed recipes that translate to your own kitchen. For anyone serious about French gastronomy’s wider Atlantic arc—or simply eager to cook better—Mimo’s class is a memorable, skill-building entry point into Basque excellence and European food culture at large.
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