Christina: Hello.

Today we're heading to Elko, Nevada, to check out the Star Hotel.

*upbeat music * Enrique: Over a century ago, the Basque began traveling to Nevada from Europe, bringing with them their history, traditions, and eventually his family.

Chrsintina: This is Scott Ygoa, owner of the Star Hotel In Elko, Nevada.

The Star is one restaurant in Nevada where you can experience Basque dining Enrique: But first, what does Basque mean?

Christina: The Basques are a southwestern European ethnic group.

Enrique: They are indigenous to what is traditionally called the Basque Country, an area on the coast of the Bay of Biscay in northern Spain and southern France.

Christina: Today, Basque country is divided among four Spanish provinces and three French provinces.

Enrique: Basque culture is incredibly rich with its own language history.

cuisine Sports like pelota and so much more.

Christina: Star Hotel.

used to be a hotel, but now it's a restaurant.

Scott: That's right.

It was built in 1910 as a as a boarding house for Basque immigrants.

up until six or seven years ago, we had some Basque boarders upstairs that lived there.

I'm born and raised in Elko, I was raised sheep ranch.

had about 20,000 sheep.

My father came from the old country, and my mother's parents came from the old country.

So I'm one hundred percent Basque worked at the mines here up until 19 years ago.

And at that point is when I purchased the Star Hotel restaurant.

And I've been here ever since.

Enrique: Sheep are one of the oldest livestock animals domesticated by humans over 10,000 years ago.

Christina: The meat of a sheep is very nutrient rich and is especially popular and Basque cuisine in the United States.

Sheep also have an important age old skill.

They will eat anything.

Enrique: When released into an area, they work like lawnmowers, clipping away any unwanted vegetation.

This results in healthier landscapes and happier sheep.

Scott: In a Basque household and especially, you know, being raised on a ranch, it's just a festive time.

You're always, know, having big meals and it's always a big group together.

you know, you spoke Basque because they most of them didn't speak English so well at that point.

that was just kind of the culture that I was raised in.

I mean, it was just, hospitable with people and guys and ladies that came from the old country to try to move forward in life.

my parents are very good cooks I'm not so much of a good cook, but whenever people came over to the house, there was always a ton of food and different food.

And it wasn't just processed food.

Everything was made from scratch.

healthy.

time went into meals, And it was kind of a family event.

Everybody, helped do all of it.

And you all came together at the table and we celebrate it.

Enrique: That's what this is called, right?

The family style of food.

Scott: Family style.

Yeah.

Christina: Family Style dining is when food is served on large platters meant for sharing Enrique: Diners will pass the platters around the table and build their own plate.

Originally, Basque restaurants like The Star Hotel started as a gathering place for bass people to rest and eat.

Enrique: A dinner bell would ring, indicating to workers in the area that the food is ready.

There was no menu and no assigned seating.

Instead, you would take portions off large platters of food in the center of the table, surrounded by friends and family or strangers who would quickly become your new friends.

Christina: Although its common among Basque restaurants, family style dining is popular in many cultures around the world, but it goes by other names.

So if it sounds familiar, that's probably because it is.

Scott: Today we've prepared some beef tongue The baked lamb It's a lamb neck that we trim, a quarter, iceberg salad, and then you get a cabbage soup that's been in the recipe here for 113 years, our green beans, of course with garlic, everything has garlic.

French fries.

Domestic lamb chops from Colorado.

Spanish version of a pallea that we do.

And some brown beans.

let's start with that with the cabbage soup.

So when you come eat at The Star you really got to probably not eat all day.

*laughter * You have to pace yourself right?

Lets make a toast.

In the Basque we say osasuna to your health.

Hosts: Osasuna!

Cheers.

Scott: Jeez that even tastes good.

All: *laughter * Christina: Oh, this reminds me of a very homey, warm.

Enrique: It's very hearty.

very hearty and comfortable.

Scott: Its really popular with the kids in town.

When parents have kids that are sick They always ask for the cabbage soup.

Lets try some salad.

of dressing has been here 113 years.

so we make about three gallons of this a day, what, Because Christina: What?!

Scott: People come in just to get it a container of it to have at home.

Christina: Very fresh.

Enrique: Salads very light.

Chrisitna: Very refreshing.

Enrique: Tonally, it really juxtaposes the soup.

soup is very warm, hearty, comforting.

Christina: Yeah, It's a very light dressing.

It's not heavy.

Usually when you kind of get a this Color.

Scott: Yeah.

You're expecting something like a heavy cream or something.

Scott: Yeah, that's got a ton of garlic in it You can probably taste it.

*laughter * Christina: Would you say that like lamb and seafood is pretty prominent?

Scott: Yes.

Very much so.

LAMB especially in the United States, because so much of our lifestyle was involved being around lamb.

Well, you know, I remember as a child, watching my father have lamb on the spek you know, cooking this stuff, you is seafood is a big part of the Basque culture, especially, in Spain and in France, because they're on the coast there right?

Here, it's a little different here Were inland And the Basque immigrants were on ranches and stuff to where they had lamb or beef.

And so protein is a big part of the.

Meals here.

You want to try some tongue?

Hosts: Yeah Absolutely.

Scott: people that haven't tried I really need to, give it a shot because it's very tender, very lean.

This is the lamb neck that's is kind of how the family style, right?

You just.

You have a little bit of whatever you want.

Baked lamb.

lamb chop and tongue.

Oh the tongue is Really good.

Have you ever had it?

Enrique: Yeah.

So with my family growing up Mexican.

Scott: Yeah.

You guys love lengua.

Enrique: Yeah.

Yeah.

Christina: I'm going to try the lamb neck.

Christina: Oh, man, it's falling off the bone.

It's tender and kind of, like, marbled with all that fatty.

... neck fat.

Scott: Yeah.

Yeah.

Who would have known that it would be good to eat, right?

not a lot of the animal went to waste.

right.

Enrique: When it comes to making these.

Like Really.

You just want the taste of the lamb to come out and just salt and pepper do And garlic.

But is there anything else you try to do to it?

Scott: Well, the lamb chops we cook at a high heat.

quick.

We don't marinate them really at all.

You know the baked lamb that's that gets baked for like two and a half to 3 hours.

the seasoning, really.

It's, know, primarily garlic.

And we rub that in like them in the lamb.

Enrique: This IS fall off the bone.

My God.

Christina: It definitely has the lamb taste but it's not overpowering, sometimes when you gamey.

Scott: That's right.

Christina: It's like, Oh, I can taste the farm in my mouth.

Scott: And that's kind of the stigma of lamb.

they've had lamb where It's been real strong, And it could have been an older lamb a like a mutton.

That type of meat more gamey and stronger.

But lamb generally isn't that strong of a flavor, especially domestic lamb.

Lamb in the United States and, you know, it's so grass fed, so it's real mild Enrique: Dishes like the soup and the Salad have remained faithful to the original recipes.

Scott's made sure of this, preserving a tradition held by all past owners of the Star.

He stayed connected to a few of them over the years, like Jose Maria Sarasua.

Scott: He lives in Boise now he's in his nineties and whenever he comes in, he walks in to the bar and he goes “It still feels like home!

” All: *laughter * Enrique: That's beautiful.

Scott: He was here, you know, like 25 years or 28 years or something like that.

Wow.

So it was his life, right?

Chrisinta: Thats a great compliment.

Scott: To me, it's passing on the tradition.

Yeah.

pass along this establishment and this culture to the next person.

Just like they did for me.

Like they did for everybody coming through.

Enrique: And those people who have been there to see those transitions, they're the ones who can tell you you're doing it right.

Scott: Really all this is, is a gathering place for people to come together.

the Basque community in Elko would always have get togethers as families.

And Food and drink takes care of everything.

It really does.

Yeah.

Christina: It's a great way to connect with everyone.

Like everyone's always hungry.

Yeah.

Food is a great way to convey your passion, your culture.

Scott: Yeah.

people, they like to come to places where it's like their home, it's by having fun and laughing and joking Enrique: you can try and try to create that environment.

But if the people aren't comfortable or don't feel it, it's not going to happen.

Scott: Its gotta be who you are.

Yeah, absolutely.

I love it.

And I do.

It's means a lot to me.

I mean, I feel very lucky.

I'm really, hopeful that it's going to be ready for whoever's next.

Christina: It's very nice that it's kind of a bit like your home away from home.

I think it kind of encapsulates the Basque culture in the sense that people are traveling and they're nomadic.

Yeah, you're not here and they're like, This is home.

This food is welcoming me back.

Scott: The Basque people are very hard workers.

like my father coming here and my grandfather you see how hard they worked.

It just motivates you work hard because you feel like that's what it takes make a difference.

You know, all of us that have Basque restaurants.

We all carry that weight even though we might not have live the lifestyle that these people did come in here in establishing it.

our job is, to keep that going and to respect what they did for us and for our culture.

We're really excited about new people trying, Basque food or trying family style dining not just here at the Star, but, you know, there's places in Reno, Gardnerville, Boise, Winnemucca, that have Basque restaurants that, they need to experience it and see the culture and see what it's like.

Enrique: There are many reasons as to why the Basque people immigrated to the United States, but it's the gold rush that primarily brought them to Nevada.

Christina: Many Basque people looking for work took up jobs in the sheep industry, even though they had little experience with sheep herding itself.

Enrique: Basque people in Nevada found great success with livestock and settled down in northern Nevada, towns large and small, including where we are today, Christina: Thank you, Scott, so much for everything.

everything that you're trying to do with preserving your culture.

and making it part of the community.

Enrique: You're a well of information of history, of passion, Thank you for all the food.

Thank you for your time Scott: You're very welcome.

And we enjoyed showing everybody what we do.

So thank you Christina: But before we go, we had to get a special drink.

Enrique: Can you tell us what a Picon is?

Scott: So its got a dash of grenadine, picon liqueur It's a French liqueur made out of orange peels.

That's 90% of it.

And then we do a lemon twist with the brandy float.

Christina: Ah yes, Picon punch.

Nevada's unofficial state drink Enrique: But this isn't a punch at all.

It's a cocktail.

And it does, in fact, pack a punch.

It's so popular among Basque restaurants in northern Nevada that it's gained a motto Scott: Ones not enough and threes too many.

Christina: The creation of the picon punch is believed to have originated in Basque boarding houses in California and Nevada.

With the earliest paper reference we can find coming from 1899 Enrique: The name comes from the use of Amer Picon which is the orange liquor.

Christina: But enough talk.

Let's try it.

Enrique: It's strong.

Christina: I grew some chest hairs *laughter * Enrique: Theres acidity from the lemon.

Bitterness.

Christina: I'm feeling warm, though.

As soon as you drink it, it's like, ooooo, spreading.

Enrique: Honestly I think it's yummy.

Christina: It's, it's really good.

Enrique: That wraps up our time at The Star.

Christina: We hope you had fun learning a bit about Scott story like we did.