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Sao Paulo, Brazil.  The Casa Basco Brasileira Basque club in Sao Paulo hosted Haritz Aranburu, cultural director of the Euskal Etxea in Rio Grande do Sul, a few days ago. Aranburu is a chef from Donostia who has been in Porto Alegre for a couple of years, where he runs the Bazkaria restaurant.

Porto Alegre and the south of Brazil have a large presence of Basque immigrants and their descendants, which sparked the creation of the new club in Rio Grande.  Its president, Ana Luiza Etchaluz, is the author of Alma Basca (The Basque Soul), an interesting book on the Basque community in Brazil.

Talk in Escola

During his stay in Sao Paulo, Aranburu held various meetings with entrepreneurs in the food industry and related sectors, with a view to possibly expand his restaurant.  In this role, he also has the support of the Eusko Brasildar Etxea.

In addition, Aranburu visted the SPRI headquarters along with president of the Euskal-Brasildar Etxea club, Oskar Goitia. The Basque chef gave a talk to students at the Restaurante Escola in the Chamber of Commerce of Sao Paulo, who also collaborates with the local Basque center.

Farewell lunch

On Saturday, March 23, Aranburu finished his visit by providing a lunch to the members of the euskal etxea.  At the meal, “you could appreciate the high level of his cuisine and the great potential  for the demanding gourmet market of Sao Paulo,” said Oskar Goitia.

Both entities have taken the first step towards future collaboration that will begin soon with the start of Basque classes in Rio Grande do Sul.  In addition, they will talk about the possibility of holding the Semana Basca Brasileira 2013 in Porto Alegre.