No apologies for once again casting my net in the fruitful waters of Basque cuisine and history.

There is a pintxo — those tasty bites of stuff on a toothpick — that consists of a plump Cantabrian anchovy, a pickled guindilla pepper and an olive. Some people reckon it is the original pintxo, invented by one of the regulars at a bar in San Sebastián. Others are not so sure. Everyone agrees, however, that it owes its name — the Gilda — to Rita Hayworth, who starred in the movie of that name.

Last time I spoke to Marcela Garcés, we didn’t have time to talk about the Gilda. This episode fixes that omission.

I also had to contact Chris Beckman again, to see if he could enlighten me on what he calls the Swedish Anchovy Conundrum.

   Huffduff it