'Flavours of the Sea' Gift Set

In a nutshell: The perfect gift for all seafood lovers. Showcasing some of the best Arroyabe products so you can create a seafood tapas party or just try a different tin whenever you feel like it.

Bonito del Norte
Great Taste 2019 2-star award winner
Fillets of Bonito del Norte (white albacore tuna), individually line-caught in the Bay of Biscay, then preserved to a traditional recipe by a Basque Country family firm. For centuries, Bonito del Norte – or white albacore tuna – has been fished off the Basque coast of northern Spain. It was here, in the little port of Bermeo, that Rufino Arroyabe set up a canning business, back in 1898. The firm is still family-owned today and the exceptional white tuna it produces epitomises the ideal of slow food.
First, the fish are caught, one by one, using a rod and line. Not only is this the time-honoured way, it’s the most ecologically responsible, too, as this low-impact method doesn’t disrupt the seabed or inadvertently capture any other marine species, such as dolphins or sea turtles.
Arroyabe’s fishing practices also influence the quality of its product. It only uses fish caught on day boats, meaning the tuna doesn’t need to be frozen to maintain its freshness before it reaches port.
Back on land, each fish is cleaned and prepared by hand and every jar is manually filled by an experienced worker, who carefully chooses the best pieces of tuna to include. The result is oceans apart from those woolly-textured, water-packed tins that you’d pick up in the supermarket. It’s a high-quality product that’s taken time to prepare – and which we suggest you take time to savour.

Mussels in escabeche sauce
Plump mussels, harvested from the cold Atlantic waters of Galicia, pickled to a traditional recipe by a Basque Country family firm. First-time visitors to Galicia can't help but notice the scores of floating wooden platforms that pepper its rias – the rugged coastal inlets that dominate the landscape of this part of northwestern Spain. These platforms are actually home to a thriving aquaculture industry. For it is on ropes suspended from them that some of the world's finest mussels are grown.  

The best of this crop is preserved by Arroyabe, a 120-year-old, family-owned firm from the Basque port of Bermeo. First, they gently fry the mussels, then they are packed in escabeche – a pickle sauce of oil and vinegar that was the traditional method of preserving fish before the advent of sterilisation. Like many food production methods that were borne out of necessity, escabeche is now widely enjoyed throughout Spain for its taste alone.

Not only are these juicy mussels delicious, they are full of health benefits, too. Rich in iron and iodine, they are also a great source of the vitamin B12, which plays an important role in brain function.

Arroyabitos “gulas” (surimi) in oil 
Just add some garlic cloves, chilli and these "gulas" to a frying pan for a few minutes for a delicious tapas dish found all over Spain.These “Gulas” are a substitute to highly-pried elvers, which are made of surimi - an ingredient with a high nutritional value and low in calories and fats.

Yellowtail Tuna 
Yellowfin tuna from fish individually line-caught in the Bay of Biscay.

Details: 4 tins and 2 jars including 1 jar of Bonito del Norte in olive oil (250g) +
1 tin of Bonito del Norte in olive oil (111g) +1 tin of Bonito del Norte in olive oil (260g) + 1 tin of Yellowfin tuna in olive oil (260g) +1 Mussels in escabeche (115g) +
1 jar of garlic “gulas” (surimi) in oil (220 g).

About Arroyabe:
For centuries, the warm waters of the Gulf Stream have shepherded shoals of tuna to the Bay of Biscay, on the 3,000-mile journey from their spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea. And for just as long, they’ve been caught by Basque fisherman during their June-to-November season. For the past 120 years, the best of this catch has been preserved by Arroyabe, a family firm from the fishing port of Bermeo. As well as tuna, they preserve anchovies, cockles and garfish – also known as needlefish, due to their long and pointed snouts.

At each stage of the production process, Arroyabe employs production methods that would be familiar to the firm’s founders. Tuna, for example, is caught the original and best way using rod-and-line, a low-impact method that doesn’t damage the seabed or capture other species, as would happen with trawling.
As you would expect, all its products are certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

The fish is then hand-prepared by skilful and experienced workers who carefully select the best pieces to use. Most are packed in olive oil, which enhances the fish’s smooth texture and savoury flavour. Some are packed in water, which brings down the product's calorie count, while some are packed in escabeche – a pickle sauce of oil and vinegar, a traditional method of preserving fish that was used before the advent of sterilisation.

Whichever you choose, you can be sure of the quality. For decades, Arroyabe’s seafood has been widely appreciated in its homeland, where it graces the menus of the Basque Country’s restaurants, txoko clubs and pintxo bars. Now you can enjoy it at home.