The gilda — a single anchovy, a pickled guindilla pepper, and a manzanilla olive on a toothpick — was the first pintxo, created at Casa Vallés in San Sebastián in the 1940s and named for the Rita Hayworth film. Its apparent simplicity is its sophistication: the combination of the anchovy's glutamates, the guindilla's mild acid heat, and the olive's fat produces a complete flavour experience in three ingredients. Everything about pintxos culture flows from this first composition.
- **The anchovy:** Cantabrian anchovies in olive oil — from the Bay of Biscay, specifically from Santoña or Getaria. Plump, silky, deep-flavoured. Not the salty, firm fillets of a cheap anchovy — Cantabrian anchovies are a different product category. - **The guindilla:** A specific long, thin, pickled pale green pepper from the Basque Country — mildly spicy, predominantly acidic, with a specific slight sweetness. Not jalapeño; not pepperoncini. Specific to the Basque context. [VERIFY] Hirigoyen's guindilla specification. - **The manzanilla olive:** Small, firm, pitted or unpitted — the Basque bar uses the version with the pimento for colour contrast. - **The assembly:** Guindilla on the toothpick first (it is the structural element), then olive, then anchovy — the anchovy on top, its curve matching the toothpick's line. - **The purpose:** The gilda is eaten standing at the bar with a glass of txakoli — the slightly sparkling, acidic white wine of the Basque Country. The toothpick is left standing in the bar's wooden surface as a tally of consumption.
Pintxos