To make a Gilda pintxo buy olives, anchovies and guindillas and thread together. It’s simple. And so tasty. You’ll find this classic all over San Sebastian – but perhaps the most dramatic surroundings to sample it is where it was invented in Bar Valles. It is the perfect way to kick off the Pintxo Tour San Sebastian route that takes you to 12 of San Sebastian’s best pintxo bars.
Similar Pintxo: Stuffed Anchovy and Piquillo Recipe
What is a Gilda?
The Gilda is a pintxo with a story – and who can resist eating a story?
Basque legend has it that the pintxo was invented to celebrate the arrival of Rita Hayworth and the film Gilda, that premiered in San Sebastian in 1946.
Rita Hayworth, the femme fatale
In the film noir, directed by Charles Vidor, Rita Hayworth plays the femme fatal opposite Glen Ford. It was a big hit for Columbia Pictures, a daring film that explored sexual issues, ahead of its times.
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
A clip of Gilda is famously shown in Shawshank Redemption, and for a while, Andy Dufrain (Tim Robbins) has a poster of Rita Hayworth over the tunnel entrance in his cell.
Gilda pintxo recipe
The Gilda pintxo is made up of a salty cured anchovy, a green olive and any number of pickled, hot piparras.
Bar Valles San Sebastian invented the Gilda
Or so the local folklore goes. The first bar to prepare a Gilda was Bar Valles (Calle Los Reyes Católicos), where they use no less than five spicy piparras.
But you will find Gildas literally all over town – no bar wants to be without San Sebastian’s most emblematic pintxo.
The Gilda pintxo has, over the years, been revised; quails egg, and bonito have been added to the essential ingredients – but the classic remains.
How to eat a Gilda?
The idea is to eat the pintxo in one bite, without letting too many of the guindillas fall out of the side of your mouth.
This way the saltiness and spiciness burst into one another and end up slowly balancing each other out against the fats in the olive.
Salty, Green and Spicy
The Gilda is also a quick lesson in Spanish double entendre.
The Gilda pintxo is meant to be like the personality portrayed by Rita Hayworth in the film: the sexy, raunchy, femme fatale, a new twist on the Hollywood heroine.
And so they say the Gilda is “salada, verde y un poco picante.”
Lost in translation?
Salada (the anchovy): meaning salty and savoury and also meaning vivacious and sharp when you refer to a person
Picante (the guindilla): meaning both spicy and hot and also racy and risqué.
Verde (the olive): meaning both green and also meaning dirty (as in dirty jokes) or raunchy.
Gilda Ingredients
Most pintxo recipe books contain instructions on how to make the Gilda. But this has got to be the easiest pintxo in the world to assemble.
Do buy quality ingredients:
The Anchovy
Buy quality Cantabrian anchovies or Spanish Mediterranean anchovies.
The Guindilla
Buy the pickled, spicy version of this Basque green pepper. You can source picked piparras online.
The Olives
Buy large, green olives like these.
Here’s how to assemble La Gilda:
