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Leek Harvest Enhances Sausage—And Culture—For Basques In Boise

NWNews | By Olivia Weitz

Published November 2, 2017 at 3:14 PM PDT

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Descendants of immigrants from the Basque country trim leaks to make mortzilla, a traditional blood sausage, for a weekend festival.

This week, an entire block in downtown Boise smells like leeks. That’s because descendants of immigrants from the Basque country are cooking mortzilla, a traditional blood sausage, for a weekend festival.

“It’s about the community and remembering our elders and remembering our traditions and keeping them alive,” Andrea Goyhenetche-Krueger said. “It fills our hearts and then we can actually feed our bellies as well.”

The annual mortzilla dinner and bazaar is this Saturday at the Basque Center in downtown Boise.

Andrea Goyhenetche-Krueger, far left, prepares leeks for a traditional Basque blood sausage called mortzilla ahead of a festival in Boise this weekend.