Every summer, throngs of tourists from Germany and Great Britain descend to splay their pallid bodies on the glorious beaches that ring this island off the coast of Spain. They soak up the sun, swim and sail in the Mediterranean, swarm Mallorca's shops and restaurants, drink her wine, consume her olive oil, and snore in her hotels.

While visiting the coastal town of Bermeo, one of the oldest towns in the Basque Country of Spain, I received a most unusual invitation to dine with friends of friends. It was unusual not just because it began in a seafood market or ended in a mountaintop bodega. No, this was a rare invitation to dine at one of the Basque male gastronomy societies.