Barrenechea - The Cuisines of Spain: Exploring Regional Home Cooking

CLOCKWISE FROM UPPER LEFT: Grapes in Priorat, Catalonia; an old windmill outside El Cotillo, Fuerteventura (Canary Islands) in late afternoon among barren earth and lava boulders; the days catch of sea snails in LEscala on the Costa Brava, Catalonia; a fish-cleaning table in Corralejo, Fuerteventura

Copyright 2009, 2005 by Teresa Barrenechea
Food photographs copyright 2005 by Christopher Hirsheimer
Location photographs copyright 2005 by Jeffrey Koehler
Additional location photographs copyright 2005 by Aaron Wehner

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Photography by Christopher Hirsheimer:

Photography by Aaron Wehner:

All other photography by Jeffrey Koehler

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barrenechea, Teresa, 1956
The cuisines of Spain : exploring regional home cooking / Teresa Barrenechea ; food photography by Christopher Hirsheimer ; location photography by Jeffrey Koehler.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58008-515-1 (hardcover)
1. Cookery, Spanish. I. Title.
TX723.5.S7B374 2005
641.5946dc22
2005020225

eBook ISBN: 978-1-60774-615-7
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-58008-835-0

Styling by Wesley Martin
Map design by Fineline Maps, Oakland, California
by Sacha Hormaecha

v3.1

To all the men and women who work the fields,
fish the seas, and tend the herds,
enabling the rest of us to enjoy the gifts nature provides.
And to my family.

Summer peaches, Catalonia

Fresh Fuerteventura goat cheese

CONTENTS

El Cotillo, Fuerteventura

A blooming almond tree in Tarragona, Catalonia

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have been blessed with such a supportive family and with such generous, enthusiastic friends, and without them, this book would have never come to be. Many friends that helped me in my work, whether by sharing recipes, knowledge, or their company across the table, appear in the pages that follow. To those named and unnamed, you are my greatest treasure.

My deepest gratitude to:

Elise and Arnold Goodman, for being much more than my literary agents.

Kirsty Melville, for her belief in me and in this project.

Aaron Wehner, for being the best editor anyone could wish for, and for his additional contribution of beautiful location photography. Aaron, without your insight, tenacity, and caring, I couldnt have done it.

Marchelle Brain, Sharon Silva (whose reading of my mind was a great comfort), Karen Levy, and Ken DellaPenta, for their editorial contributions.

Linda Ziedrich, for her help in the early stages of the project.

Nancy Austin, for her wonderful design that touched my heart; no Spaniard could have done it better.

Bart Wright, for his map of Spain.

Christopher Hirsheimer, for bringing the regional dishes of Spain alive through her outstanding food photography.

Wesley Martin and Fina Corts, for their inspired assistance at the photo shoot.

Jeff Koehler, for his incredible eye for the beautiful scenery and people of Spain, and for the good times we had while traveling together.

Ana de Diego, my beloved niece, for helping me during the initial stages of the project.

Pat Eskin, Bonnie Foncillas, Penny Thornton, Meme Rubio, Paz Saras, Tony Sayegh, for their precious time.

Gerry Dawes, for his enduring passion for Spain and the insight he has shared with me over the years.

Bruce Shaw, for publishing my first book on Basque cooking.

Carlos Prez-Desoy, Marisa Escribano, Elvira Sala Pons, Emma Reverter, for their help with the Catalonian recipes.

Tina Read, Miguel Sard, Maria Vicens, and Tina Sard, for being my cicerones in the Balearic Islands.

Iigo Barrenechea, my brother, for introducing me to many of the wonders of the Canary Islands.

Gracia Muoz Bayo, Juan and Paqui Parra, Maria Antonia Marin de Alfonso, for their help with Andalusian recipes.

Paz Ivison, for her always generous and intelligent contributions.

Santiago Botas, for imparting his vast knowledge of olive oil.

Maribel Cabeza, for sharing her best Cantabrian recipes.

Antonio Linares, for his wisdom, and for sharing his expertise on Extremadura.

Pilar Vico, from the Spanish Tourist Board in New York, for assisting me in my travels.

Jos Guerra, from Commercial Office of Spain in New York, for his enthusiastic help.

Micky Camarillo, Alfredo Meja, Narciso Camarillo, Alfredito Vaquero, for keeping the stove at my restaurant burning while I was writing and traveling.

Raynold, my husband and long-time companion, for his incredible patience, and for the countless hours he spent reading the many manuscript drafts, improving my English and making sure I did not leave anything out.

Maria, Teresa, Alejandro, and Lucas, my children, for having cheerfully endured the times I was away, and for always keeping my spirits up.

Two dear friends who were very important to me and this book, and who would have been so happy to see it finished, were Jose Luis Iturrieta and Jean-Louis Palladin; they are both very deep in my heart.

INTRODUCTION

W HETHER YOU TRAVEL to Valencia on the Mediterranean, to Galicia on the Atlantic, or to Castile in the heartland, a trip to Spain is a culinary pleasure. Choose at random a fancy restaurant, a humble tavern, or a roadside bar anywhere in the country and you will be surprised by the quality of the food. Youll be truly fortunate, though, if you are invited to dine in a private house. In the following pages, we will sneak into home kitchens across Spain to see whats on the stove, because everybody eats well in my country.