... a Catalonia cookbook for me?

Bill

Hi Bill,

As far as Catalan cookbooks go, there's one that seems to be the standard: "Catalan Cuisine: Europe\'s Last Great Culinary Secret" by Colman Andrews. It covers all of the standard dishes, as well as some background about Catalunya in general...the information on Amazon includes the table of contents and the index.

For Spain in general, anything by Penelope Casas is a good start; the most common one is "Tapas : The Little Dishes of Spain" . (She also has a book entirely devoted to paella, but I haven't checked that one out yet.)

Hope this helps!
-greg

I also own "Catalan Cuisine: Europe's Last Great Culinary Secret" by Colman Andrews, the one ggladman above recommends. I've referred to it a few times and found the recipes, pues, tasty! :p And all the Penélope Casa cookbooks are good. Her's are probably the best known/most popular of all Spanish Cooking cookbooks.

Saludos, MadridMan

My husband just received Penelope Casa's newest cookbook...I just made the albondigas; they were good. She has a history of Spanish foods and cooking which would be nice for someone interested in the basics of Spain. She also includes dishes from several regions, which would make a good starter.
I have one cookbook I treasure, it's from Spain and from the turn of the century (last century); I found it in a bookroom ready for discard...it's just amazing.

Bill,
In addition to the Colman Andrews book mentioned above, you may want to try Marimar Torres'
The Catalan country kitchen: Food and wine from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean seacoast of Barcelona.

These two are the best Catalonian cookbooks in English. Most public libraries carry at least one of these.

I also recommend Janet Mendel's My Kitchen in Spain: 225 Authentic Regional Recipes she's a great chef!

Torres recipes are easy to follow. I have her other book, The Spanish Table. My only negative comment is that there aren't enough pictures and drawings of how to prepare a particular recipe.

Buen provecho!

I can't think of any Catalan cooking books, but for Spain in general (which includes regional Catalan cooking, I'd recommend any book written by Penelope Casas, especially the "Foods & Wine of Spain". It's from 1982, but it's a classic. Well, the wine section is dated (unless it's been updated) but the recipes and the information are both accurate and helpful.