Discover a fascinating region in Southern Spain that offers the most tantalizing food, through 75 authentic recipes, written with expertise and using authentic ingredients. Andalucia is the largest region of Spain and has a food tradition that is rich in shades from the past: Moorish, Christian and Jewish influences prevail, but there is so much more to discover. Following decades, if not centuries, in which the local food accepted prejudice from outsiders, any change or innovation was inhibited; but now a fascinating revival is taking place everywhere in Andalucia, as in the rest of Spain. This is supported by the array of amazing ingredients from land and sea, by memories and aromas from the past and by current innovation by Spanish chefs. La Cocina Andalucia has become even more attractive, improved without losing any of its character and taste. This selection of truly authentic recipes have been developed by Maria Jose Sevilla during time spent in her house in Aracena near Seville. Each recipe will be accompanied by short histories relating to the character of a chosen locality, a particular dish or equally important, the people that grow and prepare the food. It would not be a book about the food loved by the Andalucians without including some local ingredients and regional specialities such as Iberico hams from Huelva, olive oils from Cordoba or Jaen, olives from Seville or sherry vinegar, sea salt and tiger prawns in Cadiz.  

Ask any Spaniard where you will find the best food in the country and the answer is invariably the Basque provinces. In this beautifully written book, Maria Jose Sevilla describes the region through the eyes of men and women whose lives embrace every aspect of its cooking and culinary traditions, and records the recipes she has learned from them. The author takes us from market to caserio, or farmstead, and shows how the strength of Basque cuisine comes from the quality and range of local produce: superb fish from the Cantabrian coast, cheeses and wild mushrooms from the mountains, and vegetables and fruit including apples for cider-making from the caserios of the valleys. Through her portraits of a fisherman, a craftsman of wooden cheese-making utensils, a wine producer, and a young city housewife, the author shows the historical influences and fierce regional pride behind this distinctive culinary repertoire. Finally, three professional chefs take us into their kitchens, and show us how their superb cooking is based on rich popular traditions. More than eighty authentic recipes punctuate evocative descriptions of cultural and culinary traditions, making this an ideal book for the inquisitive traveler who enjoys good food.