Spain and the World Table by Martha Rose Shulman

Having spent my third year of college in Spain, I am always on the look out for Spanish cookbooks. In Spain and the World Table, I found a treasure trove of traditional and modern recipes. Martha Shulman worked in conjunction with the Culinary Institute of America to assemble dishes that range from tapas to desserts. My favorite part of any cookbook is always the introduction and the history behind the recipes and ingredients.

Martha addresses the beginnings of the Spanish table through the regional dishes which were based on ingredients which were readily available to the people. This is why Spanish cities near the sea are famous for paella (a saffron, rice and seafood dish) and many that use salt cod as the main ingredient. The National Dish of Spain is the tortilla Espanola which is an omelet made with eggs and potatoes and is served both as a main dish as well as an appetizer or tapa. Gazpacho, a cold tomato soup, has many variations. The author even includes a recipe for one with beets and cherries. Cocido is a stew with beans, meat and sausage that I ate each week with my Spanish family. The recipe in this cookbook is just as I remember it.

Spaniards eat a light breakfast, a large meal after noon, have drinks and snacks in the late afternoon and then another meal later in the evening. Each evening on our way home from class, we would stop and have chocolate and churros. Chocolate is something like hot, thick chocolate pudding in which you would dip your churro ( a stick-like fried donut). Many evenings, we would also head to the local tavernas to “tomar algo” ( which literally means, “to take something”). There we would enjoy a glass of wine or beer and some tapas. Tapas are small snacks that range from a thin slice of ham, a pickled egg, slice of tortilla, anchovies or olives.

The most famous Spanish dessert is flan, which is a custard with caramel topping. Martha has recipes for several versions of this, including one topped with mission figs. This is a colorful and informative cookbook that took me back to my special year in Spain. - Reviewed by Deb