Cook España, Eat España

by

John Radford & Mario Sandoval

Mario Sandoval, Michelin star winner at only 27 takes us on a whirlwind gastronomic tour of Spain. He travels through all seventeen of the autonomous regions of Spain, with John Radford the award-winning wine-writer and journalist.

Cook España, Eat España is nicely laid out but it seems to me that two books have been amalgamated into one, rather as an afterthought.

It is a good flick-through book with nice photo’s, but it’s obviously not aimed at thenewcomer to Spanish Gastronomy, as it is not detailed enough. If their target audience is the more knowledgeable cook or wine connoisseur then some further details are certainly lacking.

Each chapter has an introduction, four dishes from traditional with a Sandoval twist to more avant-garde . Many of the ingredients used in the recipes would not be freely available outside Spain which is rather annoying for the average home cook.

Other recipes such as a white-bean stew with black pudding and chorizo are the very basic sustenance of country dwellers and even Sandoval’s version and a professional photograph don’t in my view deserve a place in a recipe book - and then to pair this dish with an expensive wine? I don't think so.

John Radford offers a choice of three varyingly priced wines to go with each dish but offers no reason at all for the pairing – which would have been nice!

It would have been to be able to understand from a expert why a particular wine had been chosen to go with each dish, a few sentences on taste, texture etc.

Slightly enjoyable in parts and very disappointing in others - a real shame