Revered writer Colman Andrews explores a once undiscovered gem among Europe's great culinary traditions. Using many of the same ingredients that other Mediterranean cuisines are known for, Catalonian cooks combine them in fresh and unexpectedly delicious ways. Try "fricando," braised veal with wild mushrooms; "tumbet," a Majorcan vegetable casserole; or "bunyols," a delectable fried pastry. These and many other tempting dishes along with a wealth of information on the history and lore of the region make this the definitive guide to the food culture of Catalan.
Colman Andrews' first cookbook, "Catalan Cuisine", originally published in 1988, was recently named one of the "50 Best Cookbooks of All Time" by the Observer Food Monthly; his most recent one, "The Country Cooking of Ireland", was honored as Best International Cookbook by the James Beard Foundation in 2010 and beat out all other entries in all categories as foundation's Cookbook of the Year, and won the 2011 Best International Cookbook prize from the International Association of Cooking Professionals. Andrews was a co-founder of Saveur, and its editor-in-chief from 2002 to 2006. After leaving the magazine, he became the restaurant columnist for Gourmet, serving in that capacity until its untimely demise. A native of Los Angeles with degrees in history and philosophy from UCLA, he was a restaurant reviewer and restaurant news columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and for three years edited "Traveling in Style", the Times travel magazine. Throughout the 1980s, he was wine and spirits columnist for Los Angeles Magazine, and published widely as a freelance writer, covering food, wine, travel, music, art, architecture, design, and the entertainment industry. The recipient of eight James Beard awards, Andrews is the co-author and co-editor of three Saveur cookbooks and five of his own books on food: "Everything on the Table"; "Flavors of the Riviera"; "Catalan Cuisine" (which introduced the now-trendy cooking of Spain's Catalonia region to America); "The Country Cooking of Ireland"; "Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food" (a biography of Catalan superchef Ferran Adrià, also available in Spanish, French, and Italian translations); and "The Country Cooking of Italy". Andrews is now editorial director of The Daily Meal, a food and wine mega-site (www.thedailymeal.com). Adds Andrews, "Judicis argutum labor hic formidat acumen."
