Customer Reviews

Delicioso! The Regional Cooking of Spain

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The recipes in this book consistently taste like the food I've enjoyed in Spanish restaurants. Her chicken dishes are among the best I've made, and I am thrilled with how authentic the tapas dishes are. The recipes are easy to follow and most are fairly easy to prepare. They are organized by region rather than type of dish. Although it is interesting to read about the variations in regional cooking, the organization makes finding the recipes you are looking for a bit more difficult... but the results are worth it. I have a large collection of cookbooks, but this is one of the few I use repeatedly.

Penelope Casas is surely an authority on Spanish cusine. She has won numerous awards and The Spanish government has awarded her both the National Prize of Gastronomy and the Medal of Touristic Merit, naming her Dame of the Order of Civil Merit.

I own three of her books and have never come across any other Spanish cookbook that is as authentic and at the same time simple to follow as hers.

Delicioso is a collection of classic spanish recipes, but goes far beyond that. If you are interested in learning some of the history behind what the Spaniards eat depending on their region this is the perfect book for you. There are no glossy pictures here but the detailed explanations make up for that.

One thing that is missing here is a reference of where to find some of the ingredients utilized in Spanish cuisine. "Cesar" by Olivier Said and James Mellgren offers such a reference (the best one in my opinion is tienda.com) and I stongly advise using authentic ingredients and not the chorizo from your local grocery store. Trust me it is worth the expense!

I was first introduced to Penelope Casas' books several years back when a friend gave me "The Foods and Wine of Spain". I have been hooked since. Her recipes are always on target and delicious. A particular focus of this book is the regional differences in Spanish cuisine. From the Moorish influenced lamb and melon stew to the Catalan garlic chicken, Casas covers the cuisine deliciously. I use this book regularly and have followed its suggestions on restaurants and tapas bars when visiting Spain.

I first learned of Casas when I read her "Uncommon Guide" to Spain. She clearly loves the country and is devoted to its accurate representation. Her "Uncommon Guide" focused on areas and their foods. "Delicioso!" is the next best thing to discovering Spain. If you can't go, you can at least make the food. Her recipes are detailed and easy to follow. She also gives you some background on the recipes and covers tapas to seafood to desserts. The results are truly delicioso!

I originally stumbled across this book looking for some variety. Having ancestors from Spain, I thought this would be an interesting adventure. Delicioso has surpassed my expectations. I have made several dishes and all have been quite excellent and easy to prepare with American ingredients. I also enjoy the commentary and education on the regional differences and origins of items. It is well worth it - we love it!

`Delicioso!' and `Paella!' are leading Spanish cuisine writer Penelope Casas' latest books, following her similar pair, `Tapas' and `The Food and Wine of Spain'. In many ways, the later books are more similar to one another than they are to the earlier books. Both concentrate on regional cuisines. While the paella is certainly made throughout Spain, the dish originated in Valencia with many other rice dishes, described in `Delicioso!' as `region of the rices'.

Similarly, while `Delicioso!' covers all of Spain, it is not, like `The Food and Wine of Spain', a work which is intended to touch all aspects of the country's cuisine, although it is an excellent supplement to the earlier work. Since `Delicioso!' is organized by region and `The Food...' is organized by type of dish, they are like the warp and weft of the same piece of cloth. While the latter book provides the support and strength, giving us all the details about technique, ingredients, and wines, the former book enlivens the discussion by going into depth on selected regional specialities such as four different Tortilla Espanola recipes from Andalucia (Sevilla, Granada, Cadiz, Cordoba, Gibraltar) on the southwestern corner of Spain, which Casas baptizes as `The Region of Fried Foods & Gazpachos'. This chapter may give the historically naïve a notion that the Spanish Celts somehow brought a love of potatoes to Spain. The fact is exactly the opposite, as it was the Spanish who introduced the potato to Europe, specifically through the ports of Cadiz and Granada rather than the spud's coming from Ireland into northern Celtic Spain of Galicia.

Casas dubs Galicia as `The Region of the Sauces', which is entirely appropriate as it is very close culinarily and geographically to France. The other most important aspect of Galician cuisine is its seafood. Aside from being a coastal province, it benefits from deep fjord which harbor a much wider variety of species than can be found on less variegated coasts. It also shares with close neighbor Portugal a tradition of sailing far afield, as far as the Grand Banks off Newfoundland to fish for cod and trade in bacalao (salted, dried cod).

The provinces of Aragon and Navarra in the interior border with France in the northeast (location of Pamplona and Zaragoza) are named `Region of the Peppers'. But, one thing that strikes me as I go through this book is how pervasive certain foods are throughout Spanish cuisine. Every region makes heavy use of sweet peppers, especially in the form of pimiento and paprika. While Aragon is `...Peppers', the recipe for stuffed pepper is in the chapter on `...Sauces'. As of this reading, I have not yet sensed a great divide as there is between northern and southern Italy. I do not hold this against Casas' culinary expertise of against this book, as I am entranced by the variety of the recipes within the world of important Spanish products.

The most interesting aspect of the `Region of the Casseroles', Spain's southeastern Mediterranean coast of Catalunya (including major port Barcelona) is in the cooking in Spanish earthenware. This is the point at which I regret that Ms. Casas was not more photographically oriented, as a book based on location would be well served by a decent number of photographs, including some nice snaps of these earthenware cookpots. As the region closest to Provence and Northern Italy, I sense a lot of similarity in the use of garlic, greens, bread, and thick soups. In fact, I am constantly amazed by how much garlic shows up in Spanish recipes. The eight (8) to sixteen (16) cloves specified for some recipes would make a Sicilian blanche.

Landlocked central Spain of Castilla, Extremadura, and Castilla-La Mancha (including Madrid, Salamanca, Segovia, and Guadalupe) is baptized as the `Region of the Roasts'. I am quite surprised, after seeing recipe after recipe and paean after paean to tapas, Tortilla Espanola, and paella, to find this chapter identifying the Cocido, `a meal-in-a-pot' based on chickpeas, vegetables, and meats, that has been praised in poetry and lauded in popular song...' as the `National Dish' of Spain. This in spite of the fact that the recipes look remarkably like the French Cassolet, with a few changes in ingredients. But then, this is why we don't limit our culinary reading to `The Joy of Cooking'. Having said that, I am surprised that Casas gives us but a single recipe for cocido. What I do see is more recipes for potatoes, eggs, leafy green vegetables, and asparagus. The roasts of the region are primarily lamb, pig, and chicken, heavy on braising and marinading.

The southeastern Spain of Valencia is, obviously, `The Region of the Rices', the home of the paella and saffron. Amazingly, it was not the Romans (who introduced olives and grapes to Hispania) but the Moors who introduced rice and the irrigation techniques needed to cultivate it to Valencia. I will say much more about paella in my review of the book `Paella!' but I do note that Casas does not duplicate any specific recipes across the two books, although there are many similar recipes, as seafood, game, meat, and mixed paella recipes appear in both books.

The previously mentioned `Region of Fried Foods' also happens to be the region of Sherry and Sherry vinegar. This means that sherry vinegar is a much more important ingredient in Andalucia than in most other parts of Spain.

The last region and the one closest to the New World is the Canary Islands, fittingly entitled `The Region of the Mojos'. This is appropriate as it gives a subtle link to the cuisine of Mexico. Casas and other writers often point out that there are few similarities between the cuisines of Spain and Mexico, but there are some, and the spicy dipping sauces of the Canaries are one hint of the overlap.

If your cookbook shelf is limited, get `Delicioso!'. If you are a paella fanatic, get `Paella!', but consider both.

The author has collected recipes from homemakers and reticent restaurant owner and brings them to us in a complete, intelligent and well written presentation. For those of us that had the pleasure of eating regional Spanish cuisine, this book is a treat that fills us with nostalgia and the urge to try one recipe after another. A refreshing and important addition to the library of any serious coo

This is a wonderful, wonderful book. Casas' descriptions of the foods of each region and commentaries on the recipes are very useful and interesting, and the recipes are great. Most are for good, hearty, peasant style food - but that's what the Spaniards really do best. I've had this book for many years, cooked many recipes and continue to refer to it constantly.

I purchased this cookbook because I already had one of Penelope Casas' earlier works - Foods and Wines of Spain, and I wanted to try a new cookbook while visiting in the US. As it turns out, these recipes are just as authentic and easy to follow. My hosts have been delighted with the Spanish meals that I've prepared over the last few weeks with foodstuff that I brought with me. I must admit, though, I prefer the other cookbook by Casas. It is more of a Betty Crocker's or Better Homes and Gardens for Spanish cuisine, with everyday run-of-the-mill dishes that just happen to be delicioso, especially if you follow the recipes to the letter. Then again, Delicioso has loads of information about ingredients, utensils and cooking techniques not contained in F&W. I recommend that you buy them BOTH!

This is probably, no is, the best book on regional cooking of Spain. Congratulations Mrs. Casas!