A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain [Hardcover]

Paul Richardson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2007

Vivid and richly textured, A Late Dinner is a delightful journey through Spain and Spanish cuisine. Paul Richardson is the perfect guide. In lush prose he brings to life the fascinating people who grow and cook and eat the hugely varied and still little-known food of Spain.

Richardson's vibrant writing takes readers beyond gazpacho and paella and immerses them in the flavorful world of Spanish food -- from the typical coastal cuisine; to the ancient shepherd cooking of the mountains; to the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, and San Sebastián, where chefs are setting the trend for modern cuisine across the globe. His evocative descriptions -- the fried þsh in Cádiz; the tender asparagus and sweet crispy lettuce of Navarre; the Catalan calçotada, a feast of grilled spring onions in a nutty, delicately spicy sauce; the whimsical creations of internationally acclaimed chef Ferran Adrià -- are a celebration of the senses.

Richardson traces the roots of Spanish cooking to the landscape, the people, and the history of this beautiful and complex country. A Late Dinner is a glorious and intimately drawn portrait of Spain.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Traveling from the coasts of Spain to the agricultural interior and the cuisine-crazy cities of San Sebastian, Barcelona and Madrid, British-born food journalist Richardson (a 15-year resident of Spain) achieves ably his goal of "hunting down the people and landscapes that had shaped the eating habits of the nation" by "workinging from the outside in, as I had gotten to know the country in the first place." In each section, Richardson (Indulgance: Around the World in Search of Chocolate) visits a restaurant of renown and converses with its chef, revealing the evolution of Spanish food from garlic-heavy infusions to the current, bold trend toward wily deconstruction of familiar dishes. Richardson also attends to home-cooked Spanish food, discovering genuine paella and the majestic olive oil of Spain's interior, and remaining fearless in the face of such dishes as a Catalonia soup "from which various ingredients could be seen to emerge as from a swamp: a bird's leg, a sausage, the piece of cod looking like a dirty iceberg." Spain is a big country with many food traditions, and while Richardson goes admirably in-depth on a number of topics, his scope is outsized; a divide-and-conquer approach-narrower focus, multiple volumes-might have proved more satisfying.
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Review

"This is, first of all, a really good book about Spain and the atmosphere of beautiful and ingenious novelty which pervades its traditional life. It is also a serious and well-informed account of one of the great and abiding delights of Spanish life, its food, which reflects a country's regional variety, its history, and its addiction to pleasure."

-- Colm Tóibín, author of The Master and Mothers and Sons --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (August 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743284933
• ISBN-13: 978-0743284936
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,212,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eating your way through Spain, February 9, 2009

By 

J. Melendi (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain (Hardcover)

A Late Dinner is an entertaining culinary journey through Spain. The author writes in the first person, so you feel like you make the trip with him. I should state here that I read the book first from the library, then bought several copies to give as gifts plus one for myself. Then I gave that one away, so I had to buy another one for myself. This book is a must for lovers of Spanish cuisine, particularly if they are planning a trip to Spain. The author goes into exquisite detail about the history of the cuisine of each region as he travels around the country. He tells what foods each region is famous for and the best restaurants to enjoy it. The title refers to the Spanish custom of eating dinner at what would be considered a late hour to Americans.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not just food, December 14, 2008

By 

Alison Clement (western Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain (Hardcover)

I picked up Richardson's book intending to read only the chapter on Barcelona, in anticipation of a trip I plan to make, but once I got started, I had to read it all. This is a vividly written, big-hearted book, a book about not only the food, but also the landscape, history and culture of Spain. I loved it.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tapas rather than a full meal, September 19, 2011

By 

John Fitzpatrick (São Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain (Paperback)

Everyone has their own taste when it comes to food and the same goes for books about food and cookery.

I would never consider eating octopus, sushi or glazed duck, for example, or reading celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver or Heston Blumenthal, for example, but many people do.

I hate so say this but even though I am a Scotsman, I have always been a bit queasy when faced with haggis although I did my patriotic duty and wired in with the backing of a dram or two.

However, I have always been interested in reading about other people's opinions about food.

About 40 years ago I had a Penguin edition of a recipe book by Len Deighton. I thought his spy novels were terrible but loved this book.

I have a tattered copy of Elizabeth David's "French Provincial Cooking" which I bought over 20 years ago and have read a thousand times. I am not sure she knew French cuisine as much as she claimed and she comes over as a latter-day Lady Bracknell but it's still enjoyable to read (as are the memoirs of the American Elizabeth David, Julia Child).

Now, to the main course. This book is not bad but it is not that good either. It's a so-so meal you are not going to complain about but you're not going to rave about it either.

The author has lived in Spain for a couple of decades, has established roots and knows the language unlike someone like Peter Mayle who has made his reputation writing clichéd rubbish about France and the French.

Richardson takes us around the country and presents the different kinds of cuisine and give us some historical background along with a few personal anecdotes.

Unfortunately, that is not enough and he tends to plough the same old path.

He goes somewhere - Galicia, Catalonia, Asturias - and visits the market, has lunch at a famous restaurant, talks to the chef and has a marvelous meal. He drops Christian names as though he is a friend of the people he meets and then sets off to the next place.

There are lots of banal comments, folksy quotes, too much detail - the different kinds of beans in one region, for example - and no-one he spoke to will ever be offended. A little more criticism and honesty would have been welcome.

Some parts are good, e.g. the chapter on olive oil, but overall this is a book to be nibbled at rather than eaten in one go - tapas rather than a full meal.