Customer Reviews

A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain

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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.

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.

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.

I read (part of) this book in anticipation of a trip to Madrid and points south and was very disappointed. Few suggestions were given, high-end restaurants were mentioned to the exclusion of others, lots of chef name-dropping. Not worth the money.