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Summary: It might be realistic...
Review: ...but all the recipes come out very bland. I've tried a few of them and there's really nothing that stands out. I'll try a few more before I sell this one. It's a shame, because the book is put together rather well and is easy to follow.
Rating:
Summary: It might be realistic...
Review: ...but all the recipes come out very bland. I've tried a few of them and there's really nothing that stands out. I'll try a few more before I sell this one. It's a shame, because the book is put together rather well and is easy to follow.
Rating: 
Summary: Most authentic Spanish cookery book I have found
Review: Having lived in Spain for several years, I have found this the most comprehensive Spanish cookery book. The dishes actually turn out tasting like food I have eaten in Spain. (Fr Julian Green)
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Summary: Marvelous
Review: I am thilled with this cookbook. It should not have been a surprise that Spanish cuisine is so good, given that country's culinary raw materials: the sea, olives & garlic, peppers/paprika, citrus, almonds, saffron, rice, pork.... Then there's the influences from the Basques, North Africa, Persia and Rome. The climate provides a wealth of produce and great wines. Ms Casas makes this style of cooking accessible with her obvious love for Spain and the food. Her recipes are straightforward without sacrificing authenticity. My only gripe is that she advises that canned stock is OK. Please make your own stock unless you are desperate!! (as in, the cat knocked the fresh stock off the counter) BUY THIS BOOK!
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Summary: To Spain with Penelope
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. Ms. Casas gives a brief description of the local food for the different areas of Spain giving some cultural background which explain the diversity of ingredients. I read it in a sitting and as I read I marked recipes I wanted to try. When I finished reading I had quite a lot of marked pages. I love tripe and loved the two recipes given for the dish as they make it in Madrid and in Galicia. It is not only a book to cook by but it helps you to understand Spanish food.
Rating:
Summary: To Spain with Penelope
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. Ms. Casas gives a brief description of the local food for the different areas of Spain giving some cultural background which explain the diversity of ingredients. I read it in a sitting and as I read I marked recipes I wanted to try. When I finished reading I had quite a lot of marked pages. I love tripe and loved the two recipes given for the dish as they make it in Madrid and in Galicia. It is not only a book to cook by but it helps you to understand Spanish food.
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Summary: Easily adaptable traditional recipes.
Review: I regularly travel to Spain on business and was curious to find a book that would give me the opportunities to replicate some of the delicious meals I eat there. By chance I picked up this book on Amazon.com, in part based on the reviews I read. Though the book is not one of those large beautifully photgraphed coffee table cookbooks, it is every bit as intriguing. The book is easily readable and many recipes have been adapted to ingredients found in the US. I have successfully tried at least a dozen recipes of varying degrees of difficulty. All of them were successful. During one of my visits, I noted that a restaurant in Madrid was serving one of the dishes I had tried previously at home. Curious to see how my dish compared to that prepared in Spain, I ordered the dish. To my amazement I actually preferred the recipe provided by Penelope Casas! My only criticism is that the recipes for paella are very limited and I have had to improvise a bit when making my own, but otherwise this is an excellent and useful book.
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Summary: A Spanish classic, by fermed
Review: In 1982 Penelope Casas published the finest book of Spanish cookery ever. It is now in its 11th printing. Although she has written other books on the cuisines of Spain, "The Foods and Wines of Spain" has biblical standing among cooks. For her culinary expertise she has been honored by the government of Spain, but more importantly, she had built a following of gastronomes of all stripes who swear by her recipes. Their authenticity is never in question: she is an indefatigable researcher who goes back to the kitchen and discusses things with the local artists and then includes those recipes and techniques in her book. If a few of the dishes don't taste exactly as they did in Spain it is because not all the ingredients are available here. Still, Ms. Casas gives advice about reasonable substitutes, and now that serrano ham and some chorizos are allowed to be imported, such substitutions can be kept to a minimum.The book contains not one but two recipes for garlic soup, simple to make by even beginning cooks, and highly addictive. The "arroz a banda" described is one of the more subtle and satisfying of the rice dishes; and of course there is the paella (about which Ms. Casas has written a separate book). In this volume its recipe appears a bit intimidating, but it is essentially easy to prepare if one does not think too much about it beforehand. For those cooks who need exact formulas and pharmacy-like precision in their ingredients, this book will please them. For those who are relativists with active imaginations, the book will also satisfy by pointing them in the right direction: pork chops with prunes, duck with olives in sherry sauce, baked porgy and peppers with brandy, chicken with figs. Yum.
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Summary: Great Gift
Review: My husband is very fond of authentic Spanish cuisine. Since it was more economical than a trip to Spain I purchased this book for his last birthday. A year has gone by, but it may have been the most successful birthday gift I have ever given to him. He now enthusiastically makes dinners for me several times a month just so he can keep trying out new recipes! The food (and the generosity of my husband) is wonderful. Most of the recipes in the book can be made with ingredients that you have on hand anyway and the results are well worth it. Check out the recipes for Garlic Chicken, Spanish Tortilla and Veal Extremena and see for yourself.
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Summary: This is the most authentic Spanish cookbook available.
Review: Out of the many Spanish cookbooks that I own, Foods and Wines of Spain is by far the most authentic and informative. I lived in Spain for several years, and I know the country and its cusine very well. In Penelope Casa's book you will find authentic recipes from all of Spain's diverse regions. If you want to be transported instantly to real Spanish food, this is book to own. The recipes are easy to follow and generally require common, everyday ingredients found in most kitchens. I have made many of the recipes, all with great success, and as a result, I have converted many of my friends and family to the exciting world of Spanish cooking. More than just a cook book, the author writes of the culinary history of Spain, making this a truly interesting book.
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