Books

A Few Books About Spain and Portugal

Grape, Olive, Pig: Deep Travels Through Spain’s Food Culture – Written by Matt Goulding, who lives in Barcelona, with a foreword by Anthony Bourdain. An excellent read, the book explores the food and food culture from Barcelona to Granada to Cadiz.

Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla: A Guide to the Traditional Wines of Andalucía –American Peter Liem and Spaniard Jesús Barquín present the most complete compendium to date about sherry and sherry-style wines from Andalucía. Both authors are sherry experts, and Jesús Barquín is one of the principals involved in sherry producer Equipo Navazos. Note: The book is out of print but Peter Liem has said that a new edition is on the way.

A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain – I highly recommend this tour de Spain book by Paul Richardson, an outstanding writer who lives in Extremadura. Also see his book, Our Lady of the Sewers (out of print. One of the funniest books I've read.)

Charcutería: The Soul of Spain – Written by Chef Jeffrey Weiss, it's all about the making of Spain's fantastic jamón ibérico, chorizo and the other artisan preserved meats and fowl. Not only meat-making; includes recipes.

The Portuguese Travel Cookbook – Three-quarters travel narrative on the regions and cuisines of Portugal and one-quarter cookbook, author Nelson Carvalheiro invites the reader into tabernas and tablecloth restaurants telling the stories behind the makers and the ingredients.