A new Spanish cookbook will transport you to the welcoming shores of the Mediterranean Sea and its lively blend of Arab and Sephartic food traditions.
The cuisine is dubbed “earthy and unpretentious” by author Fiona Dunlop in Andaluz: A Food Journey Through Southern Spain (Interlink/Thomas Allen, $49.95). A travel writer based in London and Paris, she likes to retreat to her house in Andalusia and enjoy relaxed meals of grilled sardines in the beach bars of Malaga and tapas in Seville, where this bar food is believed to have originated.
Her concise history of the region and its food winds up with her warming personal impressions. Favourite foods include paella, couscous, tagine, pork dishes from black Iberian pigs, gazpacho, Moorish specialties such as lamb with honey sauce, and cod flavoured with cinnamon. Eggplant, originally from Persia, is well represented in the more than 100 recipes. Olives from 19th-century trees abound. The book is packed with Dunlop’s photographs of places, people and food, travelogue style.
All types of salads are tempting, from main-course tuna, hard-boiled eggs and red peppers to light and refreshing combinations like this cabbage and orange mixture, named for the last dynasty of Granada. It will keep, refrigerated and covered, for a few days; add vinegar, oil and oranges just before serving.
Nazari Salad
Serves 4
½ Savoy or green cabbage, in thin strips
1 mild apple (Golden Delicious, Empire, Granny Smith), peeled, diced
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup (250 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1-3/4 cups (425 mL/250 g) pine nuts
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) seedless golden raisins
3 tablespoons (45 mL) sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons (30 mL) clear honey
1 sweet orange, peeled, pith removed, sliced
Place cabbage in salad bowl. Sprinkle apple with lemon juice, and add to cabbage with salt and pepper, tossing to distribute ingredients.
In a frying pan, heat some of the oil over medium heat and fry garlic and pine nuts until golden, one to two minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for five minutes.
Spoon garlic mixture over salad in bowl, then add raisins and mix well.
Stir in vinegar and remaining oil. Then drizzle with honey.
Serve topped with orange slices.
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