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I will be in Madrid and Barcelona for vacation in a few weeks, and I'm looking for recommendations on bookstores, which have a large selection of cookbooks or are exclusively cookbook stores. Does anyone have any recommendations? And, do the stores have selections/translations in English?

Notes from a Spanish off-line. For a normally wild and crazy group, it was interesting to see that most people stuck pretty close to the traditional wines rather than bringing one of the many ‘new’ styles now available. 2001 Valsaero Dioro Rioja – no indication of whether this is a Crianza or not. It showed medium colour, sweet oak in the nose, some soft tannins and lively acidity, and ended with a medium long earthy finish. Some spice developed in the nose with time in the glass. This was a new style wine that I am not familiar with. 1970 Marques de Caceres Gran Reserva – a youthful wine with a nose that was quite rubbery at the start. Relatively pale colour, browning at the edges – the only sign of age, as we all figured this was a wine from the 80s. The nose became more cherry with some air, a little stewy, the fruit was still bright and the length was quite good. I liked this a lot. 1999 Rochioli Russian River Pinot Noir – similar light colour, but with still purple edges. Nice cherry fruit, medium body with good flavour concentration in the middle, and good length. We disagreed about this ‘ringer’, some thinking it would continue to develop and some (myself included) thinking it as good now as it will ever be, though it will certainly continue to coast. 1994 Gaudium Rioja – made by Caceres with Tempranillo and 25% cab, this wine has always shown a funky nose, but this one was definitely slightly corked. You could tell there were some good things – nice fruit etc., but it wasn’t possible to properly evaluate the wine. 1993 Conde de Valdemar Rioja Gran Reserva – nice mellow oak and fruit nose, very silky smooth on palate and nicely balanced with good length. This one just slipped down the throat. 2001 Neo (Ribero del Duero) – OK, we did have a new style wine (the Gaudium was AWOL so doesn’t count). A definitely new age Tempranillo, this product of JC Conde was dark purple with a Bordeaux style nose but a bit sweeter, and was slightly hot in the mouth with some raspberry flavour. In fact the wine was very good, with my only criticism being a slight sourness on the finish.

I consider myself a sherry beginner even though I have been drinking it for 20+ years. I am very fond of the Lustau line of sherries but they are hard to find here in Switzerland. Can anyone suggest some other really fine but rather unknown sherries to look for? I like dry sherry well enough but I really love the medium to sweet sherries. Thank you, Ed

During my junior year of college many many (16) years ago, I took a semester and attended school in Seville, Spain. The food, I can get here in the states, but the beer that I consumed by the bucketload in Seville was called Cruzcampo, and I have NEVER seen it in the United States. Does anyone know why it's so hard to find beers from Spain in the US? lack of interest? Surely it can't be from lack of quality.....I'd stack that Cruzcampo up against a Peroni any day of the week. I travel a lot with my job, so if anyone has seen it, let me know, I'll schedule a trip there.

I have developed such an abiding affection for canónigos that it is really bothering me that I can't find a word for them in my native language. I think they could be the perfect green--pretty little bundles of tender leaves with sweet and bitter undertones--what watercress could be if it was less assertive and much easier to clean. According to my French-Spanish dictionary, they translate as "mâche" in French. I don't think I've ever seen them on the other side of the pond. Perhaps the British have a term for them...

It has taken a long time, but finally we are able to purchase Jamon Serrano here in British Columbia, Canada. This is my second tasting since December. My first was in Oaxaca, Mexico. A Spanish restauranteur there made his own, several whole legs were hanging in his back fridge. The flavour was an epiphany. Aromatic, faintly floral, it was amazing. Thinly sliced, the jamon was served with fresh baked bread spread with a ripe tomato and olive oil mix. Unforgettable. The second jamon serrano, served over last week end, had the hoof attached and a special clamp held it in place, which is a traditional technique. We were treated to thin slices served with manchego cheese, quince paste, olives and toasted whole almonds. It is from a company called Campofrio. It was delicious but not as aromatic as my first experience. Is the first time always the best? Does this depend on curing times? How is jamon serrano served in Spain? In a tapas bar for example? Are all jamones serranos created equal?

Chatting with my brother the other evening he commented "You know about food Suz. Why aren't there many Spanish restaurants in the UK?" I don't really know the answer. I know that restaurants openings mimic immigration waves, hence the rise of the Indian restaurant. But I became rather stuck when my brother pointed out that many people came to the UK from the Caribbean, especially to the Midlands, and there aren't many Caribbean restaurants. I tailed off saying that I guessed that people didn't emigrate so much from Spain... So, what's the real story? Every town outside of London has an Italian restaurant. But they rarely have a Spanish one. Why is this?

Spanish reds continue to impress my young palate. I used to drink 60% white and 40% red until I encountered my first humble Rioja about 5 five years ago. Actually, I had a 1978 Rioja Grand Reserva in the early 80's and knew not what I was drinking. At $8 or so as I remember. When I started enjoying Spanish reds with food, I've never turned back. The only whites I buy are Champagne or Cremant de Limoux. I still wonder at the suppleness of Tempranillo. The variety is truly astounding. Decanter had a good feature on it a month or so a go. Long live the reds of Spain! Rioja, Jumilla, Navarra, La Mancha, Valdepenas, Ribera del Duero, Calatayud, Toro, Yecla, Almansa, Campo de Borja, Utiel-Requena, Cataluna, Castilla Y leon, Cigales and many more.

Does anyone know how to make this fig bread? All it has in it is figs, nuts, honey, and spices. It's really good, but expensive at the store I go to, and I thought it'd be fun to make it myself. My store now carries Matiz apricot bread, too, but I haven't tried it....

The Week of the 3rd of January, 2005 Metrópoli, El Mundo’s leisure magazine presents their best of Madrid 2004 Awards, the winners are: Restaurant of the Year Winner: SANTCELONI Finalists: Europa, Kabuki Newcomer restaurant of the year Winner: DASSA BASSA Finalists: Citra, La Gorda Top traditional restaurant Winner: CASA D'A TROYA Finalists: La Cocina de María Luisa, La Casa de Itziar Foreign cuisine restaurant Winner: ASIA GALLERY Finalists: Hakkasan, La Gorda 'More than a restaurant' Winner: CAFÉ OLIVER Finalists: Puerta 47, Colonial Norte Out of town restaurant Winner: ARS VIVENDI (Majadahonda) Finalists: Casa José (Aranjuez), Hakkasan (San Sebastián de los Reyes) Up-and-coming chef Winner: JOAQUÍN FELIPE (Europa) Finalists: Alberto Chicote (No Do), Darío Barrio (Dassa Bassa) Top maître d' Winner: FRANCISCO PATÓN (Europa) Finalists: Mª José Monterrubio (Chantarella), José Alves (Tras Os Montes) Top sommelier Winner: LUIS GARCÍA (Aldaba) Finalists: Miguel Laredo (Laredo), Gema Vela (Castellana, 179) Top decoration Winner: ASIA GALLERY Finalists: Hakkasan, Dassa Bassa Wine bars and tapas bars Winner: LAREDO Finalists: Taberna del Sarmiento, Casa Vila Gourmet shops Winner: PONCELET (Cheeses) Finalists: Giangrossi (Ice Creams), Barolo (Wines) Fernando Point ends the year visiting La Leñera, a young restaurant belonging to the Oter group and specialized in roasted meats. Top Metrópoli goes for the best restaurants cooking Poularde. 5 a Taula visits Casa Lázaro the place to meet all the Barcelonian cultural world and taste ytheir burgalesian specialities. Enrique Bellver complains about the blindness of the Michelin Inspectors giving a star to the almost dissapeared El Lido and not mentioning Mesana, El Lago, Ruperto de Nola, Taberna del Alabardero, Palo Cortado, Adolfo...and proposes a Stelar New Year's Day Menu. Caius Apicius writes about the now almost disapeared Ox.

Turron is usually translated as "nougat," and some is very much like what I've come to know as nougat, or at least the hard nougat, but I've seen "turron" that appears to be more like nut brittle and "turron" that's more of a soft paste, although moister than halva to my thinking. I have also seen a whole range of other candies sold as turron that are variations of the ones I've described and some that seem unrelated. Butterfly mentions experimentation in his reply to the Christmas bounty thread, but it seems "turron" has long been a loosely used term. Are there any strict definitions and what is the range of products that carry this label?

Note from the host: I splitted some posts from the thread Quality of regular restaurants compared to Italy to create this thread. The detail achieved in the debate regarding the specific figures of cod fish consumption in Portugal deserves its own thread. Miguel, Miguel, Miguel... I have always the impression you suffer from this nagging, resentful Spanish complex endured by old-time Portuguese nationalists: "De Espanha, nem bom vento, nem bom casamento"... Should I translate? Old-time Spanish nationalists have the same boogaboo vis-à-vis France, by the way. I'm happy to report that I don't. I'm getting a bit fed up with your supposed expertise. How long have you been writing about food and wine? Which Spanish restaurants do you really know? Where are you coming from, anyhow? I know Portugal. I visit Portugal constantly. I go to big-town restaurants and to small-town inns in Nelas or in Régua or in Valença do Minho or in Estremoz. Everyday food is better in Spain, and it has been better for a long time. Quite a bit better. But I have strenuously tried to avoid Spanish-Portuguese comparisons on this board because it isn't fair given the size, wealth and culinary diversity of the two countries. However, if you insist, I'll go into that in Technicolor. With the credibility, or lack thereof, inherent to the fact I've been a food and wine writer for major European and American publications for the past quarter century. Now on the codfish information. My father never was responsible for fisheries anywhere, but I'm a professional reporter and I like to deal in fact, not in fiction. So please do consult this Report on the seafood consumption data found in the European countries of the OT-SAFE project from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Besides pointing out that "statistical data concerning seafood consumption is not available for Portugal", they do indicate this: "The Portuguese seafood consumption per capita (Kg/year) depends substantially on how cod is included in the statistical data. As an example, between 1992-1994 the Portuguese seafood consumption per capita (Kg/year) was 37.4 if cod was included as dried fish, however if it was converted to fresh codfish (which is the normal procedure in FAO) then the Portuguese seafood consumption per capita would be 61.6 Kg/year." Quod (not cod) erat demonstrandum.

I was reading some old threads and gather that El Navarrico and Rosara are the brands to buy for piquillo peppers and white asparagus. I would like some recommendations on good Spanish olive oil brands to look out for. What about brands for canned Basque tuna and anchovies from L'escala? Finally, any recommendations on shops in Barcelona where I can find all these products? Thanks!

Here's an article by Gary Regan that appeared in today's San Francisco Chronicle about a drink created by David Nepove at Enrico's Sidewalk Cafe in San Francisco. The article is written as an amusing dialogue between "The Professor" and "Doc." You may draw your own conclusions. To make the Spanish Rose you need: 1 sprig : rosemary 1.5 oz : gin (Plymouth is specified) .75 oz : Licor 43 .75 oz : fresh lemon juice .50 oz : cranberry juice Strip the leaves from the bottom half of the rosemary sprig and muddle with the lemon juice. Reserve sprig for garnish. Add gin and Licor 43. Shake with ice and strain into ice-filled wine glass. Top with cranberry juice and garnish with rosemary sprig. Sounds interesting. I've never made a cocktail with rosemary.

I had a loaf of Portuguese batard today that was bought from the local supermarket and it was very good. It was the size of a baguette, lite in color, and had a very holey inside texture. What I would like to know is what type of flour is used, because it's different than the flour I'm using to make it such a lite color, and would the sourdough starter be useful in making this bread? i also had the Portuguese rolls and they to were very good, they were also lite in color and very holey. Basically, any recipes for these items? Polack

I'm lucky enough to have some time to spare, and since food is probably my top "non-professional occupation" I decided it was time to leave aside my kitchen hacks and get some proper training. After looking around a bit I enrolled in Mey Hofmann's School near the Borne neighbourhood, and for about 3 weeks now I've been attending the twice-a-week sessions that make the 1-year professional cook course (as opposed to the more complete 3-year hostelling/chef one). The course is aimed mostly at amateur cooks and people working in the industry wanting to learn basic skills. Hofmann seems to be a well respected school here in Barcelona and is well known for its restaurant as well. The course is pretty standard (I don't have any experience with other courses, it just seems so), and for now we've gone over vegetables, herbs and spices and just this week we started with knife skills and some cooking techniques. Next Thursday is our first day in the kitchen! (pretty excited about it). I am enjoying it inmensely and getting more into it as time goes by, and so I wanted to share my experience with fellow eGulleters. If there's interest in the forum I'll keep adding weekly comments on how the whole affair develops. Silly.

Okay - queso de Burgos has been bothering me since my last trip to Spain. How is one supposed to eat this stuff? Three different places in Burgos, three different ways: I've been given little packs of sugar, a little pot of honey, and what appeared to be crême anglaise. My pal tells me that honey is the "correct" one, but she's from Asturias. Anyone care to offer words of enlightenment?

I picked up some Spanish chorizo to use in making Caldo Verde, but would like to hear about other great dishes using it.

A professor of History at Oberlin College describes, in the Travel section of The New York Times, a hike in Extremadura to Yuste, emperor Charles V's last residence, where he died. She writes: "We spent that night, as Charles did, in the Castle of Oropesa, today a state-run parador. It is a lovely place, with its Renaissance-era courtyard perfectly preserved, its guest rooms comfortably furnished. From its walls we could look back up over the mountains we had just traversed. We took long hot baths, and confounded the waiter in the parador restaurant by leaving the white asparagus (a Spanish delicacy that we both find repellently flabby) on our salads untouched - the equivalent, we deduced from his reaction, of eating only the toast points on a plate of caviar." This reminds me of a text by another American writer on Rioja or Basque menestra (I can't remember which one it was), describing it as a platter of "overcooked vegetables". It seems to me that in today's vegetable culture, deeply influenced by 30 years of insistence on 'al dente' textures, some people no longer understand the subtlety of tender vegetables - and white asparagus must be tender and melt in the mouth - and confuse them with those boiled, mushy, overcooked vegetables that graced or disgraced plates of home-cooked food (particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world) in a previous era - or sometimes still appear on those plates today. I think these people are missing some great delicacies...

That Spain has a tremendous variety of regional cookings is undeniable: from Andalusia to Galizia, we find different traditional cuisines all over the country. In fact, sometimes I find them so different that makes me wonder (and this is a debate that is not new in Spain) if we can talk about a Spanish cuisine as a whole. Do you think that there's a Spanish cooking? If you do, which are the elements that characterize it? I can think of several products (i.e. pork, olive oil to name two of them) that are used in each and every region, but I guess something more than that is needed to define a cuisine. Ideas, please?

For some reason, yesterday ended up being a fungally-oriented day. In the morning, I bought two small bags of mushrooms--chanterelles and black trumpet mushrooms--from the mushroom vendor at the San Miguel market (in Madrid). I cooked them up for lunch. The chanterelles were much meatier than their US counterparts (slightly different variety, I suspect). The black trumpets were very interesting and smelled much stronger uncooked than they ended up. A bit hard to clean (lots of grit and critters in the crevices), but well worthwhile and a fraction of what they would cost in the US. The same evening, we were out tapeando in Chueca and ended up at El Cisne Azul--a bar that specializes in mushrooms (setas). They had four or five different types: chanterelles, black trumpets, oyster mushrooms, and a few that I didn't recognize--one of which, I suspect was a "níscalo" (not sure what the English translation is). When I asked, the man behind the bar told me the latin names for the mystery mushrooms, which are now escaping me... The mushrooms were prepared very simply--sauteed in olive oil and salt. They also offered sauteed flor de calabaza and watercress salads. Great place. Very low key. Next time I'll be sure to limit my mushroom consumption before going, as there's only so much that a body can handle and appreciate in one day. Seriously, I may be suffering from some psychotropic side-effects today from ingesting too many, because I'm completely unable to get any work done and have been relentlessly slacking off. Questions for the experts: What are some of your favorite mushroom dishes? And where can I find them in Madrid? Are there any low-key Basque places that do those wonderful egg and mushroom dishes? What are the different varieties of wild mushrooms available in Spain? And the seasons? Can I look forward to morels in the spring? Are there any good mushroom hunting areas in the Sierra around Madrid? Or do they all come from the misty green north?

Hi All- I tried a recipe out of The good cook, James and Jellies over the weekend. It is a bitter orange, lemon and watermelon Jam. Actually its more like a marmalade. The recipe went together easily, but a curious thing happened while I was cooking it. The recipe said to add 3 cups of sugar for each 4 cups of fruit and simmer slowly for 1 hour. I did that but at the end of the hour, the consistency still seemed thin. My first though was to reduce it further. I pulled some out of the pot to taste and continued to reduce. I never did get to a really jelled consistency, however the taste started to change, it lost the fresh watermelon flavor and took on almost a "tea taste" like the sugars in the watermelon had carmelized. It doesnt taste bad but should I have taken another approach? I'm not familiar enough with sure gel to use it if its not called for in a recipe. Any help would be appreciated. Its a beautiful jam, I would just like to maintain the fresh watermelon taste and have it thicker.

When I travel I love nothing better than visiting local food markets. Where are the best ones in Lisbon and what should I be looking out for in early October?

We leave at the end of September for 4 weeks in Portugal (okay, 26 nights to be exact), and I'd first like to thank Miguel, Chloe, Eric, Fred, and all the others whose posts have provided me with a wealth of information about food and restaurants in Portugal. I've also learned that Portugal is the home of some very good but under-appreciated wines like those of Joao Portugal Ramos's winery near Estremoz. I've read Wine Spectator's recent article on the reds from the Duoro, but I'd love to get some suggestions for other parts of Portugal. Thanks in advance. PS Any restaurant recommendations in Viana do Castelo and Evora would also be very welcome. I have a list but no personal recommendations.

I was making zucchini alla scapece last night and I started chatting with a friend about the different theories that exist on the origins of this dish. Scapece is a general Italian term describing dishes in which the main ingredients are flavored and preserved by the use a vinegar based marinade. The recipes can vary quite a bit but the term is found in central and (mainly) southern Italy. I find the similarity of the Italian term, and technique, with the Spanish escabeche is hardly coincidental. In Italy there's a few different theories, all slight variations of two main ones, about the origin of this term and I was wondering if any of them has an equivalent in Spain or if there are alternative ones. The first and most popular one claims that both scapece and escabeche come from the Latin esca Apicii, Apicius's sauce. This term should refer to a special liquamen recipe, invented by one of the many roman cooks who called themselves Apicius, made up of white wine vinegar, garlic, mint and probably garum. Another theory claims that the term escabeche originated in South America and was brought to southern Italy by the Spanish where it became scapece. What do the Spanish experts say?