The Book of Tapas »

With a career in food writing spanning 50 years, Simone Ortega was the foremost authority on traditional Spanish cooking, and contributed articles and recipes to countless newspapers and magazines. 1080 Recipes, written with her daughter Ines Ortega, was her most famous and bestselling cookbook. Jose Andres grew up in Spain and trained under Ferran Adria at elBulli before moving to the USA, where he was one of the first chefs to introduce tapas to American restaurant-goers. He is now the chef-proprietor of seven acclaimed restaurants in the Washington, D.C. area, and is widely acclaimed as an expert on Spanish food.

The huge popularity of Spanish food has grown even more following the publication of the iconic 1080 Recipes, and the best-loved type of Spanish food is tapas. Tapas consists of appetizing little dishes of bite-sized food, usually eaten before or after dinner, and it has become a Spanish way of life. Served in bars all over Spain, good tapas is all about the perfect marriage of food, drink and conversation.

Now, for the first time, the 1080 Book of Tapas presents a complete guide to this convivial way of eating with over 200 easy-to-follow recipes that can be served with drinks in typical Spanish style, or combined to create a feast to share with friends. The recipes are fully updated and easy to follow, and include the most popular tapas dishes from 1080 Recipes, along with many brand new recipes from the Ortegas' definitive collection. They are simple to prepare in any kitchen and yet utterly authentic, enabling any aspiring cook to make their first attempt at cooking Spanish food, or helping more experienced cooks to expand their repertoire.

Also included in this book are modern tapas recipes from some of the world's best-known tapas chefs, including Jose Andres, Albert Adria, Albert Raurich, Jose Manuel Pizarro, and Sam and Eddie Hart. The book's authors, Simone and Ines Ortega, are the ultimate authorities on traditional cooking in Spain and have written about food for many years. 1080 Recipes has sold over two million copies and has been the ultimate Spanish cooking bible since its first publication. Jose Andres, the chef widely credited with bringing tapas to America, has selected the recipes and written a new introduction about the tapas culture that has spread worldwide.

Library Journal

Simone Ortega (1919–2008) and her daughter Inés gained fame with what was called the Joy of Spanish Cooking, translated and published in the United States as 1080 Recipes in 2007. José Andrés, who started the first successful tapas restaurant in the United States, Jaleo (Washington, DC), contributes a foreword. The majority of the 250 recipes—divided by vegetables, eggs and cheese, and fish and meat—are relatively easy to make and use ingredients that are readily available in the United States. However, some of the meat and fish will not be popular with everyone, e.g., eel, salt cod, snails, oxtail, kidney, and blood sausage. After each section there are full-color photos of the finished tapas. VERDICT This is an eye-catching cookbook with canary yellow paper and black print, plus beautiful photographs. Recommended. [See "Armchair Cooking: Delicious Books To Browse," BookSmack! 4/15/10.]—Christine Bulson, SUNY at Oneonta Lib.