FOODS FROM SPAIN, AT THE SOURCE

Looking for the history of olive oil in Spain? Bio notes of Ferran Adrià? Where to eat tapas in New York City? Want to import foods from Spain? Discover how to make sofrito or escabeche? Looking to find ibérico ham on the hoof?

You will find answers to all these inquiries and many more at this new interactive web portal, FOODS FROM SPAIN. Sponsored by ICEX, Spain’s institute for foreign trade (a division of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade), the FOODS FROM SPAIN web site is mainly aimed at professionals in the food sector (importers, distributors, journalists, cooking schools, etc.), but it’s jam-packed with food stuff for absolutely everybody with an interest in Spain (yes, school kids, you’ll find everything you need for that report for Spanish class).

Here are some of the features: calendar of food events—trade fairs, festivals, courses, gourmet summits (will you be attending Madrid’s Salon de Gourmets, April 11-14?); a blog written by young interns from abroad training with Spanish chefs; news tidbits; tapa routes; recipes (cool feature: click to change measures from U.S. to metric to British imperial); glossary, from almadraba (term for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean) to zurito (short glass of beer in Basque-speak); who’s who in Spanish culinary circles (yep, I’m here, along with José Andrés, Ferran Adrià, Gerry Dawes, Karlos Arguiñano, Peter Kaminsky, Simone Ortega); a concise tourist guide to culture, geography, regional tourism. Some interesting FAQ: did you know that in 2009 Spain was the third most visited country in the world?

Right next to the feature about avant-garde chef, Ferran Adriá (foams, liquid nitrogen, gelification), are links to articles about traditional cooking techniques, written by ME. Here you will find everything about sofrito and escabeche.

Click on “Shop, Travel, Dine” for tastings outside of Spain, "A Touch of Spain in New York  by José Guerra   and, within Spain,  Tasting Tapas in Málaga, by Janet Mendel . These photos are from my Málaga tapas tour.

Bar Orellana, Málaga

El Pimpi, Málaga