"Spanish food is going to catch on in a really big way. It has everything going for it -- lots of olive oil, healthy Mediterranean influences and great fish dishes -- yet it does not seem able to dislodge Italian food as the country's favorite. Janet Mendel's Traditional Cooking . should change this, I hope. Well set out, wonderful recipes straight from the heart". Nick Lander Harpers Wine and Spirit GazetteTraditional Spanish food is based on village cooking, reflecting broad regional styles. When people were dependent on resources immediately to hand, cooking was localized and completely seasonal. While seafaring Basques and Galicians were famous for their fish dishes, inland rural communities seldom ate fish but were renowned for the flavour of their corn-fed chicken dishes.

The coastal inhabitants of the Bay of Cadiz could revel in a proliferation of prawns and other shellfish, but those in interior towns depended on bacalao, dried salt cod, the only fish available to them. The chestnut groves of Galicia inspired a repertoire of sweet and savoury dishes; in the Basque Country walnuts thrived and added substance to local dishes, while in Andalusia almonds were the special ingredient.