Product Description

Penelope Casas, who introduced the classic little dishes of Spain to American cooks more than twenty years ago, now gives us a splendid updated edition of that seminal book—with fifty exciting new recipes and eight full pages of new color photographs showing tapas in all their glory.

Here are all the appetizer dishes that have long been a tradition in Spanish cuisine—mélanges of seafood in aromatic sauces; little ragouts of meat, sausages, beans; colorful salads and marinades; the omelets called tortillas that enclose a variety of tasty tidbits; banderillas, zesty combinations on skewers; and empanadas, savory delights encased in pastry. The new recipes Casas includes reflect the influence of the innovative cooking in Spain today—dishes seasoned with soy sauce or balsamic vinegar; ingredients wrapped in flaky phyllo pastry; accents of goat cheese and arugula; foie gras in elegant presentations.

With Spanish cooking at the forefront of today’s cuisine, this “exceptional book by the leading American authority on the foods of Spain” (as Craig Claiborne dubbed it in 1985) is a must for every adventurous cook in America today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88575 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-20
• Released on: 2007-02-20
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Amazon.com
Tapas are more than savory appetizers. "They represent a style of eating and way of life," says Penelope Casas, whose Tapas: the Little Dishes of Spain presents more than 300 recipes for the mouth-watering morsels. "So very Spanish, yet adaptable to America," she says, "they cross the line into what we think of as first course or main course dishes."

In chapters such as Tapas in Sauce; Marinades, Patés, Salads, and Other Cold Tapas; and Tapas with Bread or Pastry, Casas provides a definitive selection of the traditional Spanish bar food--dishes to pass out at a gathering, to serve on a buffet, or to make a party of. Readers wishing an introduction to this versatile food, and the culinary culture in which it thrives, will want this bestselling book.

The recipe array is vast. Sauce or ragout-like tapas include Shrimp and Mushrooms in Almond Sauce, Scallops with Cured Ham and Saffron, and Veal Meatballs in Spicy Chorizo Sauce. Endives Filled with Salmon and Shrimp Melon and Apple Salad are two examples of the many tantalizing cold tapas. Prawns Grilled with Garlic Mayonnaise, Lamb Brochettes, and the Three-Layer Omelet, a mixed-egg and vegetable tortilla, are hot-from-the-stove, show-stopping tapas. Including eight pages of color photos, a glossary of ingredients, menus, and a list of recommended Spanish tapas bars, the book is a complete tapas tour. Cooks at all skill levels will find dozens of these tasty little morsels to make and enjoy. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
Tapas are to Spain as pasta is to Italya fundamental culinary form of unending variety. And with Tapas, Casas (The Foods and Wines of Spain) continues to do for Spanish cooking what Marcella Hazan has done for Italian. Tapas are appetizers of every descriptionfinger food and salads, marinades and pates, tarts and toasts, beans, sauced dishes, even some soups. The author provides recipes for a tempting selection of dishes that conveys Spain's love for all types of seafood and sausage, potatoes and peppers, saffron, garlic, paprika and green sauce. Since tapas are, by definition, little dishes, quite a few recipes require a disproportionate amount of work per ounce, and one should get used to lists calling for -cup strong chicken broth or two tablespoons peas. Suggestions for tapas menus are listed, as are leading tapas bars in Spain. BOMC Cooking & Crafts Club and QPBC alternate. October 22
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
This updating of Casas' classic 1985 introduction to tapas shows just how deeply tapas has penetrated America's culinary scene. At the time of the first edition, few Americans outside New York and Chicago had any idea about this Spanish tradition of small plates. All that has changed, thanks to the multiplicity of tapas bars in every urban area and to Spain's revolutionary Ferran Adria, whose meteoric rise to the very top rank of chefs completely transformed the face of fine dining with foams and assorted novel cooking techniques. Casas' hundreds of recipes for these small plates range from very simple toasts to elaborate layered creations that require the kitchen skills of a pastry chef. Reflecting the internationalization of Spanish food, some recipes call for Asian ingredients such as soy sauce. A glossary and a list of mail-order sources for Spanish comestibles ease Americans' search for authentic Spanish ingredients. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Wow
This book is great, it has all the recipes I was looking for, except one, Baked Goat Cheese in Tomato Sauce. I had tapas party at my house and all of the food was gone. I made 7 dishes, there were 4 of us and polished everything of. Plus three pitchers of Sangria. We are skinny too and normally do not eat like that, it just the food was so good.

A good book, but . . .
This is a very good cookbook, with many recipes ranging from very easy to more complicated. If you are entertaining and want to add a bit of style to your appetizers, get this book. I only wish it would have had more pictures. There are only a few photos in the middle, and the vast majority of dishes have no accompanying picture. I like to see ahead of time what the dish should look like. But, don't let that stop you. This is a very good cookbook and is a standard reference in my kitchen.

Another Excellent Book by Casas!
Along with Foods and Wines of Spain, this book is one of a handful I keep as my culinary bibles! If you have ever had a fantasy of a perfect cocktail party -- of those cinematically perfect affairs with people in their Sunday best and fancy drinks. But instead of the usual dip and chips, you have dozens of little dishes making the rounds and people moaning in ecstasy every time they put morsel to mouth. Well, this is the book you need to make all those sensually satisfying tapas. Trust me.