This is a big decorative cook book, lots of fun to read or just browse through, very informative about Spanish and Catalan food, filled with detailed information about culinary history and specialty ingredients, wines, traditions, festivals. The recipe section is preceded by a lengthy series of essays on the various regions of Spain, pointing out unique features and typical dishes. The illustrations are split between food pictures and pictures of Spain, photographed beautifully by Jason Lowe but frustratingly not captioned.

The education provided was paramount for me. The recipes are frequently daunting. The author is very accommodating and inventive with substitutions for difficult ingredients and suggestions for adapting techniques to American kitchens. I did try a few of the recipes and a couple of the easy ones have become standbys for me. One of these is the potato omelet, which Ms. Roden says is difficult. It's now a breakfast staple.

Ms. Roden is an enthusiast about adding alcohol of various kinds to many if not most dishes. Wine, sherry, brandy, and rum are ubiquitous, with even ouzo making an appearance, There are too many of these recipes to make this a useful cookbook for me, but it looks great on my coffee table. ( )

A beautiful and useful addition to any cookbook shelf (it's on my wishlist now), The Food of Spain covers Spanish cuisine in detail. It opens with chapters on how Spain's history and geography influenced the cuisine of its various regions, but recipes aren't neglected, either.

I tried two recipes from this book, a Castilian spinach and chickpea soup, and samfaina, a Catalonian dish similar to a ratatouille, but with more garlic. Both choices were influenced by the produce I had on hand, and by the fact that it's been too hot to try something more elaborate. They were both delicious.

There are a few dishes that might be difficult to reproduce (quail and woodcock aren't staples in any supermarket I visit), but most of the recipes call for ordinary ingredients that are readily available. A few other recipes I plan to photocopy and try later include Meatballs in Almond Sauce, Duck with Pears and one of the seafood paellas. ( )

Alice gave me this