My Kitchen in Spain: A New Blog by Cookbook Author, Expert on Spanish Traditional Cuisine and Long-time American Ex-Patriota Janet Mendel

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Janet Mendel has lived in Spain for many years and has written a food column for Spain's English-language magazine, Lookout, for more than 35 years. During that time, she has collected hundreds of authentic recipes. Whenever I write articles on Spanish food, I almost always consult Mendel's book to verify facts, check how dishes are actually made Spain, quantities, style, etc.

Janet Mendel is the real thing and such a bona fide authority on Spanish cooking that top cookbook authors and Mediterranean food authorities such as Paula Wolfert often consult her. Until recently, here books were only available in Europe. How wonderful it is that they are now available in the US.  ¡Ole!

Janet Mendel with ajo blanco (white gazpacho) shooters on the terrace of her Mijas home.

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2006.
 

I have known Janet since 1973, when I lived in Mijas (Málaga), the village where she has lived for 40 years.   I highly recommend her books--she has written several--and I am delighted to see that she has a new blog,  MY KITCHEN IN SPAIN, which I is must-read for anyone interested in the traditional cuisines of Spain.

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About Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009.

Mr. Dawes is currently working on a reality television
series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Culinary Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@gmail.com