Books with title Cooking of Spain and Portugal

Cooking of Spain and Portugal is more than a cookbook, but an in-depth venture into the region and the people from which the cuisine originates. This book takes a recipe like garlic soup (sopa de ajo) and explains the simplicity of the ingredients (pp. 21) with a picture of the dish. These Time-Life Foods of the World Books are narrative cookbooks, which means that along with the scrumptious easy-to-duplicate recipes, comes a history of the country and the way they eat, peeks into family life, maps of the area, and amusing anecdotes from real people about the foods of the country and how they are eaten and prepared.

As neighbors and early rival nations, Portugal and Spain have been associated for much of their histories. Yet despite their geographic proximity on the Iberian Peninsula and shared past, each boasts distinct social, cultural, and economic identities. Readers will examine the evolution of each country, witnessing the rise of their earliest civilizations, their dramatic rivalry during the Age of Discovery, their days as empire-builders, their struggles through authoritarian regimes, and their emergence as independent nations and members of the European Union.