Andaluz: A Food Journey Through Southern Spain

Dunlop (The North African Kitchen) shares the culinary culture of Andalusia—an autonomous region in the south of Spain—in this glorious, lushly photographed cookbook. She organizes her cookbook by province, and includes brief biographies of a few notable cooks. Beginning with the east—which ranges from coastal Almeria to mountainous Granada—Dunlop serves up a butternut squash soup with almond and bacon, topped with a poached egg, as well as “lasagne” of filleted fish, in which marinated mackeral is layered with rice paper and ajo blanco (a puree of almonds, pine nuts, sherry vinegar, and sunflower oil). From the center—Cordoba to Malaga—comes grilled asparagus with pine nut and cumin sauce, and quail baked in pomegranate sauce. And from the west—Seville to Cadiz—Dunlop presents a mushroom and blue cheese omelet, marinated Iberian pork with raisin couscous, a skirt steak macerated in orange with spelt and pickles, and a confit of pork belly apricots, prunes, dates, and orange (Angeles Sanchez, who contributed the recipe, “loves the contrast between the fattiness of the pork belly and the acidity of the sour orange”). Desserts are welcomely subtle, such as spiced fritters with honey and coffee-roasted dates with labneh. Ingredients are easily accessed and instructions straightforward. Dunlop delights in this inviting Spanish cookbook. (Mar.)