Spanish Chef José Pizarro Publishes New Cookbook, 'The Spanish Home Kitchen'

Spanish Chef José Pizarro Publishes New Cookbook, 'The Spanish Home Kitchen'

José Pizarro has gone and done it again. The Spanish-born, London-based chef has published a new cookbook called The Spanish Home Kitchen.

Fans of his cuisine are going to love this book in particular as it features a collection of more than 80 recipes from all over Spain, but specifically from Pizarro’s family home. He travels back to the house he grew up in for inspiration. The result is a beautiful selection of dishes that any home cook would love to prepare.

The book includes everything from more modern recipes to his childhood favorites, including tomato soup with figs; broad bean tortilla; clams in spicy tomato sauce; cuchifrito with preserved lemon salsa; pinchos morunos; mushroom- and truffle-stuffed spatchcock chicken; pan-fried halibut; migas with fried egg, chorizo, and bacon; seared squid with caramelized fennel and onions and lemon and parsley dressing; among many others. Dessert recipes include favorites like pistachio ice cream and cherries in aguardiente syrup.

There are plenty of photos of the house he grew up in in Extremadura, him as a young boy, and him and his mother, which make it a lovely and personable cookbook/photo album. As he grew up on his family’s farm, there was an important focus on mealtime, with recipes being passed down from generation to generation. Says the chef, “Memories are an essential ingredient in my cooking,” and this book is a perfect reflection of that.