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• Casas, Penelope

Long overshadowed by France and Italy, Spain has finally taken its place as a tourist destination and culinary mecca. Consider the reborn city of Barcelona, the new respect afforded Spanish wines, the popularity of tapas bars in the U.S. (even Mario Batali has opened one), and Spain’s widely influential Michelin three-star chefs, Ferran Adria and Juan Mari Arzak.

For La Cocina de Mama, Penelope Casas has collected recipes from great chefs and home cooks alike in every region of Spain, all of whom have shared with her the dishes they grew up loving or cook at home today.

Penelope Casas and her husband have led gastronomic tours of Spain for more than twenty years. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Gourmet, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Fine Cooking, and Condé Nast Traveler. Casas is also a consultant and lecturer on Spain, a guest speaker at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society, and an adjunct professor at New York University. In recognition of her efforts on behalf of Spain, the Spanish government awarded her the National Prize of Gastronomy, the Medal of Touristic Merit, and named her Dame of the Order of Civil Merit. She and her husband live in New York City.