Announcing...my new Spanish cookbook!

Spain My Way will be out on May 19

People…I’m so excited to be telling you today about my next cookbook! Many of you have been here since I published the Zaytinya cookbook (and some have even been around since the World Central Kitchen cookbook)! But now I am looking towards my homeland of Spain, the place I learned to eat, to drink, and to cook!

Now introducing…Spain My Way!

This is a project that me and my team have been working on for years…and one I’ve been dreaming about longer. The last time I wrote a cookbook about Spanish food was all the way back in 2008, when I published Made in Spain! Maybe Spain’s most famous dishes themselves haven’t changed since 2008, but I’ve definitely changed, and you’ve probably changed too, and the stories we’ve all learned and been a part of, and the people in our lives, and the dishes we’ve tasted…so I think it’s about time for a new book about Spanish cooking!

A couple of the incredible shots from the brilliant Catalan photographer Joan Pujol-Creus

So, what is Spain, my way? It’s how I see my homeland, the place I was born and lived for the first 21 years of my life, where my wife grew up, where my parents lived their whole lives, and their parents, and the many generations that came before them. If you’ve been reading here for a while, you might know that I was born in the region of Asturias, in the beautiful northwest, where we have both the mountains and the sea. At the age of 6, I moved just outside of Barcelona, and spent my childhood around the city, exploring the sights and the smells and the tastes of the mercados and the cafes. And as an adult, I spend every summer in the south of Andalucía, near where my wife Patricia spent her early days, and we eat some of the best fish and seafood in the world, and sip on sherry in the hot sun.

So when I am looking at Spain…my way of looking at Spain…I have my own lens on the country, through history and geography and culture and cooking. I have traveled around and eaten everywhere in the country, but in the book you’ll find that I’ve focused on recipes from Asturias, Catalunya, and Andalucía (though you’ll see some incredible dishes from Galicia, and the Canarias, and the Balearics, and beyond). And I love to spend time both in my own kitchens as well as my friends’ kitchens, so you’ll see recipes from old friends and newer ones, dishes I’ve been eating for decades and ones I’ve discovered in the last few years.

Everybody grab a spoon and dig in with us!

And as you know very, very well by now, I love to tell stories, to get into history, the who and the why and the when behind a dish, so of course you’ll find plenty of stories in the book. So if we’re talking about paella, we’re not just talking about how to make it, but also where to find the best rice, how the rice is grown, who is growing the rice, and the people behind the fight to protect authentic paella. And that’s just one dish! There are rices, there are salads, there are tapas and stews and grilled meats and game birds and breads and desserts and of course a few drinks. C’mon, this is a delicious journey that you need to join me for!

So people…I’m not kidding when I tell you this is one of the most exciting books of 2026, if you can just wait long enough for it to come out on May 19. Sure, you can pre-order the book now, and make sure you get it the day it comes out.

If you really can’t wait, you should visit one of my Spanish restaurants…Jaleo (in DC, Las Vegas, or Disney Springs) or Mercado Little Spain in New York! Or check out Txula Steak at Mercado for a taste of Spanish grilling…

And of course, if you want to get into your own kitchen, here are a few recipes I’ve shared before (none of these recipes are in the book…if you can believe it!)

I always have this tapa in my fridge

Nachos can be Spanish, too!

Roasted apples like my mom used to make

Oranges and cinnamon, a match made in Spain