Be the cool friend who gives oysters for the holidays!

My gift guide...it's not too late to buy for your friends and family (or yourself!)

My friends, today I’m excited to share with you the things that I will be giving for the holidays. I know it’s maybe late for some of you (hopefully you have not done all of your holiday shopping already!)…but if you are like me, there are still a few more gifts you need to buy, a few more family members and friends who would love a book, some tinned fish, amazing California citrus, or a tortilla-making kit!

READ

Slow Cooked by Marion Nestle

Marion Nestle is one of my all-time favorite food fighters, someone whom I have admired and followed for decades for her incredible work as a food politics expert, public health advocate, and a founder of the fascinating and important field of food studies. Marion’s story, which she shares in Slow Cooked, is one maybe you will relate to…it is about finding a passion later in life. It wasn’t until she was over 50 that she started advocating for healthier and more sustainable diets, at a time when few women worked in the sciences. Marion is the reason that we have any kind of big picture talks about the impact of the food industry on our dietary choices. She is a hero of mine for sure!

Koshersoul by Michael Twitty

I love books that use food as a way to examine history and culture. In Koshersoul, my friend Michael Twitty (who will be on my podcast tomorrow!!) followed up his first book, The Cooking Gene, by examining the marriage of two of the most distinctive culinary cultures in the world today: the foods and traditions of the African Atlantic and the global Jewish diaspora. Michael sees African-Jewish cooking as a conversation of migrations and a dialogue of diasporas…the question he explores in this great book is not just who makes the food, but how the food makes the people. That’s why I love this book so much, and I think you will too!

Forever Beirut by Barbara Abdeni Masaad

Over 20 years ago I opened Zaytinya in Washington, DC, a restaurant where I could share my love for the foods of the Eastern Mediterranean—Turkey, Greece and Lebanon. I have always loved these flavors and also the history and ancient roots of the recipes that are thousands of years old. That’s maybe why Forever Beirut, a new cookbook from Barbara Abdeni Massaad is so important to me. There are so many stories and old recipes passed down from generation to generation in this book which beautifully captures the spirit of Beirut.

Diasporican by Illyanna Maisonet

This book has a lot of meaning for me, because Puerto Rico, as you know, is where I really got to know the people and the food culture after Hurricane María. Illyanna Maisonet, if you don’t know her, was the first Puerto Rican food columnist for a major newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle! In this book, she traces the history of her own family’s Puerto Rican recipes and in doing so really preserves the island’s disappearing foodways. I love this book because it connects family, history, conflict, and migration all back to food, and to me that is the mark of an amazing book, one you will learn from and love.

Vegetables Unleashed by me and Matt Goulding!

I wrote this book with my old friend Matt Goulding a few years ago. Our goal was to try to change the way we look at vegetables. Yes this is me, a guy who loves all kinds of Spanish pork products talking about vegetables for an entire book! But that’s because of how much I love them. And in this book, we teach you how to cook them in ways that are going to make them satisfying, unleashing the flavors and textures so that you won’t stop thinking about when you can eat more veggies!

Find an Old Cookbook to Share

The new cookbooks are great, but to me there’s something even more exciting about finding an old book, one that has been out of print for years, that has recipes and stories and secrets from another time. And even better is when they have writing from previous owners in them, like a time capsule of another person’s life. One of my favorite places to find old cookbooks is Bauman Rare Books.

EAT

Some of my favorite edible gifts! (And remember, some of you have a special code for discounts at the Mercado Little Spain shop!)

Tinned fish

We Spaniards have been eating tinned fish long before all the cool kids in Brooklyn discovered them! I am a huge fan of these tins of seafood from the Galician Rías on the North Coast of Spain. Try some and you will be completely blown away by how incredible and absolutely fresh the fish tastes straight out of the can. Try some plump mussels in escabeche, the tender small sardines, baby squid in ink, cockles, and even razor clams. Let’s go!

Uni or Oysters from eFish (or Black Salt or Lobster Maine-ia)

I love Jeff Tedmori, one of the co-founders of E-Fish. He’s partnered with small local fisherman to get the freshest fish direct from the sea to your kitchen! He’s the guy I get so much of my fish and shellfish from! If you love uni and oysters, give Jeff’s a try. Don’t know how to shuck or how to prepare uni? You can text, email, or DM to get your questions answered from expert fishmongers. How cool is that?! And if you’re in DC, check out the local guys at Black Salt or Lobster Maine-ia.

Local Cheese From Wherever You’re From

To me, one of the best gifts you can give is to share something local, something that speaks of the place you live. And what’s better than cheeses? There are so many amazing small cheesemakers around the country, that you can find if you are looking…go to your farmers market and follow the amazing smells of caves, of earth, of cows and sheep and goats, and you’ll be sure to find something incredible.

Olive Oil Sampling Kit

If you love a nice olive oil, you’ll love this sampler kit of four amazing varieties from Spain. This sampler pack includes Arbequina (made from olives grown in Catalonia near the Mediterranean so it has a fruity aroma of fresh herbs and artichoke); Picual (the most abundant variety in Spain and the world, and has aromas of banana and mint, with a slight peppery finish); Cornicabra (a robust oil from Toledo, in central Spain, which has spicy notes and slightly bitter edge); and our Maestro de Almazara—literally, "master of the olive press"…an amazing blend of Spain's finest oils.

Farmer Lee Vegetable Box

My old friend Farmer Lee Jones is a national treasure! His vegetables are the best (and his bowtie is pretty great too). He is like a vegetable whisperer, growing more than 600 varieties of vegetables, microgreens, and herbs…my restaurant teams cook with them and you can too. Farmer Lee has a lot of choices—an Eat The Rainbow Box, the Best of the Season, a Leafy Greens box, a Vegetable of the Month Club, and even an option to Donate Fresh Vegetables, which is so amazing. I love him.

Jamón

Last week I wrote a lot about the king of cured meats: Spain’s Jamón. My two part Jamón Guide shared everything you need to know about the different kinds, flavors, and the best ways to slice it and eat it! Our shop sells Ibérico and Serrano, by the whole leg or pre-sliced into beautiful sheer pieces.

Tortilla Starter Kit from Masienda

One of the most fun projects to do on the holidays is to make fresh tortillas. I think most people don’t realize this is so easy to do…mix masa with water, and a bit of salt, make the dough, roll it into balls, press it into flat pancakes and cook, and you have the most amazing corn tortillas you have ever tasted. This kit from Masienda has everything you need to make tortillas for days and days: heirloom masa from Oaxaca and a tortilla press. Such a fun gift for that person in your life who loves tacos.

A Spanish Feast from Goldbelly

I know I would love getting a big box full of delicious food as a holiday gift…if you feel the same way, have a look at some of the food boxes my team and I created for Goldbelly. We have our incredible Burnt Basque Cheesecake, a 6-pack of the ribeye “Txuleburger” hamburgers I told you about this summer, or some slow-smoked Spanish Ibérico pork ribs. For a cocktail party in an instant, try the Snack Like a Spaniard Box, filled with olive oil-fried potato chips, hand-caught Spanish cockles from the Galician coast of Spain, mussels in escabeche, white pickled anchovies, and Spanish Manzanilla olives. Hard to decide, I know!

Kishus from Tangerine Man

I have been ordering tangerines every winter for years now from Jim Churchill and Lisa Brenneis who grow citrus fruits in the beautiful California town of Ojai. The ones I love especially are the kishus…they are small and so perfectly sweet-ta. As Jim told me, “Anyone can grow something sweet. It’s the acidity that haunts you.”

A Hot Chocolate Kit from Oaxaca

I love a Mexican hot chocolate…on a cold day what is better to warm you up! You should try this kit from Guelaguetza, one of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles who make some of the best moles in the US (their website is “ilovemole.com”!). Their Hot Chocolate Gift Box includes a Oaxacan clay mug, 10 of their different chocolate tablets and a handmade molinillo, which is used to grind the chocolate tablet. It’s beautiful—each one has its own character…no two are exactly the same.

Chocolates from Albert Adrià

My friend the chef Albert Adrià is one of the most talented people I know..you may know him because of his brother Ferran but he is amazing too. At el Bulli, for two years, he worked every section of the kitchen and became especially inspired by patisserie and desserts. Now of course, he has many restaurants, and we worked together to open Mercado Little Spain in Hudson Yards. But let me tell you, his chocolates are incredible! There are many choices, you could try a turrón inspired by pan con chocolate, or a a bar of crisp, crunchy churros blended with creamy chocolate…or even one with Spanish cheese!! You can’t imagine how good it is!

So people, tell me…what else are you getting for your own family and friends? What am I missing??