Chef José Andrés on the Art of Tapas—Plus 3 Classic Recipes to Try Tonight
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Photo courtesy of Joan Pujol-Creus
José Andrés has many claims to fame. The James Beard Award–winning chef has 40-plus restaurants to his name, including the two-Michelin-starred Minibar. He’s the founder of World Central Kitchen, a global nonprofit that serves warm meals to communities in crises (and whose work helped Andrés earn the Presidential Medal of Freedom). And he’s an Emmy-winning TV personality and New York Times–bestselling author.
But he’s perhaps best known as Spain’s unofficial culinary ambassador, having introduced Americans to the flavors of his homeland over the past three decades. (He even helped create the paella emoji you see on your phone.) With his latest cookbook, Spain My Way, the Asturias-born chef continues to stay close to his roots, taking home cooks on a journey across Spain while unveiling culinary delights like salmorejo, a gazpacho-like soup that hails from Córdoba, and albóndigas, the classic meatballs that are a mainstay in many Spanish households.
Andrés devotes an entire chapter of the book to tapas, which seems only natural when you consider that Jaleo, his storied DC tapas restaurant, currently boasts three locations in the US. “In Spain we love to be together, to eat together, to drink together,” he tells goop. “Tapas is the perfect setting for that, standing around a table or sitting at the bar, having a bite of this, a drink of that, everyone sharing and talking and not thinking about anything else. And then when you’re done at one bar, on to the next!”
Here, Andrés shares three classic tapas recipes from his new cookbook. Choose one to serve as a starter before dinner—or make all three and invite a few friends over for shared plates and good conversation.
Tapas for All
Gilda (Olive, Anchovy, and Pepper Pintxo)
Pintxos are skewered snacks native to Basque Country, and this one—named for Rita Hayworth’s character in the 1946 film noir Gilda—“really speaks to the bright, briny flavors of the north,” Andrés says. Skewer Manzanilla olives, piparra peppers, and anchovies with long toothpicks, then follow the chef’s lead and pair the tapa with a glass of crisp white Albariño or Txakoli.
Papas Aliñadas (Dressed Potatoes)
Walk into any tapas bar in southern Spain and you’ll invariably find papas aliñadas, “sometimes with hard-boiled egg, sometimes without, sometimes with green pepper for crunch, sometimes without,” Andrés says. “It lets a cook show off who they are and what they love to eat. Make it your own!” This summery tapa takes advantage of two staples in the Cádiz province—potatoes and sherry vinegar—and is a cinch to make.
Gambas al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimp)
“I could write you a whole book about this dish alone,” Andrés says. For starters, it’s low-lift, high-reward: Sauté a batch of shrimp in garlicky olive oil, then finish with a splash of Spanish brandy and fresh parsley. “You are taking just a few ingredients and transforming them to create something entirely new,” he says. This tapa also helped jump-start Andrés’s career, after chef Ferran Adrià of the world-renowned elBulli tasted his rendition and offered him a place in his kitchen.