New Tapas

"We have just opened a tapas bar, Morito, next to our restaurant Moro, so we are very interested in little dishes at the moment. Actually, our food lends itself very well to that. A lot of it originated from tapas and mezze dishes anyway. In this little book, she travels around Spain and features some of the best tapas bars. It has a modern twist because there is a new modern wave in Spain. They have very classy, chic tapas now. I am just about to take some of my chefs to San Sebastián and the Basque country to see what is going on there. The new wave involved things being lighter, and more stylised and finessed. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter There is a real mix and juxtaposition in Spain of the classic, rooted Spanish food – which at best is wonderful in its simplicity – and the wave of food influenced by Arzak [a restaurant in San Sebastián] and [the Catalan chef] Ferran Adria, that has inspired a modern twist in this generation. When done well it is brilliant – but when not it really doesn’t work. There is a bar in Seville called Casa Blanca. They have chicharrones , which is pork belly cut up into cubes, all crispy and chewy – then they sprinkle lemon juice and cumin on top. It’s delicious."