Penelope Casas: Biography

Our friend Penelope Casas has offered to share some of her secrets about Spanish Cuisine, as well as her extensive knowledge on travel in Spain. We cannot think of anyone who could better help answer your questions.

Through her extensive travels in Spain, Penelope has experienced the culinary traditions of every part of the country. She has published a travel guide on Spain and four cookbooks on Spanish cuisine. We carry them all, each a great resource to help learn the secrets of Spanish cooking.

Penelope Casas was born in New York City, graduated from Vassar College, and studied at the University of Madrid. Currently she teaches courses on Spain at New York University. Ms. Casas has written about food and travel in Spain for The New York Times, Gourmet, Food & Wine, and Conde Nast Traveler as well as publishing six books of her own. The Spanish government has awarded her both the National Prize of Gastronomy and the Medal of Touristic Merit, and has named her Dame of the Order of Civil Merit.

By digging into old Spanish cookbooks and family collections and by observing local cooks at home and chefs at work, Ms. Casas has unearthed the essential cooking techniques and the subtle flavor secrets that make authentic Spanish food so appealing.

Year after year she and her Spanish husband have shepherded groups of American tourists, exploring the remotest corners of Spain as well as the more traveled areas, discovering extraordinary new eating experiences. She knows exactly what appeals to American tastes and what we yearn to reproduce at home. Now she has translated all of her findings into recipes that will be every bit as delicious prepared in your own kitchen as on their native soil.