Grape, Olive, Pig: Deep Travels Through Spain's Food Culture

by Matt Goulding

Overview

Winner of the 2017 IACP Award: Literary or Historical Food Writing

Gourmand World Cookbook Award Winner: Culinary Travel

Amazon Best Book of November (2016): Cookbooks, Food and Wine

Financial Times Best Books of 2017: Food and Travel

"Goulding is pioneering a new type of writing about food. His last book, Rice, Noodle, Fish, took an immersive approach to Japan that combined travel, social observation and food lore. His new book on Spain offers little cooking advice but an inquisitive foodie intellectual's experience." (Financial Times)

Crafted in the same “refreshing” (AP), “inspirational” (Publishers Weekly) and “impeccably observed” (Eater.com) style that drove Rice, Noodle, Fish, Roads & Kingdoms again presents a book that will change the way readers eat and travel abroad. The second in their series of unexpected and delightful gastro-tourism books, Grape, Olive, Pig is a deeply personal exploration of a country where eating and living are inextricably linked. As Anthony Bourdain said: “Any reasonable, sentient person who looks to Spain, comes to Spain, eats in Spain, drinks in Spain, they’re gonna fall in love. Otherwise, there’s something deeply wrong with you.”

Matt Goulding introduces you to the sprawling culinary and geographical landscape of his adoptive home, and offers an intimate portrait of this multifaceted country, its remarkable people, and its complex history. Fall in love with Barcelona’s tiny tapas bars and modernist culinary temples. Explore the movable feast of small plates and late nights in Madrid. Join the three-thousand-year-old hunt for Bluefin tuna off the coast of Cadiz, then continue your seafood journey north to meet three sisters who risk their lives foraging the gooseneck barnacle, one of Spain’s most treasured ingredients. Delight in some of the world’s most innovative and avant-garde edible creations in San Sebastian, and then wash them down with cider from neighboring Asturias. Sample the world’s finest acorn-fed ham in Salamanca, share in the traditions of cave-dwelling shepherds in the mountains beyond Granada, and debate what constitutes truly authentic paella in Valencia.

Grape, Olive, Pig reveals hidden gems and enduring delicacies from across this extraordinary country, contextualizing each meal with the stories behind the food in a cultural narrative complemented by stunning color photography. Whether you’ve visited Spain or have only dreamed of bellying up to its tapas bars, Grape, Olive, Pig will wake your imagination, rouse your hunger, and capture your heart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062394132
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/15/2016
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	384,493
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Matt Goulding is editor and cofounder of Roads & Kingdoms, the former food editor of Men’s Health, and the coauthor of the New York Times bestselling series Eat This, Not That! He is a James Beard Award winner and has also written for Harper’s Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Food & Wine Magazine, and Time magazine. He divides his time between the tapas bars of Barcelona and the barbecue pits of North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

Matt Goulding sees, smells, and hears the whispers of the invisible spirits of Spain like no one has ever done before. The Spanish soul runs all through his veins. This is not a book, but a secret passage to a better world.

José Andrés

Think of this as a travel guide that’s supremely unhelpful in telling you where to eat… in the best possible way. After reading this book, you will want the following: a giant pan of paella, a big bowl of fabada, and as many cured meats as your stomach can take.

Bon Appétit

Goulding honours the fascinating food of Spain with an anthropological approach. This combination of food and travel writing and photography couldn’t have come from anywhere except the “Roads and Kingdoms” series, which continues to push out the definition of food publishing. Brilliant.

Financial Times Best Books of 2017

Matt Goudling has written a magnificent love letter to his adopted home. It has all the beautiful details—the things you need to experience, must experience—to love Spain the way it deserves to be loved.

Anthony Bourdain

Matt Goulding sees, smells, and hears the whispers of the invisible spirits of Spain like no one has ever done before. The Spanish soul runs all through his veins. This is not a book, but a secret passage to a better world.

José Andrés

Think of this as a travel guide that’s supremely unhelpful in telling you where to eat… in the best possible way. After reading this book, you will want the following: a giant pan of paella, a big bowl of fabada, and as many cured meats as your stomach can take.

Bon Appétit

Goulding’s presentation of the myriad Spanish gastronomic delights from across the culturally diverse country is deliciously enticing and thoughtfully introspective.

Booklist (starred review)

Goulding adeptly exposes the fabric of modern Spanish cuisine and whets the appetites for both food and travel, daring readers to explore unadvertised adventures of Spain. This book should be savored.

Los Angeles Review of Books

Goulding’s book leaves the reader with a pretty good idea of why Spain deserves to be taken very seriously as a gastronomic paradise.

Wall Street Journal

Grape, Olive, Pig employs an impressive literary toolkit in appreciating and savoring Spanish cuisine, with descriptions of meals, translations of uniquely Spanish culinary vocabulary, spirals through relevant history, depictions of current food productions, and narratives of Goulding’s food-focused travels across Spain.

Smithsonian

This book is the perfect gift or souvenir for everyone interested in Spain. It reads like an adventure novel.

Edouard Cointreau

★ 11/01/2016
In Goulding's latest work, the former Men's Health food editor and coauthor of the best-selling "Eat This, Not That" series explores the food and culture of Spain. Part narrative, part how-to guide to eating in Spain (without this book you are doing it wrong), Goulding weaves stories and observations into an organic mosaic that earns its subtitle. In nine chapters, readers are taken on a tour of all of Spain's regions, gaining insight into the country's culinary traditions and practices. The pace and rhythm of the text are just right, combining handy tips with beautiful photos that results in an elusive pairing of bracing immediacy and "all the time in the world," which makes for the best memories, at home or abroad. The second book in the series, after Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture, this volume was born out of a collaboration between acclaimed digital travel magazine Roads & Kingdoms and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. VERDICT Deeply satisfying for the armchair traveler, this can't-miss book should be required reading prior to visiting Spain.—Courtney McDonald, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington

Library Journal

Sept. 7, 2016
An enthusiastic journey through some of Spain’s culinary hot spots, with emphasis on the work of professional chefs.Goulding (Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan’s Food Culture, 2015, etc.), chief editor of the travel web journal Roads & Kingdoms and co-author of the Eat This, Not That! series, has for six years kept a home base in Barcelona, where he lives with his Catalan wife. The city gets pride of place among the areas considered in-depth in this exuberant survey, but it’s clear that the author has had some good meals and even better tapas crawls elsewhere, as well. The volume reads more like a collection of disparate essays than a unified study of the regional cuisines of Spain. In the mountains above Salamanca, Goulding watches as workers slaughter the 140 pigs intended for a festival, and he rhapsodizes about the joys of acorn-fed ham. A trip to the Basque country offers an opportunity for the author to sing the praises of his old cooking-school instructor, Luis Irizar Zamora, “the master of masters” and teacher of “some of the most famous chefs in the country.” Copious illustrations of people, food, and people preparing and enjoying food enliven the book, and interludes between chapters provide instruction on how to “drink like a Spaniard” (“skip the sangria,” which is “largely a tourist trick”) or give miniportraits of some “people of Spain,” such as bodega owner Armando, who professes, “I work here 16 hours a day. I need to look for a woman. Or maybe a rich man. Anybody to give me a break.” A set of tantalizing verbal snapshots rather than a culinary map of the region, the book clearly communicates the author’s affection for the food, both simple and refined, of his chosen country and makes obvious how much difference a change of just a few dozen miles makes in what ingredients and dishes are favored and seen as representative of the culture.

Kirkus Review