Cúrate

September 19, 2016
Traditional Spanish delicacies are the focus of this book from the restaurant Cúrate in Asheville, N.C. Button, who was trained by José Andrés and Ferran Adrià, provides 125 recipes from the eatery that she and her husband opened in 2011, geared toward the dinner-centric tastes of Americans rather than the Spanish practice of a large, leisurely lunch and a simple salad for dinner. There is a smooth, pureed gazpacho as it was first made in the region of Andalucía, and a watermelon and tomato salad made crunchy with corn nuts (“as whole food as junk food gets”). Vegetable small plates included fried eggplant with honey and rosemary, and stuffed piquillo peppers. Expansive chapters on seafood and meat offer suggestions for dishes that work as either a main dish or as tapas for a party of eight to 10. Additionally, there are relatively simple instructions
for making chorizo, for those who can handle their heat, and blood sausages, for those who can handle their strained pork blood. Veteran food photographer Evan Sung illustrates a step-by-step guide to carving up an octopus, and captures the odd beauty of a seared trout wrapped in crunchy Ibérico ham.