I'm so happy to share an extraordinary new book with you today! The Iberian Table: Healthy Cooking Secrets from the Land of Longevity, by award-winning author Robin Keuneke, takes home cooks on an unforgettable journey through northern Spain’s delicious food culture. Keuneke's unique blend of health book, cookbook, and all-five-senses culinary travel memoir brings us this delicious cuisine by way of storytelling; this is such an interesting way to learn about  culture, place, and the Spanish Mediterranean diet.

The book features over 100 recipes (Vegetable Menestra! Irresistible Ibérico Ham Croquettes! Poached Chicken on Endive with Saffron Yogurt!), as well as special contributions from Michelin-starred chefs Carme Ruscalleda and Elena Arzak. Sections include Spanish extra-virgin olive oil, sofrito, the ultimate natural pantry, and more.

What I learned while reading The Iberian Table is that not only do I want to GO and experience this rich culinary region and culture for myself, but also how important and life-giving eating this way can be. The recipes are simple and conversational; they are also eminently readable and inspirational. People, community, and culture absolutely shine throughout the book. There are also menus and meal planning, and a slew of important appendices (my favorite part of the book!).
 
Highly recommended.

Robin Keuneke is an author, natural foods chef, and fine artist. She is the author of Total Breast Health: Power Foods for Prevention and Wellness, a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, and coauthor with Thomas J. Slaga of The Detox Revolution: A Powerful Program for Boosting Your Body’s Ability to Fight Cancer and Other Diseases. The former food editor for Total Health Magazine, Spain’s Mediterranean diet was a story she had to tell. Keuneke has exhibited her oil paintings in New York City and London and her etchings are in the permanent collection of the New York Public Library. With her husband, Thomas, she divides her time between Atlanta, Georgia and Delray Beach, Florida. Her next book, Basque to Barcelona and Stories Along the Way, is a collection of historical fiction around the theme of Spanish culinary pursuits.

We were lucky enough to catch up with Keuneke and ask her about the book, inspiration, advice, and more. Here's what she had to say...

Please tell us about your new book, The Iberian Table...

I wrote the book I was eager to read. By traveling to Spain, I experienced Spanish foods and recipes which represented the most nourishing path of longevity that I had encountered. As a nutrition author, natural foods chef, and nutrition researcher, I was dazzled. Now, after 12 years of research, interviewing, and writing, as I release The Iberian Table, my commitment to Spain's Mediterranean diet is stronger than ever. 

Until The Iberian Table, Spain has been the secret in nutrition. I think it remains 'undiscovered' by health researchers because of the many separate regions and languages in Spain. It has been challenging for nutrition writers and researchers to gather data (more on this in a moment.) The research confirming that Spain will have the longest living population in the world by 2040 appeared a year before I finished. Also, as I completed this book, reports came in stating that the Spanish are the longest living now, second only to Japan. Diet plays a central role, but there are other factors including their habit of walking and an excellent healthcare system.

What inspired you to create this incredibly unique cookbook? 

The Iberian Table is more than a collection of recipes. It is a travel memoir from the eyes of a health writer. The book embraces nature, and topography—traditional cooking derives from both. 

On my first trip to Spain, I saw that Spain offered the freshest and most nutritious food I had ever eaten. I was inspired to tell the story of Spain's Mediterranean diet, but I knew I needed a literary format that felt 'fresh'. The Spanish lead the world in their modern gastronomy, architecture, and more. In addition, it is a natural wonderland. Spain is the largest repository of wild plants in Europe. I am inspired by nature. So I was driven to write a health book that was unlike any other. 

The three nucleus chapters at the center use magic realism where I bring the reader with me to Spain. We 'go together' to la Boqueria Market in Barcelona and meet vendors, and 'discuss' healthy cooking. The book combines the latest in nutrition with travel, memoir, culinary writing, and, of course, gastronomy. 

I wanted my voice to be immediate. I want to 'be with my reader', in one of the most glorious green markets in Europe, reporting on a country's gastronomy that leads the world in cooking. 

Place plays an important role in this cookbook, and your discovery of cooking and eating this way. What would readers be surprised to discover about your travels and eating? 

Though Spain leads the world in celebrated restaurants, The Iberian Table embraces the "Cooking of Grandmothers." Family recipes handed down through generations such as stews with beans vary from family to family and reflect dramatic cultural differences of a varied people, and various geography. For example, Basque cooking does not include rice; Catalan cooking celebrates rice. 

The Iberian Table focuses on northern Spain, where there are many different cultures and languages. As pointed out, this fact itself created challenges in collecting health statistics for the government. As a result, the longevity of the Spanish has gone unreported until The Iberian Table. 

I like to say I approach Spain with the eyes of an artist. The result of direct experience and openness. In addition to writing, I paint and draw. Artists REALLY observe. 

I was not put off by a diet high in fat. There was no judgment. I saw the naturalness of the full fat cheese, and production of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) l which to me, was the best I had ever experienced. I saw foods that were powerfully "natural." The common factor for all regions in Spain is that the diet is rich in natural fats. Also, it is fascinating to travel through Spain because each town has its 'trademark' recipe, often featuring a food the village is known for. Regions have competitions (for example) for the best turnips! Or beans. I love how serious the Spanish are about plant foods. Awards are actually given to growers. To me—as a world traveler who has been to many disparate places—Spain is a throwback. Before cars, or even trains. Each village maintains its separate identity, even to this day. For more on this, investigate Spain’s Paradores Nacionales. These are government-run hotels in places of great geographical beauty. In many cases, Paradors were forts or castles. Paradors offer great value with services that rival the luxury hotels of Europe. 

I love the healthy, longevity aspect of the Spanish Mediterranean Diet. How can readers start to incorporate this into their daily meals (and lives)? 

Begin by switching from cooking oils, even canola, to Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Use a generous amount. Add to dishes such as meatloaf and start cooking everything with it—that includes eggs and even baked goods. Add EVOO over cooked foods to increase intake of this life-giving "liquid gold'. And, by all means, as the Spanish do, eat a variety of plant foods: green vegetables; brightly colored peppers; beans; grains; mushrooms; antioxidant-rich alliums like onions, leeks, and scallions...and herbs. Don't forget nuts; the Spanish eat plenty. (Toast pine nuts lightly, and serve over brown rice. Earthy, rustic flavor.) Eggs are a daily food in Spain. Recently, Nick Norwitz, Harvard medical student, ate 700-720 eggs a month. He lowered his LDL cholesterol and saw a drop of nearly 20%. 

What advice do you have for readers to make a change to healthier cooking go smoothly? 

Start simply: use more olive oil. Olive oil from the first pressing—known as “extra-virgin”—stunts the growth of breast, prostate and other cancers, protects DNA, decreases the risk of coronary artery and cardiovascular diseases and stroke, increases circulation in the extremities, and lowers blood sugar, which means diabetics who consume plenty of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil will require less insulin. 

Vegetables sautéed in EVOO are intrinsic to the Spanish kitchen. A 2016 study from Granada found that when sautéing potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, pumpkins or hard squash in EVOO, phenols from the olive oil transfer antioxidants during the cooking process into the vegetables, acting as a carrier for the oil-soluble nutrients in the vegetables to be efficiently absorbed. 

Steamed vegetables also benefit nutritionally with a drizzle of EVOO before, or after cooking. Add flavor and nutrition to bread, too. Toast a thick slice of rustic-style country bread, rub vigorously on both sides with raw garlic, then a ripe, halved juicy tomato. Drizzle a little EVOO and salt lightly. This is Catalan tomato bread. You are ready to enjoy by itself or top with avocado, cheese, a fried egg, or a thin slice of ham.

What's up next for you? 

For the time being, I will be educating people through my blogs, articles, interviews and Instagram and Facebook posts regarding the benefits of Spain's Mediterranean diet. I will continue to develop recipes. 

Ever since my first trip to Spain, I knew I had discovered a way of cooking and eating that I would want to remain close to for the rest of my life. Just to close, the following excerpt from The Iberian Table: 
“This land, where people have been cooking for a very long time, has yet to show me everything. Guided by rivers where lampreys have flourished since time immemorial, by tides of oceans and wind-swept seas, by berry-strewn paths winding through prehistoric mountains, by secrets revealed in ancient forests with tender plants that thrust through mossy soil every spring, I am still driven to know more. If you are like me, you will want to know it. As the artist-poet Juan Muñoz wrote, “‘Our most beautiful days we have not yet seen.’" 

Having shared this, which expresses that I am still inspired by Spain, I am eager to dive back into my fourth book, which is a collection of short stories about Spain, titled Basque to Barcelona and Stories Along the Way. It is historical fiction, about the culture, people and land that has me still so very inspired. 

How can people find your work? 

Follow my work on Facebook and Instagram @theiberiantable and at theiberiantable.com.

Is there anything else you'd like to share? 

Sure! Have fun. A study was done by Dr. Peter Dodds from The University of Vermont, a researcher of languages who studied the top 20 languages in the world. Dodds found that the Spanish language has more words for happiness (such as "Play," "Fun," and "Love") and fewer words for unhappiness ("Fighting," "Crying," etc.) than any other language studied. Let's take these cues from the Spanish and live our lives within the moment. In exhilaration!