Spanish-American celebrity chef José Andrés is credited with popularizing tapas and the flavors of Spain in the United States; he was hired to helm Washington, D.C., tapas restaurant Jaleo in his early 20s just a few years after arriving in America. Today, the James Beard Award-winning chef is not only known for his numerous restaurants across the country — including The Bazaar, Bazaar Meat, é, and minibar — but also for his humanitarian work. In 2010, he founded World Central Kitchen in response to that year's earthquake in Haiti, providing meals globally to those impacted by natural disasters and hardship.
Here, Andrés shares some of his finest dishes, from stuffed olives to smoky seafood paella and onion-smothered tuna.
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Lobster with Fideos
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Rossejat de fideos, a traditional seafood dish of Spain's Catalonia region, resembles paella but instead of rice, it calls for fideos, fine vermicelli-like pasta. Here, the pasta browns in hot oil until toasty, then cooks slowly in a deliciously rich stock made with the lobster shells, soaking up all the flavor.
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Smoky Paella with Shrimp and Squid
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At Jaleo, the delightful Spanish restaurant in Washington, D.C., José Andrés prepares this satisfying rice dish with lots of seafood, including hard-to-find cuttlefish and housemade fish stock. At home, use squid in place of the cuttlefish and skip the fish stock in favor of bottled clam broth from the supermarket.
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Rabo de Toro
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This lusty braised oxtails dish is common in Córdoba. The meaty oxtails are simmered in a mix of tomatoes, red wine, sherry, and more until they’re wonderfully tender and flavorful.
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Pork Roast with Sausage, Fruit, and Nut Stuffing
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Pork and fruit is a classic pairing around the world, but this dish gets a particularly Catalan flavor from the combination of dried fruit and butifarra (a Catalan cured pork sausage) in the stuffing. The stuffing cooks inside the roast, which gives it a deep, marvelously porky flavor.
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Cauliflower Fritters
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To create these wonderful tapas, José Andrés makes a batter with crunchy nubs of chopped cauliflower florets, fries spoonfuls in a skillet, and then tops the fritters with yogurt sauce and a dollop of caviar.
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Salmorejo
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Salmorejo is a classic soup made primarily with tomatoes and bread. It’s best with a splash of sherry vinegar, but Andalusian tomatoes pack a good hit of acidity, so they often omit it in Spain. It’s also frequently made with pan de telera, a type of hard roll, which thickens the soup, but anything from a ciabatta to a rustic white loaf is good here.
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Tuna and Green Olive Empanadas
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This recipe is made easy with the use of store-bought puff pastry. You'll end up with more filling than is needed for the empanadas — use the leftover to top crostini or toss with pasta.
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Duck Confit Tacos
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"If Mexico hadn't shared its chiles with China, would we have spicy Chinese food?" asks chef José Andrés. His Vegas spot China Poblano, with dishes like these Asian-influenced duck tacos, shows how more and more chefs are combining seemingly unrelated cuisines. Store-bought confit duck legs make these tacos really easy. Another shortcut: crisping the skin in a microwave.
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Mashed Potatoes with Manchego and Olive Oil
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Instead of using butter, José Andrés prefers to add richness with olive oil and Manchego cheese. His tip: "Add the olive oil slowly to the potatoes because if you dump it in all at once, you'll get streaks of oil."
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Mushroom Tortilla
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This Spanish mushroom omelet is super simple and a great make-ahead dish for brunch.
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Leeks Two Ways with Wild Mushrooms
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The leek, like its relatives onion and garlic, is generally used to flavor other foods. José Andrés feels this is a mistake. "Listen to me: Leek is a vegetable," he says. "It can be the center of a dish." Here, he cooks leeks until tender, then pairs them with trumpet mushrooms for a sensational side dish.
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Fried Fish in Adobo
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Swordfish marinated in a combination of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, and paprika takes on a superb tangy flavor. José Andrés coats the fish in flour, then fries it until crisp, creating an irresistible little tapas snack.
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Classic Potato Salad with Crunchy Trout Roe
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This potato salad gets its creamy texture from olive oil and eggs, and tons of flavor from the inclusion of tuna and salty trout roe.
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Ham and Potato Salad
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In his elevated version of potato salad, José Andrés combines fingerling potatoes, smoky ham, and cucumbers in a whipped deviled egg dressing.
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Little Gems with Warm Garlic Dressing
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This simple salad is inspired by the tapas bars and asadores (grill-focused restaurants) in and around Córdoba. It highlights sweet and tender Little Gem lettuce, adorned with warm, garlicky olive oil, sherry vinegar, anchovies, and a sprinkle of smoky paprika.
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Salt-Baked Fish
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Chef José Andrés bakes whole fish in a salt crust until it's perfectly moist and seasoned. His trick is to leave the scales on the fish, which makes the skin very easy to peel off after baking.
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Berenjenas con Miel (Fried Eggplant with Honey)
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Fried eggplant and honey is a classic combination served across Andalusia, especially in Córdoba. This version is the one José Andrés has on the menu at his Washington, D.C., restaurant Jaleo.
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Chicken with Roasted-Garlic Pan Sauce
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This dish is inspired by the rotisserie chicken and sauce from El Asador de Nati in Córdoba. The base for the rich, extremely flavorful pan sauce comes from the chicken pan drippings and a whole head of luscious roasted garlic.
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Fried Eggs with Jamón and Caviar
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These incredible eggs are slowly fried in olive oil until they’re soft and creamy, then served draped over crisp, salty french fries. As if that’s not enough, they’re topped with briny caviar and slices of excellent jamón ibérico.
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Arroz con Pollo with Mushrooms
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This is José Andrés' super-versatile version of the classic Spanish chicken and rice dish. Feel free to swap rabbit for the chicken; if fresh wild mushrooms like chanterelles and morels are in season, add them as well.
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Cava and Pomegranate co*cktails
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Removing seeds from a pomegranate can seem tricky. "Don't worry, it is easy!" José Andrés says. His method: Cut the pomegranate in half across the middle, not through the stem; then wrap each half in cheesecloth and, holding it over a large bowl, hit it hard with a spoon or rolling pin. "Just hit it! Really hit it!" Andrés urges. Then open up the bundle and pick out the seeds, which should practically pop out.
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Steak with Arabic Sauces
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At Restaurante El Churrasco in Córdoba, they serve both salsa verde and salsa roja in small containers alongside juicy grilled steak. The salsa verde is bright and tangy, while the salsa roja is smoky and garlicky. They’re both delicious.
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Pork Loin Baked in Salt with Serrano Ham
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Pork loin is made tender and flavorful by layering it with herbs and roasting it in a salt crust. To serve, the pork is topped with ham and a drizzle of olive oil.
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Tres Leches Cake
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José Andrés makes a delicately light and sweet version of tres leches, the classic chilled cake soaked in three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream.
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Roast Chicken Thighs with Lentil Stew
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José Andrés seasons his crisp chicken and rich lentil stew with smoky Spanish paprika called pimentón. The dish is wonderful with a plummy Merlot.
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Atún Encebollado (Tuna Smothered in Onions)
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Despite its 3,000-year history of catching wild bluefin tuna, Spain’s tuna culture has largely been limited to canned and salted tuna products. This luscious dish, a staple of southern Spain, is one of the exceptions.
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Open-Faced Crab Empanadas
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Chef José Andrés says: "I love America! Without a doubt, one of my favorite American ingredients is blue crabs, a true delicacy! And a great value, I think." This recipe is his twist on the traditional Basque txangurro (crab simmered with tomato), crossed with a Galician empanada.
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Olives Stuffed with Almonds, Anchovies, and Peppers
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"For me there is no better tapa than a really good stuffed olive," José Andrés says. He strongly recommends homemade stuffed olives over the store-bought kind, which he proclaims are "usually terrible." Plus, if you stuff them yourself, you've got a million options: "If you love almonds, use good marcona almonds. If you love anchovy, use good Spanish anchovies. If you love peppers, use peppers; I like the wood-roasted piquillo peppers from Navarra. Or if you are like me, you use all three."
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Garlicky Potatoes, Green Beans, and Cauliflower
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“We always need to remember that many people in need, whether here or overseas, don’t have the freedom of time,” says José Andrés. “But if you have some potatoes, green beans, and cauliflower, you have a heck of a dish that can feed an entire family with just a tiny bit of work.”
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Pickled Mussels
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For this dish, mussels are first boiled until they just start to open. Their juices are used as the base for a marinade made from vegetables, sherry vinegar, herbs, pimentón, and orange zest.
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Salt Air Margarita
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Chef José Andrés uses Sucro, a powdered emulsifier beloved by avant-garde chefs, to make the salty foam topping at minibar in Washington, D.C. To make the drink at home, look for sucrose esters online.
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Brûléed Rice Pudding
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The rich, thick texture of this lemon and cinnamon-scented pudding comes from using starchy medium-grain rice. For a more intense cinnamon flavor, mix a teaspoon of ground cinnamon into the brown sugar topping.
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Asturian Pork and Beans
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This dish is called fabada Asturiana because it's regarded as the region's signature dish. Traditional versions use Asturian fabes (fava beans) and blood sausage, which is replaced here with a meaty ham hock.
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Apple Salad with Cabrales Cheese and Toasted Almonds
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Tart apples are tossed with toasted almonds and chives in a garlicky dressing, then topped with crumbled Cabrales cheese. The salad is terrific served alongside Tuna and Green Olive Empanadas.
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