Spanish wines are hot right now--both for their awesome factor and because the ones that get imported to the U.S. tend to deliver good value, even those from the best regions like Rioja and Priorat. Rioja is the classic Spanish wine region, with reds made mostly from the powerful Tempranillo grape with a few other grapes thrown in the blend.

Rioja is classified into different levels according to how long it's aged, so if you like a wine with more oak and subtler fruit, pick one of the older (and generally more expensive) versions, and if you're in the mood for something younger and fresher, try the young Rioja.

• Rioja: aged in barrel for less than a year.
• Crianza: aged at least two years, at least one of which was in oak.
• Reserva: aged at least three years, at least one of which was in oak.
• Gran Reserva: aged at least two years in oak and three years in bottle.

More Rioja - Wine of the Week after the jump.

Unable to control his, uh...natural exuberance, celebrity chef/walking impulse control problem Mario Batali "dropped some royally naughty words" in front of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, according to AP reports. Batali was apparently annoyed when the crowd at a $1,000-a-plate dinner at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival wouldn't quiet down. He used the f-word once while quieting them, then used it again while introducing chef Jose Andres, of Los Angeles restaurant The Bazaar. He then proceeded to grab Andres' bottom.

The queen is said to have "blanched."

While I'm the last one to think anyone should stand on ceremony for royalty (monarchies in the 21st century? C'mon now.), I still enjoy imagining the general horror rushing through the fancy-pants crowd as Batali blithely f-bombs and butt-grabs his way across the stage.

Chef Andres was apparently amused by the antics. ''This is what food and wine from Spain will do to you,'' he said.

.000001%* of the population will be paid actual cash money to step foot into the on deck circle at Yankee Stadium. Still, that doesn't stop hordes of fans from TiVoing Inside Baseball, poring over box scores and suiting up in team regalia on game day. For some of us, food holds an equally compelling balance of gut-level devotion and wonkish stat-based compulsion. A reservation at elBulli is akin to scoring home team dugout seats for the seventh game of the World Series. Food fans -- here's your program.

It's said that 2,000,000 requests a year come in for just 8000 seats at Ferran Adrià's Spanish temple of molecular gastronomy. The closest many of us will come is grazing through this brand new 528 page play-by-play, A Day at elBulli An insight into the the ideas, methods and creativity of Ferran Adrià. It's not so much the common parlance's "food porn" as it is a post-millennial culinary junkie's process orgy, documenting each staff motion and motivation, every microgram of alginate and liquid nitrogen, and fetishistically breaking down quantity and custom and customer/server semiotics.

The proverbial sausage has never been so obsessively, graphically made for public consumption, and rarely has it been so deliciously presented. There are pleasing pictures and recipes, to be sure (Hazelnut praline air, anyone? Perhaps some Garrapi-nitro pine nuts?), but sans easy access to an Isomalt-R-Us, it's a fever-dream cookbook. It is, however, a deeply heartening food-ifesto.

Living in Argentina during high school, I ate dulce de membrillo many times before I had a clue what the sugary, dark orange paste was. I later learned that membrillo is Spanish for 'quince,' and dulce de membrillo (literally, 'quince sweet') is simply a dense quince jelly.

The quince, which resembles an overgrown chartreuse pear, is a fruit native to Asia, now grown all over the world. Unlike pears, however, quince are not eaten raw (I've tried - they're sour and astringent and hard as rocks).

In Spain and Argentina, dulce de membrillo is sold by the slice from massive bricks and generally served with nutty, salty Manchego cheese or on buttered toast. I've also run across it in Israel, served for breakfast with thick, sour yogurt. Here in the US, you can find it at Spanish specialty stores, and some Hispanic markets and regular gourmet shops. It's got an interesting grainy texture and a somewhat floral, apple-like flavor. It's quite sweet - sweeter than most jams and jellies - which is why it's so good paired with cheese or plain yogurt. Try it with slices of Manchego on crackers, or slip some inside a wheel of brie and bake until gooey.

These fine specimins above are called calçots, a type of scallion grown in the Tarragona province of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. In spring, locals eat calçots at community feats called calçotadas - essentially barbecues, but with onions instead of cheeseburgers. Calçots are roasted on a grate over coals, leaving them charred on the outside but creamy on the inside. They're served on a terracotta roof tile or wrapped in newspaper to keep them warm, then peeled at the table and eaten dipped in pungent red romesco sauce, made with tomatoes, garlic, ground almonds and peppers. The local version is called salbitxada - see a recipe for it here. If you're not living in calçot country use it on leeks or roasted sweet onions.

Slate -- my favorite web site on the internet after Slashfood -- published an article today about the possible decline of Spanish avant-garde cuisine. The article lists numerous factors contributing to the "death" of the movement, including the overuse of foam, popular demand and democracy (meaning the fact that people can recreate the culinary experiences in their own kitchens). It contends that the mainstream has caught up with the movement, rendering it no longer new or exciting.

Fortunately for those of us who enjoy this type of food, the article ultimately concludes that Spanish avant-garde cuisine will likely meet the fate as trends like Asian fusion and California cuisines: some elements will fade away, but others (like foam) will simple become part of the "culinary vernacular." Phew! Anyone think otherwise?

If you are one of those foodies who entertains fantasies of going on a vacation of no holds barred eating, then you must check out this article, detailing the trip that Adam Goldman took with two buddies through Spain. They ate for two weeks straight, spending more than $17,000 (for someone whose current car cost but $2,000 that amount seems heart-stopping) on food, wine and booze and gaining nearly 25 between them.

They centered the trip around three Spanish Michelin-starred restaurants, Arzak, Mugaritz and Can Fabes, that are known for their outstanding eats and unique approaches to food. The descriptions of what they ate are fairly quick, but at the end of the article I still felt a little dizzy with all they managed to squeeze in. Sounds like a food-trip of a lifetime.

Via Serious Eats

Lately I've found myself in the mood for raw oysters. This extreme closeup that I found today over on Chez Pim has made me crave them even more. I can almost taste the briny juices from this beautiful, ultrafresh specimen. I don't know about you, but I take my oysters neat, so as to better savor the taste of the sea. Tabasco and lemon only mask the flavor. Chez Pim took this shot at Paco Meralgo, a tapas bar in the mecca of tapas bars, Barcelona. Pim heaps much praise on the tapas at Paco Meralgo, but points out that the real star is the incredibly fresh seafood, including razor clams and langoustines. I've always known that there's a lot more to tapas than jamon, cheese and olives, but this whole fresh seafood thing takes it to another level. Enough tapas talk, I'm off to the nearest raw bar.

[via Tastespotting]

Health magazine has picked the five healthiest foods that you can get from five different countries. The list isn't complete, of course (I'm not even sure if these are the healthiest foods in the world), but it's a quick guide to the healthy foods that a few different countries have given us.

Spain has given us olive oil, Japan soy, Greece has given us yogurt, and lentils come from India. I've never had kimchi, from Korea, but that's on the list too. You can get recipes for each food at the link above as well.

So readers, what about the United States? What healthy foods have we contributed to the world? And no, Ring Dings don't count.

What happens when a blogger/ce-web-rity goes to Barcelona for vacation?

He turns into a food photographer!

Jason Calacanis is in Barcelona enjoying the Spanish fun and sun, and went back to a tapas bar called Ciutat Comtal, which he went to when he was in Barcelona eight years ago. He says the tapas there are even better than he remembered. I am falling over myself just gazing at what looks like a pinxo with sliced tomatoes, anchovies and olives.

Is there a tapas bar like this in LA?

The trend for tapas and small plates meals was on a rapid rise for the last two years. While most trendspotters are predicting that cuisines other than Spanish will now step into the restaurant spotlight for 2007, that just means that Spanish food is likely to move from restaurants into home kitchens. This is a change that should be welcomed, as the food is a welcome mix of traditional and cutting edge, both in flavors and in the dishes themselves.

The New Spanish Table perfectly captures the dichotomy of both old and new styles, with dishes that are inspired by home chefs as well as the pinnacles of Spanish (and global) gastronomy, like Ferran Adria. Familiar dishes will include a variety of tapas dishes, gazpacho (Strawberry, Tomato, and Fennel Gazpacho, for one) and wonderful baked goods, such as Banana and Hazelnut Tart. Newer ones might include rice pudding ice cream (similar, perhaps, to this recipe) and Adria's Rack of Lamb with Pistachio Pesto and Scallions. For those interested in more than just recipes, the book offers a wealth of information about the history of the food and wine of Spain, and a look at cheeses and other staple ingredients - figuratively and literally, with many illustrations to accompany the text.

Licor 43 also known as "Cuarenta Y Tres" is 31%abv / 62 proof and is a light bodied, sweet liqueur. In color it is yellow tinged with a touch of gold. The aroma is sharp, warm, and complex, with vanilla up front; and then tangy sweet fruit, spices, and an aged rum like presence. The flavor is similar to the aroma; vanilla, complex intermingled spices, tangy fruits, and hints of citrus, carried by a flavor similar to fine aged rum.

Licor 43 is the leading premium liqueur of Spain, where Diego Zamora has been making it in Cartagna since 1924. The name Cuarenta Y Tres (43) comes from the supposedly 43 ingredients used to create it. There is a long history connected to this liqueur, maybe more so than any other, going back 2000 years to the time of the Carthaginians. Here is the supposed history, as well as five cocktail recipes to make with Licor 43.

I tried this for the first time today and I'm a convert. I had it straight in a snifter and on the rocks, enjoying it both ways greatly. I look forward to trying it in a few of those cocktail recipes I linked to earlier. This engaging spirit made me think of warm, golden days full of sunshine and balmy breezes; with pretty, black haired senoritas sashaying by, glancing coquettishly out of the corners of their dark, sensual, and mysterious eyes.

Spain has long been famous for the running of the bulls. While the annual hurling of the tomatoes is waaaay less dangerous, it's certainly as frenzied as that Hemingway-sanctioned ritual.

What!? You don't mean to tell me that you've never heard of La Tomatina, a festival in Valencia where folks wail on each other with more than 100 tons of tomatoes. Me neither, until today.

This year's food fight took place Wednesday. Legend has it that the ritual started 60 years ago when a scuffle between two groups of youths toppled a tomato stand. Regardless of how it all started some facts are certain: this year more than 110 tons of tomatoes were dumped in the town square and 500 showers were set up to cleanse the revelers. With any luck the town will get the streets clean too.

Earlier this month, a Spain-based blogger named Diana took on the project of blogging 30 days on a raw food diet. "From tomorrow I will begin a 30 day Raw Food experiment. I have researched the subject till the cows come home- tried and failed numerous times, but this time will be different!!" she says in her first post. By day five she'd already had a few beers, which apparently falls outside of the raw food program. Diana's stated goal for the project is weight loss, and she notes her starting and current weight at the beginning of each post. So far it looks to be mostly veggies, smoothies and sprouted grains. I'm curious to see how creative she gets with her meals and how conscious she'll be about nutrition. Hopefully the tone will keep to the upbeat and informative side and not drift too much into obsessing about weight loss.

Tapas are small plate dishes that are usually served in bars in Spain to accompany cocktails or other drink. A bit more upscale than what might be dubbed "pub grub" and a bit more satisfying than average bar foods, tapas has become very popular lately. Unfortunately, when you go out and share several plates, the price to make a meal can add up surprisingly fast. If you're a tapas fan, adding a book like Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America to your home library might not be a bad idea, so you'll be able to enjoy some favorites, learn a few new ones and keep the bar tab low.

Author Jose Andres is described as a protégé of the highly acclaimed Spanish chef Ferran Adria and peppers his book with anecdotes of his travels in Spain, in addition to providing colorful recipes, captured in vivid photographs. The chapters are organized by ingredients/themes, so it is easy to choose several dishes to make a meal, and each recipe is paired with a Spanish wine. Some of the dishes are slow cooked and old fashioned, while others have been updated with shortcuts, making this a well-rounded collection for any cook.