This roundtable presents how Spanish Gastronomy has transformed the perceptions of British travellers in the last decades, from stereotypes of the past to globally renowned cuisine. Spanish cooking has been rediscovered thanks to the many innovations brought by Spanish chefs in their creative experimentation based on terroir seasonal sustainability, a local product-centric approach with echoes of the traditional Mediterranean diet.
Wines with international recognition and Spanish names such as Sherry, Rioja, Duero or Cava have contributed to a global prestige based on official Designations of Origin. The various regions of Spain have experienced a historical transformation of their images based on culinary traditions, winery experiences and the positive sociological aspects linked to the food story of Spain.
This is the 5th session of the series “Travellers to Spain, a Cultural Tour” (2024-2025), in this occasion exploring food and wines as the social heartbeat for the country and the love affair of travellers, critics and chefs with a reinvented cuisine. Three distinguished scholars, writers and food critics will participate in this session, which seeks to answer questions about the evolution of the image of Spain through its rich foods and wines rooted in tradition and projecting Spain as a diverse and attractively flavourful country.
Speakers
María José Sevilla. Food and Wine writer, former director of Foods and Wines from Spain. Member of the British Guild of Food Writers, a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino. She holds the Diploma of The Wine and Spirit Education Trust. Broadcaster, Consultant and Lecturer, author of many gastronomy books, among them Spain on a Plate: Spanish Regional Cookery and Cocina de Andalucia: Spanish recipes from the land of a thousand landscapes.
Sarah Jane Evans. Sarah Jane Evans MW is a journalist, lecturer, and educator specializing in Spanish wines. A Master of Wine, she is co-chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards, presides over the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino, and is part of the editors of the prestigious collection The Classic Wine Library. She has been awarded several times for her communication work around Spanish wines and is also a great ambassador for Sherry. Master of Wine based in the United Kingdom, although is more often travelling the world on epicurean adventures. She has received the Officer’s Cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic and is a highly accomplished and award-winning wine writer and journalist.
Adrián Fuentes. Professor and Translator, Universidad Pablo Olavide, Spain, was also chief Translator-Interpreter at the Australian Embassy in Spain, and worked for British Council, Cambridge University Press, International Maritime Organization and Museo Nacional del Prado. He has been a professor at the universities of Cadiz, Granada, Portsmouth, Puerto Rico and Colorado State University. He specializes in audiovisual translation, the translation of tourism and humor, and institutional translation, fields to which he has contributed numerous publications, including the only monograph to date on translation in the tourism sector.
“Translating flavour: a linguistic recipe for transforming clichés into global gastronomic icons.”
Chair and series curator: Alberto Egea Fernández-Montesinos, Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain.
