IN THE KITCHENS OF CASTILE

Art critic Gijs van Hensbergen had long dreamed of mastering Castilian cuisine - the least known and most delicious in Europe, with its suckling pigs and milk - fed lambs, and its extraordinary variety of seafood. He left England and travelled to Segovia, the oldest and most beautiful city in Castile, with the idea of apprenticing himself to one of the major restaurants there. Soon he was working for 12 hours a day, in temperatures of over a hundred, but rapidly learning the traditions, not only of Castilian kitchens, but also of the architecture, the literature, even the agriculture of the region. He absorbed himself in the Castilian way of life and describes it here most vividly. He writes of wild boar hunts, auctions conducted over church altars, 20 course banquets and the most exclusive wine grape in the world.