Jose Andres: You forget I’ve done this before! I had a show in Spain for several years called Vamos a Cocinar. That was tough. We filmed in Madrid and I am based in Washington so there was a bit of traveling. And that was daily for a while! Uff! Made in Spain has been easier. We film in Spain but the kitchen segments are done at my home in Washington. Also, I can’t complain. I work with great people. We go to every corner of Spain, even ones that as a Spaniard I don’t know so well. And I get to do what I love most which is tell Americans about Spain and show them all the great things we have to offer.

AZ.com: The best cooking in the world right now is coming out of Spain. How has that developed over the last 20 years?

JA: Spain has been experiencing a creative flowering for nearly thirty years. In that time things opened up, the country opened up. You have to understand that things were very closed, the country was cut off from what was happening in the rest of the world for a long time. Since then there has been a renaissance in the world of art, film, design, fashion and of course cooking.

Many credit Paul Bocuse for inspiring a whole generation of Spanish chefs. Bocuse, the godfather of nouvelle cuisine, came to Madrid in the late 1970s to speak at a conference. His speech inspired a whole movement, led by Juan Mari Arzak and Pedro Subijana in the Basque country, to revolutionize Spanish cooking. They tapped into the great Basque tradition of cooking, modernizing it. Arzak took a classic dish like Merluza en salsa verde and reworked it, creating a version that was authentic but lighter and more modern. San Sebastian has always been a great town for food but now it is even more deserving of its reputation because of guys like Arzak.

During his trip, Bocuse famously sampled a plate of Patatas a la Riojana and deemed it one of the best things he had ever tasted. I don’t know if we can’t credit Bocuse with everything but something else had started: an appreciation of what was ours. For a long time, we didn’t look at our own traditions, our own products as anything valuable. But something began to change. You had people like Enric Canut who made it his mission to rescue cheeses that were on the verge of disappearing. These were cheeses that had been made in small corners of the country in a very traditional way for centuries, cheeses that were in danger of dying out. Enric knew these cheeses were something valuable, an important part of our culture. He went out and documented these cheeses, recording the recipe, the process, in many cases helping to revive them and provide them with a market.

Finally you cannot discount economics. You need to consider that until quite recently Spain was poor compared to the rest of Europe. In those days, we did not go out to eat very often. The few restaurants we had were very old school, many times French influenced, grand, dark, sometimes intimidating places. That is to say that up until recently, dining out was a luxury, something very few people could afford to do. Now the economy is better and people have more money, the result is the dining public is more educated, more sophisticated about food. That pushes restaurants to be better.

So something began to happen a little over twenty years, almost thirty years ago you had the intersection of many things. You had things opening up. People could breathe. They could look at what was happening in the world around them and draw inspiration. You had a general creative explosion. At the same time, people in Spain began to look at what we had and began to appreciate it in a new way. And the economy improved, creating a class of people who could afford to dine out more often, people who had traveled more and had higher standards.

AZ.com: It bothers me when I see a restaurant advertising Thai Tapas, but everyone is cashing in on the small plate craze that started with Tapas. Who does it well and what are the 5 things Americans should know about Tapas that they don't?

JA: Tapas are the traditional small plates of Spain. No one really can say what the origin was. Some say a piece of bread or plate to cover your glass of wine to protect it from the dust or flies. The story is that an entrepreneur had the idea to start giving customers a little treat on the “tapa”. Probably just a few almonds or olives, a slice of jamon or cheese to go with your drink. This grew into the tradition of tapas. No one can say for sure but it is a nice story.

Tapas are as much about a way of eating as they are about specific items or a style of cooking. The way you enjoy them is as important as the actual food. Tapas are meant to be shared. I think the appeal is the informality of tapas, the sociability of tapas. When you eat this way you have the ability to try a little bit of everything. You can eat as much or as little as you like.

AZ.com: What are 5 "off the radar" spots in Spain that a traveler should not miss on a trip there?

JA: 1) FM in Granada: ultimate tapas place
2) Rompeolas in Tazones: best spider crab and monkfish
3) Tira do Cordel in Finisterre for amazing grilled fish, don’t leave without watching how they grill
4) Campero in Barbate the kingdom of tuna
5) Casa Balbino for tortillitas de camarones the ultimate tapa and Casa bigotes for langostinos all in Sanlucar de Barrameda land of manzanilla (and you should visit and taste La Gitana)

AZ.com: What's your favorite eating city in Spain and why?

JA: Barcelona for many reasons. I grew up there and have many great food memories. In La Boqueria, we have one of the best markets in the world. You can find the best mushrooms, the best fish and seafood there, everything. There is a small bar called Bar Pinotxo where you grab a quick breakfast or snack. Wonderful. Barcelona is a city of great food traditions. There are old classic restaurants, restaurants cooking great traditional Catalan food and many modern, energetic ones headed up by young chefs inspired by cutting edge cooking. My friend Quim Marques serves up authentic suquet de peix and other traditional Catalan seafood dishes in the Barceloneta at his restaurant Suquet de L’Almirall. At Inopia, Albert Adria is serving his version of tapas. Very informal like a tapas bar should be but using the best possible ingredients. So many more I could name. Great local foods. Cocas, the ubiquitous pan con tomate.

AZ.com: What's in your fridge?

JA: Spanish cheese, orange juice, eggs, a big pitcher of gazpacho, leftovers, cava

José Andrés is an internationally recognized culinary innovator best known for bringing both traditional and avant-garde Spanish fare to America.

Often called Spain’s unofficial ambassador to the United States, José is the host of Made in Spain, a 26-episode public television series focusing on Spain’s wine, food and travel. Drawing on his unrivalled expertise, José takes viewers to every corner of the country highlighting his favorite markets, vineyards, restaurants, artisans and more. The series is produced by José’s THINKfoodGROUP along with Full Plate Media and presented by KQED-TV. Made in Spain begins airing on public television stations across the country in February of 2008; A companion book will be published by Clarkson Potter in fall 2008.

When he is not in the kitchen or in front of television cameras, José is Chairman Emeritus of DC Central Kitchen, is a contributing editor to Food Arts and is an enthusiastic promoter of the Washington restaurant scene. He lives in Maryland with his wife and three daughters.