‘Spain is much more than patatas bravas’: José Pizarro’s summer recipes

He has been championing the cooking of his home country for 25 years. On his summer menu? Prawn pil pil tortilla, chicken chilindron, flan de fresa

When José Pizarro first arrived in the UK in 1999 seeking to expand his horizons as a chef, he found a country in a benighted state of ignorance as far as Spanish food was concerned. “People were confusing jamón ibérico with parma ham,” he says with a shudder. “Everyone thought it was all just patatas bravas and sangría. I like patatas bravas and sangría, don’t get me wrong, but Spain is so much more than that.”

Fortunately, the public were eager to learn and Pizarro, who grew up eating his mother’s “simple but amazing” food in Extremadura, made it his mission to spread the word. He worked at several Spanish restaurants, including Brindisa, where he was executive chef. Then, in 2011, he opened two restaurants of his own on Bermondsey Street, south-east London: a tiny tapas bar named José and the larger Pizarro, both smash hits. Five more restaurants followed in London, Esher and Abu Dhabi, all temples to his native cuisine, with more on the way. At the same time, he has been championing Spanish food on TV, in six cookbooks, and at festivals and industry talks. In March, in recognition of his “extraordinary services to Spain”, Pizarro was awarded the officer’s cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Spanish ambassador in London. (His mum, in attendance aged 90, was “very happy” about it all.)

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