10 years and going strong!

First of all, I would like to start with an apology… I have been extremely lazy (or extremely busy on other issues), and just realized the last issue of this newsletter was nearly 5 years ago… So much for low-disturbance!

But I have very exciting news!

First of all is that spain-recipes.com has made it to its 10th anniversary… Yes, we started on 2004, and we’re still here!

A part from that, to celebrate the anniversary, we have really exciting news! Please keep reading, as there are interesting news at the end!

But before that, let’s review where we are after 10 years…

How it all started

I have to admit it, I got my degree in Computer Sciences, because I just couldn't stand working at my parents' restaurant. While I was studying, I helped them in almost every possible job you can imagine in a family restaurant: cleaning fish, washing dishes, serving tables, preparing the bills, you name it, I've done it! I just could not bear with it, so every time my computer vocation fainted I remembered what it was like to work at the restaurant, and I instantly found motivation: I am proud to say that the restaurant made me a good student! I ranked in the top 10 on my promotion at university!

After getting my degree, I got a job as an IT consultant, and I believed the only contact I was going to have with a restaurant or anything related to it would be as a customer. But I was wrong: life changes, and sometimes does it in unexpected ways: my restaurant experience was going to help me develop myself in a very creative (and nutritive) way!

Years later, when I was already working as an IT Project Manager for a big consulting firm, I was quite fed up with my job: long hours working (as in the restaurant, by the way), lots of traveling, boring projects... It was time for a change in my life!

I had the need to do something different, something that I really liked, where I was my own boss, where I could express myself. I needed to be creative, to take some risks. I was quite lost on the corporate labyrinth, and I needed to find my own way.

It all started almost like a joke… I decided to create a website on something I really knew about, something I really liked (even if I wasn’t fully aware of it)… and ten years ago I set up spain-recipes.com.

I must say I had some distinct advantage: my dad has been a professional cook since 1962 (yes, for 42 years at the time of starting the site). And what do cooks do very well (apart from cooking)? You guessed: collecting recipes. So I took some of my dad’s recipes, translated them to English, and got going from there… Some of you have been with me since then, and may have been able to see the results.

Where are we now?

During these last 10 years, many things have happened (personally, I got married, got a daughter, moved to London, …). Spain-recipes.com, in the meantime, has been slowly been growing (10,000 daily visitors last time I looked), and has suffered a number of changes (some of them still in progress). I must say that during that 10-year span, there have been periods when I simply have not been able to take care of the site, so it has gone more or less on auto-pilot mode, not to mention my exceptional laziness sending these fancy newsletters…

But I am glad to say I’m back! As many of you have already noticed, spain-recipes.com is currently being improved, not only in appearance, but also on contents. Old content is being ‘purged’, errors are being corrected, new images added… It is an ongoing effort, and it will take some time, but I’m sure you will love the result!

What's new?

After these 10 years (sorry I can’t help repeating this, I’m so proud!), I’ve decided to grow (well not really ;))…

I’ve realized that one of our most popular section at spain-recipes.com is the ‘Tapas recipes’ section. That’s hardly surprising, as Tapas are probably the most popular Spanish food worldwide, and authentic tapas recipes in English seem to be very attractive proposition!

Following this, I’ve decided to spin off the tapas section as a full-fledged independent website: www.easy-tapas-recipes.com. This will start with all the excellent Tapas content we already have at spain-recipes.com, but will grow independently, with new and exciting content related to Tapas and the Tapas culture.

What does it mean to you?

• spain-recipes.com will continue to have tapas recipes, but no new recipes will be added to the Tapas section. Instead, all new content will be posted through www.easy-tapas-recipes.com. Please take some time to browse the site, and please do provide feedback, it will really be appreciated! (you will see there is a comments section on the bottom of each page)
• spain-recipes.com will continue to be improved, although it may take a while more to completely revamp the current content
• A new monthly newsletter will be created (Tapas Passion), only for Tapas recipes. The first issue is due to be released towards the end of August, and will be issued on a monthly basis. This is really important, because all of you will receive an email asking you whether you want to subscribe to this new newsletter. I would be really grateful if you continued to trust us and subscribe to this newsletter as well… As I said, we’re not planning to be very invasive (the newsletter will be issued monthly, so don’t worry about spamming).

As I said, I’m really excited about all this, and I’m seriously planning to spend the next 10 years with you, discovering together the best of Spanish cuisine!

Jordi Vallés

PS: Remember you can find many more Spanish recipes at www.spain-recipes.com and www.easy-tapas-recipes.com.