The Spanish love to eat, and they bring great energy and animation to the table. It takes stamina to follow one's Spanish hosts through an evening of dining, whether it's making the rounds of tapas bars well into the night or sharing a stunning variety of dishes during a long, lively dinner.

This enthusiasm for eating is rooted in traditions of Spain's many regions. But it also reflects an openess to experimentation and new versions of old dishes. The bold innovations of chefs like Juan Mari Arzak and Pedro Subijana helped create the new Basque cuisine, and the brilliant experimentation of Ferran Adria has made his Catalan restaurant one of the hottest eating spots in Europe.

The spirit of innovation has spread throughout the country, inspiring tasty new variations on old gastronomic themes. In The New Spanish Table Anya von Bremzen describes Spain as "an El Dorado with an immense untapped wealth of the kind of unfussy, elegant, alluring Mediterranean flavors we all swoon for these days."

Discovering the wines of Spain inevitably brings one around to savoring its cuisine, so we are dedicating this space to recipes that Cory has collected in the course of her explorations and adapted for cooking at home. We invite you to try the recipes in the right-hand column. Beginning with some of the classics, we'll add a new dish every month. Enjoy!

Our Recipe-of-the-Month for March is Tapas Meatballs.