Delicooks

> Librería Knowfood

Sergi is the owner of a very special bookstore in the Gracia district of Barcelona, called Knowfood, where you can only find food-related books. Thanks to his store’s wide range of titles, grouped by different types of cuisine, Knowfood is an obligatory port of call for cooks and food lovers alike.

How long have you had the shop and how did you come up with the idea?

I opened in November 2007. I came up with the idea in Rome, where I lived in 2006. It’s a combination of two passions: reading and cooking. I’m a journalist by training and worked for many years in different media. Then, around 2004, I left journalism and moved to live in England and Italy, where I started working as a cook to make ends meet. So that's how it came about.

Do you think anyone can become a good cook by reading recipes? Or do you have to have cooking in your "genes"?

To be a chef you have to devote yourself to cooking. Practice is what shows you how to read, cook, ride a bike ... books help you find new recipes, to improve your technique, to know the 'why' of cooking methods. But without practice, it’s impossible to become a good cook.

Do you have a favorite book that nobody has come in asking for?
The books that I enjoy, I recommend. And many clients come back after a few weeks and thank me for the recommendation. So far I haven’t come across a book that I like that nobody has asked for.

Do professional chefs come in to buy books?
Yes, I have a growing number of professional chefs who are regular customers. Many of them place their orders by e-mail.

The age of the digital book is just around the corner. What’s the future for cook books?
Digital cookbooks already exist: look at blogs, for example. And paper books are still with us. It is difficult to make predictions but I think that the paper book will fare better than how the IT 'gurus’ would have us think.

How can a highly specialized bookstore survive in a world of big bookstores? Does the bookseller make a difference?
Indeed, one of the biggest assets in any bookshop is the bookseller, just as the seller is in all small, independent retail outlets. Another major difference is the fact that in specialist bookshops there’s space for classics, books published five, six, seven years ago and older. Large bookstores are filled mainly with 'new' titles.

You've been to New York. Have you visited any bookstore that you liked a lot?
Whenever I travel I visit the city’s bookstores. In New York you can find a lot of good bookstores. I particularly like: 'Strandbooks' at Broadway Avenue and 12th Street, the largest secondhand bookstore I've ever seen and also 'Spoonbill & Sugartown' on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg: it’s very small but has a wonderful selection of books and topics.

Do you follow any food blog or website?
I follow several blogs. For example the site on market-based cuisine by Sol Fliman, a Chilean friend who studied at the Hofmann School; and "la cucina di calycanthus' run by some Italian friends.

Do you remember what your first cookbook was?
The first cookbook I bought was El gran libro de la cocina catalana by Josep Lladonosa. A basic book for a Catalan who wants to cook for friends.

Can you think of any ‘literary’ recipe?
Colman Andrews, in his wonderful book Catalan Cuisine makes a funny metaphor when speaking of Catalan sofrito. He says the sofrito is to Catalan cuisine what 'once upon a time ....' is for children's books.