'Cookstrips – Spanish Cooking' (1970s) by Len Deighton

Len Deighton, best known for his espionage novels like 'The Ipcress File' and 'Funeral in Berlin', is perhaps one of the most surprising figures in the culinary world. His Cookstrips — a series of illustrated recipe guides published in The Observer from the early 1960s — were pioneering, blending minimalism, design, and practical instruction. Among the themed sets was Cookstrips – Spanish Cooking, a lesser-known but culturally rich sequence that showcased Deighton’s fascination not just with food but with national character through cuisine.

The Style and Concept
The brilliance of the Cookstrips lies in their unique format. Eschewing the traditional columned recipe format, Deighton laid out his instructions in graphic panels: black-and-white drawings with arrows, symbols, and terse captions. They feel like a Cold War schematic or a pilot’s pre-flight checklist — unsurprising, given Deighton’s background in military history and design.

In Spanish Cooking, this format proves especially effective. Spanish cuisine often relies on technique, layering of ingredients, and a sense of timing rather than precise measurement. Dishes like paella, gazpacho, tortilla española, and gambas al ajillo benefit from a visual logic. Deighton simplifies and deconstructs the steps, helping a British or international audience unfamiliar with Spanish traditions to enter this world with confidence.

Cultural Accessibility
What’s notable is how Deighton acts as both a culinary ambassador and a translator. In the 1960s, Spanish food was relatively exotic for most British households — often reduced to the clichés of sangria and chorizo. Deighton’s strips avoid this tourist-level simplification. Instead, he emphasizes rustic, regional authenticity: the importance of olive oil, the handling of saffron, and the rhythm of communal cooking.

He treats Spanish food not as exotic but as intelligible and democratic — very much in keeping with his egalitarian approach to both cooking and writing. This respect for the cuisine is part of a broader project: giving men, often sidelined in the kitchen in mid-century Britain, the tools to cook confidently. And what better gateway than the robust, hearty, and improvisational world of Spanish food?

A Designer's Palate
From a design perspective, the Spanish Cookstrips continue Deighton’s modernist ethos: every mark has meaning, and aesthetics serve clarity. His background at the Royal College of Art comes through in the clean lines and legible layout. At a time when food writing was still verbose or trapped in domestic sentimentality, Deighton’s approach was lean, efficient, and cool — as much Bauhaus as Barcelona.

Influence and Legacy
While the Spanish Cooking series didn’t receive the same focused reprint treatment as his French or Italian sets, its influence endures. It stands as a key part of Deighton’s culinary output — a body of work that, while often overshadowed by his fiction, helped demystify international food in post-war Britain. The Cookstrips inspired later minimalist recipe formats and can even be seen as precursors to the infographic cooking craze of the digital age.

Conclusion
Cookstrips – Spanish Cooking by Len Deighton isn’t just a collection of recipes; it’s a cultural bridge. It reveals a novelist’s eye for detail, a designer’s concern for clarity, and a cosmopolitan’s love for good food. As with his spy novels, Deighton believes the world is decipherable — you just need the right tools. And here, they come in the form of arrows, drawings, and confidence in the kitchen. Spanish cooking, under his pen, becomes not only accessible but quietly revolutionary.