MIAMI -- On the American dinner plate, Spain is a side dish no longer.

After years in the shadows of the cuisines of France and Italy, Spanish foods -- as well as the men and women who craft them -- are demanding and deserving main-course treatment.

"Our gastronomy has never been as popular as it is now," Ferran Adria, the famed avant-garde chef of el Bulli restaurant in Roses, Spain, said in an e-mail interview translated from Spanish.

In cookbooks and on television, Spain's cuisine has become a must-have. Traditional ingredients once limited to specialty shops -- manchego cheese, Iberian and serrano hams, chorizo, sardines and anchovies -- are now commonplace.

And some of the nation's hottest menus are headlined by Spanish chefs, including Jose Andres, whose restaurants include Jaleo in Washington, an eatery credited with putting tapas -- Spanish bar food -- on the American food chain.

Even this year's Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival -- typically a celeb-fest tribute to the American food scene -- was kicked off with an ode to Spanish cooking, complete with a dinner for Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

"People no longer think Spanish cooking is paella," says John Willoughby, executive editor of Gourmet magazine. "People are now starting to be more familiar with the ingredients. Traditional Spanish cuisine is pretty straightforward. It's not that hard."

Despite that, Spanish cuisine had a slow start in the United States, partly for lack of a large immigrant population, says Andres, who was born in Mieres, Spain, and trained with Adria. Americans' constant quest for new tastes pushed the turnaround.

"This is not something that happened overnight," he says. "Everything has been gradual. Fifteen years ago, Spain didn't even have a category in liquor stores in America. Now, every one does."

Spain only recently found its culinary voice. During Francisco Franco's rule, the cuisine was rustic and simple because of poverty and poor quality of ingredients, says Anya von Bremzen, author of "The New Spanish Table" cookbook.

"After the death of Franco (in 1975), there was new awakening. They modernized very quickly," she says. "If you start from scratch, you might as well go for the sexy stuff."

Today, Spanish cooking is known for an unusual blend of ultra-avant-garde creations -- so-called molecular gastronomy, in which liquid nitrogen has become a standard cooking tool -- and more rustic fare, such as fabada, a pork and bean stew.

Dani Garcia, chef at Restaurante Calima in Marbella, Spain, calls Spanish cooking an art, one that has pushed and blurred the boundaries of food and science. Garcia, for example, uses liquid nitrogen to make "popcorn" from olive oil, sherry and tomato water.

That innovative spirit has grabbed attention and respect. And it was enough to team Mario Batali -- a reigning voice of Italian cooking in the U.S. -- with actress Gwyneth Paltrow and food writer Mark Bittman in "Spain: On the Road Again," a travelogue-style television show chronicling great eats across Spain. And it brought Andres to American viewers in public television's "Made in Spain."

Though clearly happy to push Spanish cuisine, Batali doesn't see it diminishing Americans' love affair with Italian food.

"I don't think it will take over. It will certainly have a place," he says.

Grant Achatz, whose Alinea restaurant in Chicago is a leader of the molecular gastronomy movement, agrees that Spanish food itself is unlikely to topple other cuisines from the top of the American food chain, but the techniques Spain's chefs have pioneered will linger.

"They have a lot to do with this new way of looking at professional cooking. ... It's more the philosophy," Achatz says. "It was in progress as they became popular. It was a natural evolution, they just sped up the process."

Basque lamb sausage with white beans

Don't care for particularly spicy sausage? Cut the chilies in theses handmade (but still easy) Basque country sausages to 2 tablespoons. Canned white beans and a bit of serrano ham combine for a nice side.

Start to finish: Five hours (one hour active)

Servings: Four

For the sausage:

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/4 cup dried pequin chilies

3/4 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika

1/2 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2-1/4 pounds ground lamb

For the white beans:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup finely diced serrano ham

3 large cloves garlic, sliced

1 1/2 cups sliced yellow onions

1 bay leaf

1-1/2 tablespoons brandy

15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

8 thyme sprigs, to garnish

To make the sausage, in a small skillet over medium, toast the cumin and fennel seeds, stirring constantly, for three to five minutes, or until fragrant.

In a spice grinder or mortar, combine the cumin, fennel and caraway seeds, chilies, paprika, 1/2 tablespoon of salt and the pepper. Grind finely, about 45 to 60 seconds in an electric grinder. Transfer to a small bowl.

In a mortar, grind the garlic and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt to a paste. Add the garlic paste to the bowl of spices, then add the oil and mix well.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the seasoning mixture and ground lamb. Portion the mixture into about eighteen 1/4-cup mounds, arranging them on the prepared baking sheet.

Shape each mound into a 4-1/2-inch-by-1-inch sausage. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

To prepare the beans, in a large saute pan over medium-high, heat the oil. Add the ham, and saute until crispy and dark brown, six to eight minutes. Transfer the ham to a plate, and set aside.

Return the pan to medium heat, then add the garlic, onions and bay leaf. Cook until the onions begin to caramelize, about 12 minutes. Add the brandy and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon and scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze.

Remove the bay leaf, and stir in the beans, thyme leaves, parsley, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate the beans and ham for four to six hours to allow the flavors of the beans to blend. Bring the beans to room temperature before serving.

To cook the sausages, heat a grill to medium-high. Grill the links for 12 to 15 minutes.

To serve, spoon 1/2 cup of the beans onto each plate and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the Serrano ham. Top with four of the grilled sausages, and garnish with two thyme sprigs.

(Recipe adapted from The Culinary Institute of America's "Spain and the World Table," 2008, DK Publishing)

Basque tapas of bonito with soft onion and tomato

This simple tapas offering is from Spain's Basque region, where it is typical bar food. This version, from Jose Andres' cookbook, "Made in Spain," combines crunchy bread, soft onion and meaty tuna.

The recipe calls for Spanish-style oil-packed bonito tuna, but any oil-packed canned tuna will be fine.

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: Four

4 tablespoons Spanish (or other) extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus extra for drizzling

1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

Sea salt, to taste

8-1/2-inch baguette, cut into rounds

2 plum tomatoes

4 ounces Spanish oil-packed bonito tuna, separated into flakes

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

In a small saute pan over low, heat 3 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onion, and cook slowly until golden brown, about 20 minutes. If the onion starts to stick or burn, add 1 tablespoon of water. Season with salt, then let cool to room temperature.

Toast the bread, then set aside.

Place a grater over a large bowl. Halve the tomatoes, and rub the cut sides across the grater until all the flesh is grated. Discard the skins. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the tomato, mix, then season with salt.

Spread the tomato pulp over the toasts. Place 1 tablespoon of the onions on each, then top with 1 tablespoon of the tuna flakes. Garnish each with chives, then drizzle with oil and season with salt.

(Recipe from Jose Andres' "Made in Spain," Clarkson Potter, 2008)

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