Sirens wail in the background, but Jose Andres doesn't pause to notice. He's conducting a telephone interview in front of his restaurant Jaleo in Washington, D.C., talking about his PBS cooking show and a new cookbook — and waiting for his friend, Mexican cooking authority Diana Kennedy, to arrive.

Andres, who grew up in the Asturias region of northern Spain, has realized his dream: to bring Spanish food to the United States. For almost two decades, Andres has been educating Americans about Spanish food, one tapas at a time. He owns several restaurants in the D.C. area, including Jaleo and minibar by jose andres. His first cookbook, "Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America," was published in 2005, and his latest book, "Made in Spain," is a companion cookbook to the PBS series "Made in Spain." The show travels between Andres' two homes: Washington and Spain, and the recipes are created in his home kitchen using products found in the U.S.

Andres was introduced to public television audiences in "Chef's Story: Bittman Takes on America's Chefs" and "Diary of a Foodie." Check local PBS listings for upcoming episodes of "Made in Spain."

"As a chef, I have two worlds: fine cooking and the creative one, what I do at the restaurant. Another is who I am. It's more of the boy growing up, the traditional Spanish cooking side," he said.

"My wife told me one morning, are you going to be a TV boy or be a chef and use TV to spread your message? This question made me think. So I put myself entirely to create seriously for PBS.

"I try to teach how to cook Spanish in my house, and take people on a trip around Spain, where I allow ingredients to speak for themselves. The farmer, the fisherman, the cheese maker, the artisans are the heroes. Without them, it would not be cooking as we know it."

Cooking Spanish means using simple American ingredients and genuine Spanish products readily bought here. The fish should come from American shores, the meat from the area, and the vegetables local, he said, and they can be seasoned with a few Spanish ingredients that you can pick up at a supermarket — Spanish smoked paprika and Spanish olive oil.

"Made in Spain" (Potter) is being published this month.

This recipe from the book is inspired by the delicious potatoes grown in the Canary Islands, which are off the coast of Africa, Andres said. The islands were historically the last port between Spain and the Americas, and with their warm climate, they became home to many American products. Although the potatoes on the islands are especially wonderful, you can re-create this dish with the flavorful varieties that grow in America.

WRINKLED POTATOES, CANARY ISLANDS-STYLE