La Rioja is synonymous with wine, but this small Spanish region bordered by Navarre, Castile and the Basque country is much more than classic tempranillos and bolder, fruitier, new-wave blends. It is a fertile land of fruits and vegetables and the home of both a hearty old and spirited new cuisine built on a solid common ground of good flavor.

La Rioja is also a region rich in history, a cultural crossroads for the Romans, Visigoths, Muslims and Christians who came together to make Spain. During the Middle Ages, pilgrims from all over Europe traversed the region on their way to the shrine of St. James at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Their route (El Camino de Santiago) provided an influx of energy to La Rioja, and was the impetus for new towns, bridges, monasteries and markets.

With the pilgrims came ideas from across the Pyrenees like Romanesque architecture, a building style that is beautifully represented in many of La Rioja's medieval monasteries, repositories of learning that helped to make the region the cradle of the Spanish language.

In the monastery of Suso at the town of San Millán de la Cogolla, a monk wrote comments (glosses) on a Latin text in Latin and in the two vernacular languages of the region, Basque and a form of Castilian or Aragonese. Near San Millán is the birthplace of the monk Gonzalo de Berceo, who wrote what is believed to be the first devotional poetry in Castilian. Full of colloquial terms, Berceo's poems are required reading for anyone interested in the history of the Spanish language.

Monasteries were also among the region's most powerful land owners, and the monks, with their expertise in viticulture, horticulture and animal husbandry, laid the foundation for La Rioja's modern agricultural wealth.

That wealth -- and the accomplishments of a half-dozen of La Rioja's most celebrated chefs -- was the focus of a dinner earlier this month at New York's Rockefeller Center sponsored by the Basque food magazine Viandar and La Rioja's Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development.

Pedro M. Sáez Rojo, the general manager of the department, spoke enthusiastically about La Rioja's privileged environment: fertile valleys irrigated by the Ebro River, a temperate climate conditioned by both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and a combination of warm days and cool nights that are kind not only to grapes but to asparagus, artichokes, potatoes, peppers, mushrooms and cauliflower.

Sáez Rojo was not about to minimize the importance of the La Rioja's wine industry -- its close to 600 wineries produce 265 million liters each year -- but he also extolled the specialty producers working in small towns along the Ebro and the larger growers supplying vegetables in La Rioja, where canning is a major industry.

La Rioja's cured meats are said to be among the best of Spain and the source of delicious regional specialties like the popular patatas a la riojana, a savory blend of potatoes and chorizo.

La Rioja's traditional cuisine is hearty with a wonderful balance of protein and vegetables. Many dishes are seasoned with olive-oil based sofritos rich in garlic and peppers. Combinations of vegetables as in the menestra de verduras are common.

One of my favorite La Rioja dishes is the pochas con codornices -- fresh, tender beans cooked with quail. I also love the baby lamb chops grilled over grapevine cuttings (chuletillas de cordero asadas al sarmiento). As in the neighboring Basque country, Rioja cooks have a way with salt cod.

It is no surprise that aspects of the traditional cuisine nourish the work of young chefs in today's La Rioja, including the six featured at the New York dinner: Jesús Sáez, Francis Paniego, Laura Suescun, Pedro Masip, Juan Angel Rodrigálvarez and Buenaventura Rodríguez.

But with dishes like cherry gazpacho with langoustine, langoustine carpaccio with slivers of foie gras and French toast with a cheese mousse and cacao jelly, their menu also expressed Spain's avant garde spirit.

Paniego, the chef-owner of El Portal de Echaurren, led the pack with his elegant new cuisine. He is highly regarded in Spain, for his Ezcaray restaurant was the first in the region to receive a Michelin star. For the New York dinner, he cooked moist salt cod with a twist to the traditional pil pil method. I marveled at the silky, juicy texture of the cod flakes, which melted in the mouth.

As La Rioja strives to bring attention to its wonders and promote its products abroad, the work of chefs like Paniego shows a proud region that looks at the future with feet firmly planted in the past and in the land.

Culinary historian Maricel E. Presilla is the chef/co-owner of Cucharamama and Zafra in Hoboken, N.J. Her latest book is The New Taste of Chocolate.

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