El Comidista serves up a website

"This website is El Comidista on steroids" sums up Mikel Iturriaga with the wry tone that for years has made his food blog one of the most popular in the country. The new souped-up site incorporates videos, new partners and the figure of the chef's ombudsman, who will deal with all complaints about recipes raised by budding online chefs. The blog El Comidista, a treat for El País readers since five years ago, is thus growing up, adding new content and becoming a website with a capital W.

Video content is perhaps the most notable novelty. Iturriaga and his collaborators will be making two videos a week that will offer a recipe and a report. Thanks to videos, cooks will have their hands free while following instructions on screen. The new site will also be offering a wide range of activities and events related to the El Comidista brand, to be revealed shortly.

Some things are being kept reassuringly the same. The philosophy is still to talk about everyday food that's both healthy and simple. Although that doesn't stop it from taking a peek into the world of haute cuisine from time to time. The site, aimed at all audiences, will be keeping its trademark sense of humor that has characterized the blog over the years. "I'm not planning on giving myself the airs of top-level food critics, but I do want to be rigorous while we all have a bit of fun," Iturriaga said.

This site is also a debut for the chef's ombudsman, a tribute to the figure of the Readers' Editor at El País. She will be dealing with complaints, questions and suggestions regarding online content and recipes and will get the author of the recipe to respond, in video, to budding chefs. Fans of Iturriaga's Q&A service, Alo Comidista, will also be thrilled to hear that this memorable section remains online.