Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America

This book is absolutely amazing. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I have other books on Mexican cuisine (Kennedy and Bayless) and a couple of Caribbean cookbook, but this book covers the varied cuisines of the Latin world with such incredible detail that it is easily my favorite on the subject. I had intitially imagined it to be like a Latin Larousse, but with its straightforward style and infectious enthusiasm for the cuisine, it is its own beast, and a beautiful one at that! While it does not offer a complete view of the cuisines of any one country (a little disappointed to not have a pipian verde recipe), I can't imagine any book coming as close to doing so as this one does.The recipes are straightforward and presented with introductions that makes them hard to resist. Ever since I received the book I've been scouring the internet for different rare ingredients(Chiles chilhuacles, chiles mirasol, chicha jora, to name a few), but the book overs good substitutions for ingredients that you may have difficulty procuring outside of their native regions (I'm looking at you, chilhuacles negros!). I've already made a Peruvian adobo from the book and just finished grinding together chiles pequin and cocoa nibs to create in incredible Mayan seasoning brick that can be grated onto dishes as needed. I'm also gathering up the ingredients to make the epic Oaxacan mole negro for Halloween (I'm absolutely fascinated by the prospect of burning a bunch of chile seeds to carbon and using them to color the sauce- noxious fumes be damned!) Who knows, by next summer I may even be planting my own selection of chiles and herbs that I can make more of these fantastic recipes.If you have any interest in authentic Latin cuisine, or are passionate about the art of cooking in any way, you need to buy this book. It will surely earn a prominent place amongst your cookbooks and on your kitchen counters.

This cookbook is truly amazing. Very inspiring if you love any kind of Latin food and want to try making it at home. Personally, I was looking for a cookbook that explained in detail how to make many Argentine recipes (I'm Argentine) that was current and English and this book does that, and far more, covering all of Latin America. I love reading all the history and incredible detail that she provides on each recipe. I'm trying out her Leaping Frog chicken recipe today and all the spices together smelled heavenly as I was dressing the chicken. Excited to see how it comes together.My only complaint -- and I agree with other reviewers that many of the ingredients that she suggests are hard to find so the one thing missing for me is a resources section of the book of where to find these ingredients. I live in Brooklyn and I know Maricel Presilla, our author, lives in Hoboken, NJ so its possible I could go to some of her local stores, or even order special ingredients online but she doesn't give her readers a lot of hints on where to source these special ingredients, online or local to her, which is a bit of a bummer. Maybe she can add that to a second edition!

I am excited to dig through this book! I was looking for something to use for potlucks in my medieval recreationist group that wasn't euro-centric and this is it! The author gives details describing how recipes were adapted after the Columbian exchange in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. I can't wait to bring dishes from this book that are right out of history!!

A big cookbook award winner this year was Maricel Presilla's Gran Cocina Latina, which was awarded Cookbook of the Year by the James Beard Foundation and the General Award by the IACP. So, with those credentials, it's worth a look.The key to why Presilla's Gran Cocina Latina will be a success as a cookbook and as a major contribution to the literature is to be found in her acknowledgements way back on page 859 where she writes: "The book is about crossovers, the taking of recipes from their home turf to a different environment to give them new life." Back in 1972, Diana Kennedy wrote the Cuisines of Mexico. It endures as a classic authoritative source. But as a cookbook it's user-hostile. Our copy has been gathering dust in the library for forty years.Presilla's narratives are informative, hugely readable and entertaining. She has a nice touch between history, regional color and introspection. This book promises to be user-friendly. There are only a few recipes that appear too daunting for the home cook without a Latin pantry.For sure, I am going to get into the chapters on Little Latin Dishes and Cebiches. But not before her chapter in Hot Pepper Pots. Gathering stews and braised dishes from the entire Latin world and placing them in their own chapter is so inventive that it suggests genius.Gran Cocina Latina is the new canon of Latin American food. A triumph of research and application.

This is the best book I’ve seen so far!! As a native from Central America I was sad to realize that I didn’t know a lot of recipes when I moved from home. After searching for a while I came across this book, the amount of recipes is amazing. I found recipes for real traditional dishes from different countries, the book gives a lot of details and even small tips. I love how you can find different types of recipes from street food to more complex food.If you want to learn how to make real food from Latin American countries this is probably the best book you’ll find. Comes with a ton of recipes and easy to understand instructions.I’m not sure why people is complaining about the history part, this is a cooking book so I don’t expect it to be accurate in that matter.

Se você gosta e quer saber mais sobre a gastronomia da América Latina TEM QUE TER esse livro. Muuuuito bom. Melhor aquisição do ano.

Mit Verwandtschaft in Guatemala und Argentinien habe ich lange nach einem Kochbuch gesucht, in dem ich ganz Lateinamerika wiederfinde! Hier ist es! Es ist nicht nur ein Kochbuch, es ist eine wissenschaftliche Abhandlung über die Küche Lateinamerikas! Wunderbar, klare Empfehlung!

I've spent the past year and half working my way through this cook book. It is simply amazing. I love how much research and information there is about the history of ingredients and culinary traditions. Great reference book.Also great cookbook. The recipes are arranged by ingredients, and this makes the book very easy to use. Initially, I was a little bit disappointed that the recipes weren't arranged by region, but arranging the recipes by ingredients actually makes more sense because it's how people actually cook.The recipes in this collection are absolutely delicious, and each is distinctly regional. When I first got this book I was likewise disappointed that the recipes didn't seem "Authentic" or "Traditional". But after cooking more of the recipes and considering the cookbook as a whole, it's clear that this really is an excellent collection of Latin American (plus some Caribbean) recipes. As to so-called "tradition and authenticity", I have to cal BS on my past expectations and assumptions: all recipes are interpretation, and Maricel E. Presilla's recipes taste good.This is a great book and I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys Latin American food. The recipes are easy to follow/adapt and taste great. The culinary history is an incredible bonus.

Una raccolta enciclopedica di ricette dall'America latina nata per il mercato editoriale statunitense; qualcuno obietterà che manca questo e quello, che il ricettario non è preciso o autentico, fedele alle ricette della nonna, eccetera.Io dopo tanti anni di frequentazione (sette, circa) voglio premiare questo libro non tanto per la sua completezza (una cosa impossibile da realizzare) ma per lo sforzo compiuto dell'autrice con un lavoro efficace e prezioso. Le ricette hanno un'impronta personale, ma sono sempre molto curate; una notevole attenzione è stata impiegata nella parte grafica utilizzando, oltre a foto a colori, disegni a margine per le varianti e la tecnica.La cucina tradizionale è sempre una cosa viva, muta perennemente insieme ai nostri ricordi, ai nostri desideri e ai nostri gusti. Ce ne possiamo rendere conto se osserviamo la distanza che ci separa dalle ricette del nostro Talismano; ma la cosa importante è che libri come questo non ci facciano perdere il legame e continuino a raccontare le nostre radici anche attraverso altri occhi (quelli dei vivi, per dirla tutta). Ottimo repertorio per cuochi creativi alla ricerca di spunti in cucine "esotiche".

Excellent read. Great format