Book Description
Tamales 101
A Beginner's Guide to Making Traditional Tamales by Alice Guadalupe Tapp
Corn-husked bundles of fresh masa plump with wonderful combinations of sauces, meats, and vegetables—tamales are a simple and delicious staple of Mexican and Southwestern cuisine. Alice Guadalupe Tapp has perfected the art of tamale making, and in TAMALES 101 imparts her knowledge and passion for this comforting treat. TAMALES 101 will show beginners how to make masa dough as well as fold and steam tamales to perfection. Then, once you've mastered the basics, you'll be whipping up batches of Chicken Tomatillo, Chorizo Potato, Vegetable Curry, and Greek tamales in no time. With recipes for nearly 100 traditional, vegetarian, vegan, and specialty tamales and sauces, TAMALES 101 will send you on a culinary adventure that's sure to delight and impress your guests.
Customer Reviews:
GOOD BOOK.......2007-01-18
Saw book at Indio Tamale Festival and got it at Amazon cheaper
Best that's out there on the subject...I love this book!.......2005-01-05
I love this book. The author brings enormous experience from her own highly beloved tamalaria in S. Calif. and makes it possible to create excellent tamales on your own. Not as easy a subject as it might seem. I found her presentation thoughtful, with clear, thorough explanations and instructions that are well-presented. Her detailed description of the different types of masa and masa prep., of tamale wrappers and wrapping techniques, of ratio of filling to masa, of the tradition versus popular taste in saucing tamales, of all matters related to general preparation, cooking, storing etc. are all excellent, especially considering that it is a rather small book. Unlike another tamale book out now by a famous chef, these recipes are down to earth and wonderful, and span a wide range of tamales...including adaptations for vegetarians, special occasion tamales and much more. Great sauce recipes. Different versions of many recipes (such as mole sauces, chicken tamales, and much more). The author has a nice personable style, sharing customs and her own family lore along with her valuable insights from running a tamaleria in a trendy So. Cal beach town...and that is a really daunting challenge: to appeal to everything from a large solid Mexicano population to surfers to L.A.'s celeb-types etc. etc.
This is really a great recipe collection, well-presented for the experienced and novice tamale-maker (which I was...), and it is a really pretty publication - rich in colors and beautiful photos. I love this book...I have a very large cookbook collection that I use pretty extensively, and this little book has really endeared itself to me. I think it is a great value.
Greatly disappointed.......2004-10-04
I am an experienced cook and baker, and followed the recipe for Masa Harina Masa. I bought the correct dry corn flour from an hispanic market, and made some excellent chicken stock. The ingredients list called for 12 cups of the corn flour and 7 cups of stock, mixed in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. and when I placed these ingredients in the mixer and turned it on, it was too much for the mixer to hold. I emptied out the contents of the bowl into another bowl, mixed the contents with my hands to distribute the stock and corn flour evenly, and returned half of the ingredients to the mixer bowl and began to mix. The mixture never reached the "firm pudding" stage as described in the recipe. I had to add more than an additional 4 cups of stock to get to this stage. I don't think the author carefully measured the ingredients when she recorded the recipes. Since this is a recipe that many people will make (the masa is the main part of a tamale) she should have been more careful. However, when I made the Red Pork Chile Tamales the sauce was delicous and my family liked the flavor and texture of the tamales.
Good, but the definitive guide is yet to be written.......2004-03-12
This is a nice little book with lots of traditional recipes and the author is enthusiastic but her fat of choice is margarine, a fact I have trouble digesting, if you know what I mean.
Yes, you *can* become a tamalista!.......2003-12-21
A couple of weeks before Christmas, I found myself facing a luncheon for 15 foodie friends for which I'd promised fresh tamales--and my promised helper, the only person I knew who had made them before, came down with the flu! I was on my own.
Fortunately, I had Tamales 101 in hand. Got a few tips from a guy at the local Tamale Festival, but mostly I just devoured this book, took a deep breath, and started. My masa floated, the corn husks peeled off my tamales easily, and they were firm and delicious! I spent over three days cooking and ended up with a cornucopia of Red Chile Pork, Chorizo-Potato, Jalapeno and Cheese, and two kinds of dessert tamales, plus all the salsa and other trimmings. (I'd made enough to take to three other events, it turned out.) And I *enjoyed* myself doing it.
Making tamales is both harder and easier than you might think. What's hard is the amount of time and effort, but what's easy is the routine you get into after making a few. The day of the luncheon, I taught an early guest how to fill and fold them (using the very easy foldover method illustrated in the book), and she taught everyone else who wanted to try a few. As they say, a good time was had by all.
My tips and observations for those who want to give this a try:
Get *very* organized in advance: ingredients list, timetable, list of accompaniments, etc. A large steamer is a must (I used an oriental two-level steel one, but a Mexican one that looks like a canning kettle works well, too, and both are fairly inexpensive). An electric mixer is also a must. I used a hand mixer, but a stand mixer would have been easier. You *must* maintain several inches of boiling water in the pan (I just about burned mine out at one point), and it is possible to burn both hands at once if you use potholders instead of oven mitts to pick up the upper pan to check the water level.
From the festival tamale maker, I learned that it's important to use all the lard called for (part can be butter or margarine) and also all the salt called for. I read somewhere else that much of the lard is absorbed by the husks, and I hope this is true. From the book, I learned to use fresh masa (easily available here in the southwest) rather than dry, and to whip the lard for at least 5 minutes and then the worked-in masa and broth for another 10 to 15 minutes, and also to use an ice cream scoop to measure the right amount of masa onto the husks/leaves.
I won't be waiting until next Christmas to make more tamales, now that I know how easy and good they are. Just thinking of all the varieties in Tamales 101 that I haven't tried yet has me drooling. Give it a try!
Book Description
Over 150 step-by-step recipes that allow you to relive a magical Spanish holiday or simply bring some Spanish sunshine into your kitchen.
Customer Reviews:
A Wonderful Cookbook.......2005-09-08
With its rich history and traditions, cooking techniques and world-famous dishes, Spanish cuisine is simply delicious. You will get an extraordinary look at it in this book from Pepita Aris, an authority who's written a half-dozen volumes on the subject. A must-have for home cooks and armchair travelers, it takes you on a sweeping tour of the regions with informative text and lush, color photographs. Once you've had a taste of what each region is all about, you'll be ready to try any of the 150 mouthwatering recipes. From bar-style tapas to everyday meals and festival dishes to celebrate every occasion, this is a "taste of Spain" you'll savor for years to come.
Book Description
Written by one of the world's leading experts in Spainish cuisine, an introductory section explains the role of these versatile little dishes in Spanish culinary culture.
Book Description
400 superb recipes--a delicious gathering of the traditional cooking of Spain with new ways of using exotic seasonings and unusual combinations, plus a comprehensive survey of Spain's excellent wines and sherries.
Customer Reviews:
A great cookbook in every way.......2006-11-10
This book is full of a dynamic range of Spanish recipes, all of which are both tasty and easy to prepare. Every recipe I've made has come out perfect, I have never had a failure. Ms. Casas has clearly gone to great lengths to capture authentic, well tested recipes that anyone can prepare.
This book is so diverse in its scope that it would take a long time to tire of using it. I can hardly bare to cook anything else. Spanish flavor with its simplicity and freshness of flavors could not be better presented then in this perfect book. Highly reccomended!
BEST. COOKBOOK. EVER!.......2006-10-23
This book is one of my favorites books in the world. The recipes range from simple to slightly complicated, but there isn't one of these recipes that cannot be duplicated in your kitchen -- and to absolutely deligthful results! The instructions are clear, the chapters are well balanced and the index is thorough. The food is exquisite. But then so are the stories accompanying each chapter and each recipe.
This book is an excellent travel book, filled with all the wonders of Spain. There have been times, when looking for a recipe to cook for a special ocassion, I have taken it off the shelf and found myself completely engrossed, hours later, reading the stories. Even the writing engages all your senses.
Penepole Casas also does something I especially appreciated. She gives you a glossary and a list of substitutions. She goes further and lists mail order suppliers of hard to find ingredients.
In culinary terms this book is truly a gem. It also serves as an indispendable resource to the history and culture of Spain for those who hope to one day stroll through its lands.
Essential Reference on Spanish Cuisine and Wines.......2005-04-19
`The Foods and Wines of Spain' by culinary journalist Penelope Casas was the only comprehensive coverage of Spanish cuisine when it was published at the urging of Craig Claiborne in 1979 and it is probably still the only book in English which aims at covering the entire range of Spanish cuisine. As such, it stands among some of the other notable American books on national cuisines such as Diane Kochilas `The Glorious Foods of Greece', Jean Anderson's smaller book on `The Food of Portugal', Marcella Hazan's `Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking' and the granddaddy of them all, Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. Casas shares in this tradition by being published by Child's publisher, Knopf, and having the same distinguished cookbook editor, Judith Jones. Since I have never seen an unattractive book published by Alfred E. Knopf, I am certain this book benefits from this association.
Casas organizes her book by types of dishes, using the usual hodgepodge of type meaning when served and type meaning principle ingredient. The fourteen chapters on ingredients / servings are:
`Tapas', slightly misleading, as classic tapas dishes such as the famous `tortilla Espanola' appears under egg dishes. If your primary interest is in Tapas, get Casas recent book devoted entirely to this subject.
`Embutidos, Pasteles Y Empanadas', or sausages pates, and pies is one of the most convincing arguments that this book covers the whole range of Spanish cooking, as it includes doable recipes for making many classic Spanish Charcuterie such as chorizo. It also contains several very nice empanada recipes that show off one of many differences between Spanish and Mexican cooking. In Mexico, judging by a recipe by Rick Bayless, `empanadas' are just a bit larger than raviolis. In Spain, `empanadas' are much more like calzones.
`Ensaladas' Salads, including a claim that it was the Spanish and not the French who invented Mayonnaise.
`Verduras Y Legumbres' Vegetables, showing the importance of potatoes in Spanish cooking. This is historically obvious, as the Spanish brought potatoes along with all the other New World produce back to Europe.
`Sopas Y Potajes' Soups and Meals in a Pot, very similar to the northern Italian love of ministre.
`Huevos Y Tortillas' Eggs and Egg dishes. Evidence that there are many great Spanish frittatas.
`Arroces' Rice dishes, including several types of Paella. `Please use Spanish Rice'
`Mariscos' Shellfish, with as much love of mussels as the French, it seems.
`Pescados' Fish, including several bacalo (dried, salted cod) recipes and fish steaks.
`Aves Y Caza', Poultry and Game, with the usual European love of rabbit, partridge, and other wild things.
`Carnes' Almost a copy of the Italian cuisine with pork, lamb, and veal. Maybe a bit more lamb than Italia.
`Panes, Bollos Y Masas', Breads and Pastries. While I am sure this is not a complete survey of Spanish bread baking, I am just a little surprised that there is no mention of baking with wild yeasts so popular in French and Italian baking. On the other hand, there is the distinction, as in France, between bakeries that specialize in bread and shops that specialize in pastries. While almonds run through all of Spanish cuisine, it is in baking where it comes together with egg whites and puff pastry to form an especially strong affinity with Austrian baking traditions. I am not sure whether this is because these two countries shared interaction with Moorish culture or whether the countries shared the same royal house, the Hapsburgs, for many generations, or a combination of both, but it is little discoveries like this which make culinary anthropology really fascinating.
`Postres' Desserts, sharing the Italian interest in sweetened fruits above most other dishes, plus marzipan and many other almond preparations.
`Bebidas' Sangria, almonds, coffee, citrus, and almonds.
Almost all main course protein dishes include a suggestion pairing the dish with an appropriate Spanish wine. This includes the egg dishes, but not other tapas dishes. The last chapter deals in great depth with the wines of Spain, including the famous Andalusian sherries. Two of the more interesting facts here is the statement that the Italian Marsala is really a form of sherry and that a bottle of sherry may contain wine from grapes harvested over many years. So much for the James Bond quote about giving the vintage of the `underlying wine fortified to create the sherry'. Not only does this chapter give lots of details about regional wine centers; it gives extensive tables of high quality vintage wine and sherry labels and the author's opinion on their quality. Since this book was published in 1979 and not revised since 1982, there may be some question on whether this information on wineries is still valuable. I will venture a guess that it is probably as good as anything else you may find, since the lists are long and most vintners endure, especially since the fortunes of Spanish businesses have improved greatly since the restoration of the Spanish republic after the death of Franco.
Like the recipes in Casas later book on Tapas, I find all the recipes in this volume to be very good, almost as extensive as my favorites from Julia Child and Marcella Hazan. This is a real foodie book, as the discussion of regionality and authenticity of the recipes is a great pleasure to read, even if you never make any of the recipes. It is also great background for understanding the cuisine of Ferran Adria, the great modern Spanish chef working just outside Barcelona. This book also humbled my conceit at criticizing Daniel Boulud's recipe for baby eels. While they may be hard to come by, apparently the Spanish really love them.
Even if you are not a foodie, this is a great source of recipes for eggs, rice, sweet peppers, almonds, lamb, and fish. It is also a great resource if you are not familiar with Spanish wines.
Great recipes, murky directions.......2004-12-22
This book is at the same time my favorite Spanish cookbook and the most frustrating. The recipes are terrific. I also have Casas' Delicioso! (which I highly recommend as well), but I prefer this book because it is better organized, with more of the standard Spanish recipes I crave (seafood with green sauce, scallops with sherry sauce, etc.-- fantastic). But with her later books such as Delicioso, Casas (or her editor) has learned to provide clearer, more accurate cooking instructions. In The Foods and Wines of Spain, the instructions are much more vague. How high should the heat be on the stove? How long should you sautee the onions? What does it mean exactly to "dust" something with flour? These things are often not spelled out. I am a pretty experienced cook but I would definitely benefit from some better instructions in some of the recipes. I can see how this book would be confusing for the novice cook or someone fairly new to Spanish cuisine-- if you are in this category you might want to start out with Delicioso!.
It might be realistic..........2003-07-29
...but all the recipes come out very bland. I've tried a few of them and there's really nothing that stands out. I'll try a few more before I sell this one. It's a shame, because the book is put together rather well and is easy to follow.
Book Description
This sumptuous cookbook amply demonstrates why Spanish food is the new inspiration of the culinary world.
Customer Reviews:
Cooking Pleasure.......2006-08-05
This is a small, but very choice cookbook, simply chock full of the most delicious looking recipes. It is simply perfect for cooks - at any skill level - who like to cook healthy, home-made food without spending twelve hours in the kitchen. It also has a lovely, well written guide to the rarely mentioned northern provinces of Spain - Galicia and Asturias, especially - which has now made it my ambition to visit them for myself. However, if your idea of "Spanish" cooking is Mexican or Central American, let this one alone; it is traditional European home cooking with enough of a gourmet touch that you can serve a formal dinner party but not so complicated that you cannot make it for the family. I think this is one book that everyone who likes to cook should have on their kitchen shelf.
Major Addition to Spanish Culinary Writing. Buy It........2006-07-27
`The Food of Northern Spain' by culinary writer, Jenny Chandler contributes much to achieving parity between writings on regional cuisines in Spain and Italy. This is such a popular genre nowadays, there have been a few less than luminary titles recently, but this one is a real winner.
It will take a close look at the map of Spain to understand the region of which Senorita Chandler is writing. It is easy to think of it as only the northern Atlantic coast of Spain, west of the Pyrenees, but she is really taking the entire line, virtually all along the same meridian of latitude, from northwestern, Celtic Galacia to the very urban and modern Catalonia on the Mediterranean coast, including the landlocked Navarre and parts of Aragon.
The appropriateness of this choice is clear once one has read important recent books on both the Basque and Catalan cuisines, both of which tout their subject as Spain's culinary center. Senorita Chandler makes the excellent case that this entire region, distinguished primarily by deep valleys in mountainous terrain and rough seacoasts, taken together, is the culinary heart of Spain.
While this does not appear on the surface to be a very scholarly study, a la Coleman Andrews or Paula Wolfert, of this cuisine it is really much more studied and revealing of the soul of its subject than other recent oversized travelogues of Spanish cuisine.
The author begins with a chapter of Background on each of the regions comprising her chosen territory. While giving us not much more than two pages per province, she manages to evoke the spirit and resources of the region as brightly and as passionately as a much longer discourse.
Next, is an excellent chapter on the Storecupboard and Cellar on the principle ingredients of the regions. I am taken by the fact that she begins not with olives and olive oil, but with peppers. It is crystal clear from every book I've read on Spanish cuisine that the great variety of peppers arriving from the New World are as much an influence on the food of northern Spain as the tomato is for the cuisine of southern Italy. A bit of reflection tells me that peppers as a class are a far richer addition than tomatoes, as the range of colors, sizes, and flavors of peppers is far greater than the similar range for tomatoes. There is just so much variety you can squeeze out of a plum tomato, even if it was grown in the shadow of Vesuvius. This little essay on peppers also reveals something about Spain that I have known for years about far-flung former Spanish colonies such as the Philippines, but which never came to the fore in other books. This is the fact that to Spaniards, canned produce is just as good as fresh, it's just different, not inferior. This will become obvious to you the next time you pass the 30-foot long Goya section of your supermarket. The Goya brand is Spanish, not Mexican, as I was want to jump to before actually looking at a can of Goya beans and a bottle of highly regarded Goya olive oil.
Next in importance, especially for the northern marches, is cheese. I was delighted to discover here that the famous Spanish Cabrales cheese is actually a mix of milk from cows, sheep, AND goats. The catalogue of cheeses is not as large or renowned as the great Italian or French cheese kingdoms, but it is pretty important and sizable. This section is rounded out with essays on Olives and olive oil, Pork, Pulses (legumes, beans), salt cod, Crustaceans, Mollusks, Cephalopods and Wild Mushrooms.
In the land of tapas and pinchos (very characteristic of the north), you would expect the next section on matching Spanish food and wine. This is not as exhaustive as Penelope Casas' coverage in `The Food and Wine of Spain', but it is illuminating and very easy to read.
The recipes are organized as one would a traditional cookbook, by type of dish or course. These are:
Light Bites and Tapas, featuring pinchos of olives, anchovies, foie gras, chorizo, and croquettes. The obvious centerpiece is the recipe for tortilla espanola. The description is lovingly given, but may be just a bit less detailed than Senora Casas' recipe in her book `Tapas'. Senorita Chandler also doesn't give us the scoop on how it is served (usually in wedges in the South and cut into cubes and stuck on skewers in the North). I am especially happy to see her recipes for empanadas, with both tuna and pork fillings.
Soups and Starters, featuring a gazpacho with asparagus and a gazpacho with beetroot, a blended mushroom soup, a squid soup, tuna tartar, grilled scallops, and Escabeche.
Salads and Vegetable Dishes, featuring a tuna mixed salad, a spinach and ham salad, and vegetable stews reminiscent of Ratatouille.
Rice and Pulses, featuring two of the most famous Spanish dishes, Cocido and Paella. Interestingly, Ms. Chandler agrees with most others that it is Cocido and not Paella that is the apple of most Spaniard's culinary soul.
Fish and Shellfish, with lots of salmon and salt cod dishes. Hake is very popular here, and Sea Bass is as common here as on the Chilean coast.
Poultry, Meat, and Game, featuring some really surprising combinations such as chicken and prawns and partridge with chocolate. And, some of the steak recipes are gorgeous.
Sauces and Seasonings, with Allioli (with no egg!) et al.
Desserts, with fritters, flans, and coulis.
This book succeeds in its task of really making you interested in the cuisine of the author's chosen regions. While the author doesn't push scholarship, there is both learning and passion aplenty here, all appropriate to its subject.
An excellent foodie read AND cookbook.
Mouthwateringly entertaining.......2005-11-10
Jenny Chandler's style is truly unique. She combines the most enticing dishes and mouthwatering photography with a fabulously dry wit. Indulge your senses!
Book Description
For forty years, American-born freelance journalist and award-winning cookbook author Janet Mendel has made her home in Spain. Becoming a "local" has provided Mendel with the unique opportunity to explore the authentic foods of her adopted country, and to bring the best recipes to American kitchens. Now, in Cooking from the Heart of Spain, she turns her attention to the region of La Mancha.
Mendel has taken part in the harvesting of saffron, wine grapes, and garlic. She has made marzipan in Toledo, joined in a partridge shoot, and prepared trout caught fresh from the streams in Cuenca. She tells stories of artisanal cheesemakers and wine producers. Her own home in an olive grove gives her special insight into world-class Spanish olive oil.
Cooking from the Heart of Spain features traditional foods from the country's heartland, a region of vineyards, olive groves, and wheat fields. From here come Spain's most famous products -- Manchego cheese, saffron, serrano ham, and olive oil. These ingredients, along with its rich and diverse Moorish and Sephardic heritages, give Manchegan cooking an air of refinement and delicate complexity beyond its sturdy simplicity.
The recipes in Cooking from the Heart of Spain include simple pisto, a medley of summer vegetables sautéed in olive oil; lamb stuffed with spinach and pine nuts; a robust peasant garlic soup; and a delightfully subtle saffron ice cream. Mendel also includes sophisticated dishes such as cheese and ham flan and partridge braised in wine sauce, as well as fun food, such as "fried milk," a sweet custard with a crisp-fried exterior. Oh, yes -- and Madrid tapas too.
Laced with quotes from Cervantes' Don Quixote -- which had lots to say about the food of La Mancha -- Janet Mendel´s cookbook provides recipes for delicious dishes, both traditional and modern.
Customer Reviews:
Delightful and Informative.......2007-03-29
Award-winning food writer and Spanish resident Janet Mendel takes us to the land of windmills and Don Quixote, offering 200 recipes along with epic quotes and anecdotes about cheese-making, trout fishing, the saffron harvest and more.
Don't look for gazpacho and paella here. But if tapas, Garlic Soup (a purported "hangover cure"); Crispy, Cheesy Chicken Breast with Quince Sauce and Manchego Cheese Flan with Caramel Sauce call your name, this book is sure to delight.
Very Good Home Cooking from Central Spain........2006-07-05
`Cooking from the Heart of Spain' by American culinary writer living in Spain, Janet Mendel, is a treatment of the cuisine of `La Mancha', or more properly, Castilla La Mancha, just south of Madrid, on the central plateau of the Iberian peninsula, with principal city of Toledo. This book closes the gap between the few books on Spanish regional cuisine and the great library on the cuisines of Italy's many culinary regions. The problem with Castilla La Mancha is that it is surrounded with many more interesting culinary regions, such as the paella capitol, Valencia, the tapas and sherry center, Andalucia, and the hotbed of pork raising, Extremadura. The author seems to solve this problem by stating that from its central location, Castilla La Mancha, her hometown, enjoys influences from all the various culinary specialities of other regions of Spain. If this were true, then why not just do a cookbook of all Spanish cuisines and be done with it.
This was my general reaction to the book as I was reading Senora Mendel's introduction. Traditionally, she plays second fiddle to the better known writer, Penelope Casas, who has done two important books on the cuisines of all of Spain, plus special books on Paella and Tapas, and a `home cooking' volume. Overall, I believe the New Yorker, Ms. Casas' books overall are a better general survey of Spanish cooking, as I find her deeper into background material than either Ms. Mendel or native Spaniard, Teresa Barrenechea, author of `The Cuisines of Spain' and `The Basque Table'. But then, I get to Ms. Mendel's recipes and I am enlightened.
Very few books on Spanish cuisine, except for Ms. Casas superlative `The Foods and Wines of Spain' cover Spanish Breads and pastries very well. Yet, Ms. Mendel does cover these areas, and she does it well. She also does an excellent job of covering one of my favorite Spanish specialities, egg dishes, featuring the famous `tortilla Espagnole', made simply of eggs, onions, potatoes, garlic, and olive oil.
The true speciality of `Castilla La Mancha' is lamb and cheese, with a fair amount of pork and beef, especially veal as well. The region also makes great use of peppers, especially sweet peppers, as in beef-stuffed bell peppers. Ms. Mendel at heart seems to be writing in the style of Julia Child, as the expert home cook. This means her recipes are a bit better than, for example, primo culinary journalist, Coleman Andrews of `Catalan Cuisine', but not really up to the standard of either Andrews in analyzing the cuisine of the region, or, is she even close to the level of the divine Ms. Julia in explaining the finer points of Spanish technique.
Overall, Ms. Mendel does as well or better for the home cook than her professional cook colleague, Barrenechea. Their recipes for `tortilla Espagnole' are virtually identical, except that Ms. Mendel's explanation seems just a bit better for the amateur; however, I prefer Barrenechea's overall result.
As a treatise on a regional cuisine, the book is no match for Andrews' treatment of Catalonia or the great books on Italian regional cooking, but it is as good as Barrenechea's `The Basque Table'.
If you are fond of Spanish cooking, I suggest you pick either Casas or Mendel and get all the books from that one author. Casas' treatment is a bit more scholarly, but Mendel may be just a bit more home kitchen friendly. Overall, I suspect the choice is a matter of taste, so pick one and eat well.
Book Description
Capture the true spirit of Spanish cooking with this classic collection of recipes, encompassing the rich diversity of Spain's regional culinary styles. The finest ingredients and the distinctive cooking techniques that are key to creating delicious authentic dishes are found here. Beautifully illustrated with over 250 color photographs, and easy to use, this book is full of useful tips and recipe variations that are a must for those with a love of fine food.
Product Description
Spanish food is hot! Not spicy hot (well, sometimes), but definitely the "it girl" of the culinary world. This award-winning, internationally acclaimed cookbook celebrates what is often considered the best of Spanish cooking--Basque cuisine. This simple cooking reflects the bounty of the land and sea, with fish and shellfish, meats, cheeses, olives and olive oils featured in boldly flavored pinchos (Basque tapas) and succulent main dishes. Renowned author Teresa Berrenechea, born and raised in the Basque country, captures the unforgettable flavors of her native land.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic and healthy foods from the Basque country.......2006-02-06
Basque food is incredibly good, and this cookbook provides 130 recipes that will convince you again and again of this fact. From the wonderful pinchos -- super appetizers -- to delicious salads, hearty stews and soups, and amazing main dishes, this book is like a fountain of delights. I nearly changed my name to Rex Rabbiteater after tasting the braised rabbit in red wine sauce. It is easy to imagine that the time-honored Basque cooking will emerge as one of the top global cuisines of the early 21st century, given the wonderful job that Teresa Barrenechea has done in presenting it to the world.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent and necessary book for those to like good food!
|
Juntos en la cocina
Carmen Aboy Valldejuli , and
Luis F. Valldejuli
Manufacturer: Pelican Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Spanish
| European
| Regional & International
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Regional & International
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Spanish
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Hornear
| Cocina
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
General
| Cocina
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
Europea
| Regional e Internacional
| Cocina
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
General
| Regional e Internacional
| Cocina
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
No-Ficción
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
| Automotriz
| Ciencias Sociales
| Crimen y Criminales
| Educación
| Estudios de la Mujer
| Feriados
| Filosofía
| Gobierno
| Hechos Verídicos
| Planeamiento Urbano y Desarrollo
| Política
| Sucesos de Actualidad
| Transportación
Similar Items:
-
Cocina criolla
-
Puerto Rican Cookery
-
Cocine a Gusto - (Puerto Rican Recipes Cookbook in Spanish)
-
Puerto Rican Cuisine in America: Nuyorican and Bodega Recipes
-
Puerto Rican Dishes (Cookbook)
ASIN: 1565541553 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent and necessary book for those to like good food!.......2000-04-05
This book contains completely new, faster and easier recipes to make without loosing any of our unique taste of Puerto-rican cooking. This book, together with the author's original book, "Cocina Criolla" belong together. Cocina Criolla has most of the basic recipes for the food eaten here in Puerto Rico, while this book"Juntos en la Cocina" has others which are easier and faster to make. The seasonings used in this book are the best we've seen and eaten and we recommend these books over other cookbooks (Puerto-rican) that we've used. We completely recommend this book to all those who love good and tasty food which is unique to our puerto-rican cooking; however we also recommend it together with the author's original book "Cocina Criolla". These two books are in our kitchen as well as in the kitchens of all our children and are considered to be like our Bible, with an Old and a New Testament. Highly recommended for all who love to prepare and eat good food.
Amazon.com
Few people have stayed in one place as long as the Basque people have stayed in Basque Country, which spreads from northern Spain across the Pyrenees into France and stretches out to the sea. Basque Country has remained intact from the time of cave paintings to today. The Basque language is a language unlike any other; even Basque DNA is different from any other European DNA. So it should come as no surprise that the food of Basque Country, while similar to what is found in other parts of Spain and France, is distinct as to its place and people of origin. Restaurant owner and chef Teresa Barrenechea invites one and all to come sit at the Basque table and learn while enjoying.
Though nueva cocina has invaded Basque cooking, Barrenechea has intentionally left it aside for another book. She cleaves to tradition in The Basque Table, to the pinchos (like tapas), first courses, and main courses that make up the traditional meal served in Basque homes. It is a deceptively simple cuisine, something of a tightrope act, that demands of any cook the ability to select the best possible ingredients. When, in a dish like Chuletitas de Cordero (grilled lamb chops), you are only working with the chops, olive oil, garlic, flat-leaf parsley, and salt, there's no place to hide. And yet, when everything is exemplary and the chops come off the grill at the perfect moment, the effect in the mouth and in the heart and soul of any diner will defy description. A tough kind of simple, in other words.
A fierce pride shows in Barrenechea's recipe descriptions and food notes. She holds herself to the highest cultural standard. What she aims for and achieves is a replication in print, with an American kitchen in mind, of exactly how a certain dish should taste to the Basque palate.
So take heart in dishes like sweetbreads with garlic and parsley, crayfish in hot sauce, mushrooms with scrambled eggs, white bean stew, roasted fresh ham, chicken Basque style, fresh cod with red and black sauces, grilled prawns, and trout Navarra-style. You may be cooking at home, but you'll be sitting and eating at a Basque table. And there's no other table quite like it. --Schuyler Ingle
Book Description
In Europe, the Basques are known for their creativity in the kitchen and their long-enduring culinary heritage. In the Spanish Basque country itself, food and eating are the center of everyday life and the focus of endless conversation. Basque women lovingly pass on their cooking techniques to daughters and granddaughters, and Basque men, who belong to traditional cooking clubs called txokos, themselves enjoy lingering over stove and table.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best cookbooks I've bought in a long time!!.......2007-03-20
This is without a doubt one of the best cookbooks in my collection. At the risk of sounding cliche, I have to say that every single recipe in it that I have tried has been a mouthwatering success ~ and the first week I owned it I tore through at least one recipe a night. If you're interested in traditional Spanish / Basque cuisine, as well as the culture behind it, this is the book for you. I highly recommend it!
Very Good Colection of Regional Recipes........2006-06-16
`The Basque Table, Passionate Home Cooking from Spain's Most Celebrated Cuisine' by restauranteur / author, Teresa Barrenechea, with Mary Goodbody, is different from most of the best known studies of regional European (especially French, Italian, and Spanish) cuisines written primarily by (except for Paula Wolfert) culinary journalists such as Coleman Andrews (Catalonia, Spain; Riviera, France and Italy), Arthur Schwartz (Campagnia / Naples, Italy), Lynne Rosetto Kaspar (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), and Fred Plotkin (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy). And, almost all of these authors, especially Andrews and Schwartz, give very detailed little histories of their subject regions. They also take an analytical approach to their subject, spending much time on the region's `terroir'. They also happen to concentrate on restaurants as sources, since, as Andrews states, these are much more accessible.
Barrenechea's approach is different in almost every major aspect. She is a professional cook, yet her recipes are specifically drawn (see subtitle) from `home cooking'. In this way, she is most like Wolfert; however, she is not on the same level as a scholar as Wolfert, as she offers us few historical or analytical insights into the cuisine of her home region, the three provinces in the Northeast corner of Spain, east of Galacia and west of Navarre, and North of Castile. While this is the home of one of Spain's four national languages (per Andrews), and while the Basque region has a long history of being in semi-permanent revolt against the government in Madrid, Barrenechea tells us nothing of this. The most real local color we get is from an adoration of the new Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, the capitol of the Basque region.
The first thing which struck me about the recipes in this book is that when compared to, for example, Coleman Andrews recipes for similar dishes, such as the famous `tortilla Espagnole' (potato frittata), Ms. Barrenechea's recipe was more detailed and seemed far tastier, as she includes onion which Andrews leaves out (per Catalan practice!). Unlike the very analytical approach, the book is organized in a very traditional fashion, by the three courses in the typical Basque midday and evening meal. This makes the book much more useful if you happen to be of Basque descent, and you wish to emulate the foods of your homeland.
The next thing I notice is that Ms. Barrenechea does a lot of drawing outside the lines. Many of her recipes are unflinchingly attributed to regions outside the Basque area, especially, southern France, Navarre, Galacia, and Castile. This casts serious doubt on the claim that Basque home cooking is `Spain's Most Celebrated Cuisine'. I suspect that at least three other regions, Andalusia, home of Sherry and Tapas, Valencia, home of paella and rice growing, and Catalonia, home of Spain's most famous restaurateurs, can lay claim to being Spain's answer to Italy's Tuscany or France's Burgundy region.
The most interesting generalization about Basque cooking is that it has its own special twist on the notion of `tapas'. Where most of Spain uses these snacks as edible lids on their sherry glasses, the Basques call their bar food `pinchos' and prefer to nosh on them from skewers. Even the ubiquitous `tortilla Espagnole' isn't sliced in wine glass sized wedges, its sliced into cubes and threaded onto the skewers. The second most interesting generalization is that the meat of choice to Basques is BEEF! This makes the book a welcome choice to American beef lovers who want to dabble in an authentic European cuisine. Unfortunately, Ms. Barrenechea does little to explain how a region surrounded by French and Spanish centers of pork culture would adopt a bovine cuisine. That is not to say there are no other animal proteins present. The Basque cuisine is as much in love with game dishes as virtually every other provincial region in Europe. And, both lamb and pork are present aplenty.
After having gotten used to Coleman Andrews' giving us names of dishes in both Catalan and Castilian (our high school Spanish), I am just a bit disappointed that Ms. Barrenechea gives us only the names in Castilian.
Oddly, there are no recipes for bread or noodles. There are also few rice dishes, with no comment about this fact. There are a fair number of dishes which use bread, so from where does this bread come? This is not Paris, with a boulangerie on every street corner. This is another little absence that has me consider this just another cookbook and not a serious study of a regional cuisine. One can learn more about what distinguishes Basque cooking from the rest of Spain from Penelope Casas' book, `Delicioso!', which calls the Basque and Galician lands the `Region of the Sauces'.
For anyone who wishes to cook Basque, this is an excellent and authentic source of recipes, but it is not a `study' of the Basque cuisine.
An impressive collection of master-chef level recipes.......2002-11-05
The Basque Table: Passionate Home Cooking From One Of Europe's Great Regional Cuisines is an impressive collection of master-chef level recipes compiled by Teresa Barrenechea and arranged with the assistance of Mary Goodbody. Basque cuisine is an amalgam of diverse culinary influences including Tuscan, Sicilian, Burgundian, Provencal, and Spanish. From Pincho de Bonito Picante (Spicy Tuna Pinchos); Txangurro Donostiarra (Spider Crabs Donostia-Style); and Solomillo de Buey con Pimientos Rojos (Grilled Filet Mignon with Roasted Red Peppers); to Codornices in Salsa de Chocolate (Quails in Chocolate Sauce); Trucha a la Navarra (Trout Navarra-Style); and Higosy Brebas con Natillas (Figs with Natillas), The Basque Table offers exotic, palate pleasing dishes that are deliberately designed and presented so as to be thoroughly "kitchen cook friendly".
An excellent overview of Basque culinary tradition.......2002-05-26
"The Basque Table" author Teresa Barrenechea asserts that the Basques are even more enamored of food and cooking than the French. There is a strong seafood tradition here, as well as a hearty embrace of meat. A recipe for roast suckling pig is given, not to mention recipes for oxtails, braised rabbit, venison, and sundry organ meats. I didn't happen to have a suckling pig handy, but the pinchos (like Spanish tapas) I made from these recipes were yummy.
Co-author Mary Goodbody is, as I understand it, adept at putting non-American cookbooks into American terms for ease of use. If that was her job here, she did it superbly. There's nothing the average (or even slightly less than average) American cook can't try in "The Basque Table."
As for complaints that the book shows too much Spanish influence, all I can say is get out your globe and take a look. The Basques live wedged between Spain and France so it's entirely natural that their cuisine would be heavily influenced by those two countries. The beauty of the Basque cuisine is that it plucks what it likes from Spanish and French cooking and makes it wholly Basque.
NOT ALL AUTHENTIC BASQUE RECIPES.......2001-09-11
I bought this book when it first came out and was so happy to see a book on Basque cooking (there are so few written in English) and I was also influenced by all the 5 star reviews on this site. Well, after reading it carefully and preparing several recipes I feel let down. Not all the recipes are authentic Basque dishes - many are traditional Spanish dishes. Several recipes were quite bland and I can only imagine that you'd have to import the ingredients from the Basque country in order to get the results that Ms. Barrenechea describes. I am very dissapointed in this book and can not recommend it.
Books:
- Tamales 101: A Beginner's Guide to Making Traditional Tamales
- The Best 50 Sushi Rolls (Best 50)
- The Big Book of Appetizers: More Than 250 Recipes for Any Occasion
- The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread
- The Clay Pot Cookbook
- The Dutch Oven Cookbook: Recipes for the Best Pot in Your Kitchen
- The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients
- The Everything Mediterranean Cookbook: An Enticing Collection of 300 Healthy, Delicious Recipes from the Land of Sun and Sea (Everything: Cooking)
- The Everything Mediterranean Cookbook: An Enticing Collection of 300 Healthy, Delicious Recipes from the Land of Sun and Sea (Everything: Cooking)
- The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines: China, Greece, and Rome
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge
- Mark of the Lion : A Voice in the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness, As Sure As the Dawn
- Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters
- History: Fiction or Science
- Into the Woods
- The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh
- Manipulating the Mouse Embryo: A Laboratory Manual
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore: The VaultReports.com Law Firm Profile for Job Seekers
- Executive Report on Strategies in Denmark, 2000 edition
- Duties of Junior & Senior Accountants: Supplement of the CPA Handbook
Tamales
A Gringo's Guide to Authentic Mexican Cooking (Cookbooks and Restaurant Guides)
The Great Salsa Book
From My Mexican Kitchen: Techniques and Ingredients
Salsas That Cook : Using Classic Salsas To Enliven Our Favorite Dishes
