Product Description

This indispensable cookbook, an instant classic when first published in 1989, is now back in print with a brand-new introduction from the most celebrated authority on Mexican cooking, Diana Kennedy. The culmination of more than fifty years of living, traveling, and cooking in Mexico, The Art of Mexican Cooking is the ultimate guide to creating authentic Mexican food in your own kitchen, with more than 200 beloved recipes as well as evocative illustrations.

The dishes included, favorites from all the regions of Mexico, range from sophisticated to pure and simple, but they all share an intrinsic depth of taste. Aficionados will go to great lengths to duplicate the authentic dishes (and Kennedy tells them exactly how), but here too is a wealth of less complicated recipes for the casual cook in search of the unmistakable flavors of a bold cuisine.

Kennedy shares the secrets of true Mexican flavor: balancing the piquant taste of chiles with a little salt and acid, for instance, or charring them to round out their flavor; broiling tomatoes to bring out their character, or adding cumin for a light accent. By using Kennedy’s kitchen wisdom and advice, and carefully selecting produce that is now readily available in most American markets, cooks with an appetite for Mexican cuisine–and Kennedy devotees old and new–can at last serve and enjoy real Mexican food.

“This is the ultimate in Mexican cooking from the world’s leading authority.”
—Paula Wolfert, author of The Cooking of South-West France

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15339 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-08
• Released on: 2008-04-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307383259
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
The intrepid Kennedy ( The Cuisines of Mexico ) here gives us an excellent new collection of traditional Mexican recipes and keenly observed culinary habits, crisscrossing her adopted country with the zeal of Sir Francis Drake. From a Yucatan fisherman she gathers regional secrets for preparing an octopus dish, and a recipe for steamed cactus is surrendered by a bus driver. Celebrating the increasing availability of Mexican ingredients in North America, and aiming "to perfect things," Kennedy has modified recipes from previous books for partisans of "honest, authentic food," urging us to process tamale dough from dried corn and grind it at home. Plucking a chicken or stuffing blood sausage may be too much for the faint-hearted, but accessible dishes are presented in abundance (e.g., Mexican masa ball soup). Kennedy's labor of love and scholarship belongs in the home library as a chronicle of culinary culture, regardless of whether or not cooks decide to turn their kitchens into cantinas. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Kennedy, a widely respected authority on Mexican cooking, devotes her latest book to the country's traditional popular foods. She presents unquestionably authentic recipes for these regional specialties, supplying background material and careful preparation notes for each; there are whole chapters devoted to corn and "the pig," as well as invaluable descriptions of chiles and unfamiliar ingredients. Inexperienced cooks may find some of the recipes daunting, but anyone with an interest in Mexican cuisine will be fascinated.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher
The Art Of Mexican Cooking is the ultimate guide to creating sensational flavors of authentic Mexican food in your own kitchen. Her classic, The Cuisines Of Mexico, established Diana Kennedy as the authority on Mexican cooking, and now she brings thirty-two years of living, traveling, and researching in Mexico to a dazzling masterpiece of culinary adventure. The Art Of Mexican Cooking is a brilliant exploration of one of the world's truly great cuisine, including more than 200 extraordinary recipes, many for dishes previously unknown north of the border, as well as more than 50 evocative illustrations and 150 photographs.

These dishes, favorites throughout Mexico, range from sophisticated to pure and simple; all share an amazing depth of taste. Aficionados will go to great lengths to duplicate the authentic dishes (and Kennedy tells them exactly how), but here too there is a wealth of less complicated recipes for the casual cook who longs for the unmistakable flavors of soul-warming cuisine.

Kennedy shares the secrets of true Mexican flavor: balancing chile flavors with a little salt and acid, for instance, or charring them to round out their flavor; broiling tomatoes to bring out their character, or using cumin for a light accent. By using Kennedy's kitchen wisdom and advice and carefully selecting tropical produce that is now readily available in most American markets, American cooks can at last serve truly authentic Mexican food.

Customer Reviews

Get this while you can still find it used.
This is not a book for beginning cooks. Most of the recipes are arduously complicated, but I've been using it for years with great results. I use Mexico the Beautiful more because it's a little more realistic in terms of how long one is willing to spend making a "simple" dish.

Mrs. Kennedy reminds me a lot of Rose Bernbaum of The Cake Bible in slavish dedication to detail.

Apart from the time required to make some of these dishes, they are indeed quite authentic. I've lived in Mexico for years and all my Mexican friends enjoy these recipes. If you're serious about graduating from Taco Bell sludge, get this book. It will make an expert out of you.

true Mexican food
As the title implies, this cookbook is for "Aficionados" of Mexican food. This is serious Mexican food (you won't find combo platters here). Every one of Diana Kennedy's recipes that I have tried have turned out wonderfully. If you want authentic Mexican, this is the only book you'll need.

The best chile relleno recipe in the World -- ambrosia!
My idea of heaven is a meal with savory black beans, fresh tortillas, a couple of chile rellenos in a tomato/garlic/cinnamon broth, finished off by a curdy sweet flan for dessert. Diana Kennedy steps you through the processes of each dish, and adds all the little touches to get it JUST right! Some will dispute my choices, I suppose, and prefer a turkey breast and thighs in a chile/ chocolate mole sauce, or maybe the traditional September treat of chiles en nogada (ground pork inside freshly roasted green chiles, covered with a white walnut sauce, sprinkled with persimmon seeds). She has all the recipes, they're all great.