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  profile by Nikol Lohr

Celebración
by Regina Cordova with Emma Carrasco
214 pages; bn.com: $7.75

After being smitten by the pickled cabbage accompanying pupusas at a local Salvadoran restaurant, I went on a quest to find a recipe for the sweet, spicy, crunchy condiment. I dug through cookbooks, searched the internet, inquired of friends who had lived in Mexico or cooked lots of Latin American food. Nothing. Until I found a copy of Celebración (at Ross Dress for Less, strangely). There it was, right on page 24--and to boot, the recipe for pupusas--those delectable cousin to the Mexican (not Taco Bell!) gordita.

I love this cookbook. It's by far my favorite specialty cookbook. It has a wonderful range of standard recipes from all over Latin America, including a wide assortment of condiments, beverages, and dairy-rich desserts. The author of each recipe preceeds his or her dish with a personal introduction, usually a vignette of family life. Both Spanish and English names are included, as well as the country of origin and typical occasion for serving the particular dish (street food, family outing, picnic, New Year's, Sunday dinner, birthdays, etc.).

The steps are broken down nicely (e.g., marinating, roasting, serving), and the instructions are thorough and easy to follow. It's compact, well organized, and comb-bound, so that it lays flat while you're cooking. Some of the ingredients, especially peppers, may be hard to find outside of the Southwest, but most are readily available via mail order (there's also a source list in the back).


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More cookbook reviews from Nikol:

Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, 1956.
Celebración
by Regina Cordova with Emma Carrasco
Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking
by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch
The Frugal Gourmet
by Jeff Smith
Lee Bailey's Country Desserts
by Lee Bailey
Maida Heatter's Cakes by Maida Heatter
Street Food by Clare Ferguson

Report Card
Overall: A

Photos: F
no photos
Ease of Use: A+
very clearly outlined; steps and ingredient lists well-organized
Practicality: A
a few prohibitive specialty ingredients, but plenty of recipes using only readily available items
Style: A-
wonderful stories, nice sense of tradition, thoughtfully assembled



 

 

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