A Taste of Old Cuba: More Than 150 Recipes for Delicious, Authentic, and Traditional Dishes

Just my kind of cookbook! I love cookbooks with more substance than just a bunch of recipes...... I like to read about background, history, lore or anything else that will flesh out a book. The recipes are just a bonus! Reading this book brought back many memories of a way of life that, unfortunately for many of us, no longer exists. Every recipe I have tried from this book has worked for me. Reading about Maria Josefa's family life in old Cuba was almost like putting a mirror in front of me where I could look back on my life as well.

This is not only a gastronomic delight, but an extraordinary trip through old, but good, memories, glorious traditions and an unfortunately bygone way of life. To revisit places I've loved and relive experiences I thoroughly enjoyed as a child, like crabbing at Paso Malo, was an absolute joy.This book, a present from my daughter, is one of the most memorable father's day present I recall.

I first read this book at a Library and enjoyed so that I took it out a second time. To a person who knows cuban food, this book is the portal to paradise. The recipies are authentic and are written very clearly and very easy to understand. I lived in Matanzas and Varadero during the 50s and the reminiscenses are true. I enjoyed this book tremendously and I will recommend it to many of my friends. It would be great if translated to spanish. A lot of people that live in Miami who came to the US from Cuba do not speak english.

The recipes in this book are authentically Cuban and easy to follow. In addition, the book contains a rich array of anecdotes from Mrs. O'Higgins' childhood which bring alive a time and a place no longer available to us. The stories are as great a treasure as the recipes, for they are written in a style which absolutely characterizes the Cuban people, a style which is full of wit and humor and a general attitude of generosity towards the world and towards the world's many gifts. Cuban joie de vivre fairly leaps off every page of this lively and extremely reliable cookbook.

If you are looking for authentic Cuban recipe's, then this is the book for you.Having been raised in a Cuban household I grew up with just these kinds of foods. But alas I never did pay attention to the actual cooking,now that I have my own family, I needed and wanted these recipe's, but all previous book's I purchased were a big disappointment,they all missed the mark when it came to the authentic taste of my abuelas(grandma's) cooking! Finally I came across Mrs,Lluria De O'Higgins book and I am delighted to report that these are the recipe's I recall from my childhood. From the arroz con pollo to the paella all are truly wonderful!! Thank You Mrs, O'Higgins, I now have something to pass on to my own daughter!