The Aficionado's Southwestern Cooking: New and Old

Ronald Johnson is a first rate cookbook writer, (he 's a fine poet too). The recipes in this volume are not difficult to execute and do not demand a whole supermarket full of ingredients. The results are wonderful. He writes superlatively well - in another class entirely from the typical cookbook writer.

Ronald Johnson was/is an excellent poet and an equally fine cook. His "The American Table" is the classic American cookery book and that it is not better known reveals more about publishing/marketing's lack of taste and responsibility than one cares to know. Similarly his "Simple Fare" and "Company Fare" should be on every food-lover's shelf. The original "Southwestern Cooking", long, sadly, out-of-print, was updated and expanded for this edition. It remains a prime guide to preparing food of the region. Johnson is eminently readable, and his recipes work: his tips, and asides, are quirky and informative. Our original edition is still in use and I am delighted to add this one to the Johnson section.

I have a very large collection of cookbooks, love to read them, love to cook and eat good food, and truly appreciate good cookbooks. This book is one of my favorites! If you appreciate Southwestern Cooking, get this book. There are no pictures here; so many bypass this in favor of one of the many beautifully portrayed cookbooks. However, this book should be the serious cook's primer for this delicious cuisine. Unlike several of the trendy cookbooks, I have not had a problem following any of these recipes. I could wish that nutrition amounts (carbos, fat, sugar, etc.) were supplied, that was not such an issue in 1985.