The Essential Cuisines of Mexico

This is the quintessential Mexican Cook Book. Not gringo Mexican but authentic regional Mexican. A tribute to one of the world's excellent cuisines.

This is a re-issue of Kennedy's first two cook books, and they were getting hard to find. We bought this book for a friend who had just returned from Mexico, and wanted to try the cooking. It was an unqualified sucess. She started the first week she owned it, and by the second week, was hosting a Mexican dinner party. She found the instructions easy to follow and the ingrediants easy to come by. (San Francisco) There are other very good Mexican cookbooks and we own some, but we have ALL of Kennedys. It is hard to imagine a better book to start on.

`The Essential Cuisines of Mexico' is Diana Kennedy's Mexican answer to Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. It has a similar style and quality and, like Child's encounter with French cooking, it came about as a result of her marriage to a husband who was posted to Mexico by his newspaper, `The New York Times' as their Caribbean / Mexican correspondent. This, plus a little help from New York Times colleague and friend, Craig Claiborne lead Ms. Kennedy to start teaching Mexican cooking and prompting her to write a book on the subject. There are two big differences between this book and Ms. Child's `magnum opus'. The first is that this volume is an amalgam of three earlier books, while `...French Cooking' was a distillation from a manuscript at least twice the size of the final published volume. The second major difference is that while Ms. Child is documenting `cuisine bourgeois', Ms. Kennedy is looking at Mexico's `cuisine provincial'. This is highlighted by the fact that the geographical home of all recipes is cited, and the geographic specifics are given for all the major ingredients cited in the appendix. The three earlier books being combined here are `The Cuisines of Mexico', `The Tortilla Book', and `Mexican Regional Cooking'. The author also states that some new material has been added to the recipes from these three books. To my eye, the integration of the three volumes is seamless. The author and her editors have not simply pasted the three volumes together, they have merged all the material to create a single work easily superior to the original three. By the time this book was published, it should be evident to the English speaking world at large that Ms. Kennedy has some serious competition from Chicagoan, Rick Bayless in the world of Mexican culinary authorities. Just as Ms. Kennedy presents recipes very similar to fellow amateur Julia Child and fellow `culinary archeologist' Paula Wolfert, chef Bayless does a much more analytical approach to Mexican cuisine, deconstructing dishes into their component parts in `Rich Bayless' Mexican Kitchen' and giving us multiple versions of important dishes in `Mexico One Plate at a Time'. In spite of these differences, Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Bayless agree on virtually everything important when they address the same subjects. The most important point on which they agree is the central place of Oaxaca as, to coin a phrase, the Provence of Mexican cuisine. On which author to prefer, if you are a fan of Mexican dishes, buy both authors, bypassing the earlier books which were folded into the current volume and also bypassing Mr. Bayless' `Salsas That Cook' as there is some overlap with `Rick Bayless's (sic) Mexican Kitchen'. If you are a culinary professional, Mr. Bayless may be just a bit more useful. If you simply want lots of good recipes, go with Ms. Kennedy. Also, Ms. Kennedy probably has the edge when it comes to giving recipes for Mexican baking, as that is one of her special in

This is the first book written by Diana Kennedy that I read, so I don't know how it compares with her previous books. I can say, however, that this is one of the most complete books on Mexican cuisine that I have found. I also like the fact that all of the recipes are as authentic as can be. My only dissapointment is that some recipes call for hard to get ingredients and are very labor intensive, but this is not Ms. Kennedy's fault, that is just the way aunthentic Mexican food is. Even if you don't prepare any of the recipes the book is highly enjoyable.

This book is the best Mexican cook book on the market. If you seriously love Mexican cooking, this cook book is absolutely essential. I first discovered Diana Kennedy from a friend who was also seriously addicted to good Mexican food in 1973. I immediately bought a copy of her first book, The Cuisines of Mexico, and authentic Mexican food began to appear in my kitchen. Mexican food is the only food I make, other than something that can go directly into the microwave. Believe me, if I can get good results with this cook book, you'll be a regular Julia Child by comparison.In fact, Diana Kennedy is a lot like Julia Child in many ways. Ms. Kennedy is an American who came to live in Mexico after she married a New York Times foreign correspondent. There, she learned Mexican food from the local people. Her book is full of beautiful tales about how people prepare and enjoy each dish. For years, she has offered cooking instruction, so she knows the kinds of things that people need to learn. For example, the book contains general information about what kind of equipment you need, basic descriptions of the various ingredients (which can get pretty complicated with the various chilies), and how to handle various ingredients for advance preparation (something I always do), storage, and freezing (something that always happens because I make so much). The reason I say that this is the book to have is because this book contains the essential material from her three earlier cook books (The Cuisines of Mexico, The Tortilla Book, and Mexican Regional Cooking) updated and improved. She has added more basic information and included 33 new recipes not in the originals (such as pico de gallo with peaches from the state of Mexico, rice with sea food from Veracruz, chicken in corn fungus sauce, many snacks from cantinas in Merida and Yucatan, and barbecued chicken from Chiapa).Concerned about how healthy your Mexican food is? By making it from scratch, you can leave out the pork lard that makes it so tasty, and substitute some healthy vegetable oil instead. Or you can broil rather than fry. You get the idea. It won't be authentic, but it will taste a lot better than most of the other healthy food you eat. Most of the wonderful flavor actually comes from the vegetables and seasonings rather than the oils. The book is broken out into the following sections: appetizers; Masa (corn meal) fantasies; tortillas and tortilla dishes; tamales; soups; soup stews; beans, rice, and pasta; egg dishes; light meals; salads; vegetables; sauces and relishes; meats; pork; beef; assorted meats; poultry; seafood; sweet yeast breads; desserts and cookies; drinks (included Craig Claiborne's favorite, Sangrita); and general information.After you have finished enjoying this book, I suggest that you make a Cinco de Mayo dinner or party an annual event. I always like to have Mexican food for my birthday, as well.Vaya con Dios!