Customer Reviews

Authentic Mexican 20th Anniversary Ed: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico

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4 star:		(1)
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I have travelled extensively in Mexico. This is one of few cookbooks in the English language that will bring the tastes of Mexico to your table. But be aware -- this is NOT the typical fare that you find in "Mexican" restaurants in the US. You'll find no ground beef, cheddar cheese, jack cheese, black olives, chili powder, taco shells or sour cream in these pages.

I have used this book for nearly ten years. It is a model for how other cookbooks should be written. In addition to clear and detailed technique and cooking directions, most recipes include: timing and what can be prepared in advance; storage time; substitute ingredients; suggested accompaniments; and traditional and contemporary variations

I am of Mexican descent. I have avoided Restaurants and cookbooks that try to pass themselves off as "Mexican", for years. The recipes in this Tome so remind me of my childhood, that the book is falling apart. Rick truly knows his subject. Any one seriously interested in the cuisine must seek out this book.

I am a third and final year culinary student at a college in Columbus, Ohio. I've read a lot of texts and cookbooks in my life. I wanted to take the time and get online to comment on this book. I see and buy a lot of cookbooks that give you the good recipes but very little knowledge of the foods that you are cooking and how they will react to the processes that you will be putting them through. Five stars to this great piece of writing.

If you are looking to recreate authentic Mexican food, the kind you've eaten in Mexico when you aren't in the tourist restaurants, this is the book you need. Be prepared for a bit of a learning curve. This is a book for the adventurous cook, not a cautious beginner. But the reward is great! Sauces and salsas, homemade tortillas, meats and fish, taco fillings, delicious! Some ingredients may be hard to find, depending on where you live, but plenty of the recipes are doable with ingredients from a typical grocery store. I own two copies of this book; one for home and one for my part-time residence in Mexico, where I thoroughly enjoy shopping and cooking like the locals.

I figure there's two ways to do it. And they cetainly ain't mutually exclusive. One of them is this book; the other is serious study of your favorite local greasy mexican joint. Now, concerning the latter, I GUARANTEE you that the cook will be MORE than happy to tell you what he puts in his carne asada marinade, how he makes his horchata, or just what type and amount of fat he adds to his refried beans. And yes, at some point, you're just going to have to sack up, march in there with a pad of paper and a pencil, tell him just how much his tasty fare roXors, and start taking dictation.

But maybe you're a po' grad student and can't afford both the paper AND the pencil.

Till then, buy this book! ... It's also the most to-the-point treatise that I have seen on the subject of down-home, no-nonsense, noneathis-california-cuisine-garbage mexican cooking.

Now I haven't made everything in the book by a longshot, but of the recipes I've constucted, every one has been a winner. The salsa roja recipe is killer, I haven't found a taqueria/shack red sauce that compares with this one. The same goes for the chipotle sauce and the tomatillo guacamole. The adobo marinade is an order of magnitude more flavorful than any store bought version ive found -- smother some on pork loin strips and bbq outside over pure mesquite, and you'll have the whole damn neighborhood paying you secondary and tertiary "welcome to the community!" visits. Other recommendations that instantly come to mind are the Enchiladas Verdes, which combine chicken and tomatillo sauce into a wonderful dish that needs to be experienced, and the Horchata recipe, which I HIGHLY suggest you prepare in massive amounts (mixed with lots of carribean rum) if you ever plan to find yourself on a massive road trip with a busload of drunk college students.

The Bayless's have done outstanding service to one of the best cuisines in the world. The meticulous detail is very similar to Diana Kennedy's writings. In fact, if I may go so far to say, "foreigners"--like Rick and Deann, who have traveled to Mexico and exhaustively hunted down the best of Mexican cuisine have done native Mexican chefs and cooks a great service, too.

At one time in the 70's, Rick Bayless was starting his quest and lifelong love affair with classic Mexican cooking to which Deann Groen has so amply assisted. And he attended IMLE cooking school in Leon, in the state of Guanajuato, in the "heart of Mexico". I have learned that the originators of this Mexican cooking school have started up a Mexican Cooking Vacation in the beautiful town of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, where you can practice the recipes you see in "Authentic Mexican:Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico" -- mexicancookingvacation.com allows you to learn and prepare recipes like these in the heart of Mexico while having a great Mexican vacation.

Buy this book. Buy this book now! You will wow your friends and family and entertain your own tummy with the best of the best featuring valuable insight and technique concerning the preparation of world-revered Mexican "platos".

This book is an excellent addition to your cook book collection if you like truly authentic Mexican food. The recipes are great, most of them easy to prepare, and so what (as one person complained) if they take a little time--good things are worth waiting for. If you're in a hurry go to Taco Bell. To my mind, what this book shares with all truly great cookbooks is the combination of great recipes with clear instructions and an immensely readable and informative amount of information, instead of just listing recipes. The layout is very user friendly as well. I like a little history, I like to learn things I didn't know about a culture and their cuisine, or about unfamiliar ingredients, etc. Along with Dianne Kennedy's Mexican cookbooks I'd say these are the best books out there on this subject.

I've used a lot of Mexican cookbooks but none can compare to those that Rick Bayless writes. The recipes in this book can be rather lengthy and complicated but they are authentic and delicious!

This cookbook is a dream come true for lovers of true Mexican food. The recipes bring delicious results. Start with just the salsas, feed them to your friends, watch them furrow their eyebrows in surprise at your talent. Then you'll be inspired to move on to something more complicated.

I bought it primarily for the dessert recipes like arroz con leche and flan. They look delicious.The more i read it the more i want to try the other recipes as well. I compared the arroz con leche recipe with one from an old mexican cookbook that i have (in spanish). The recipe is authentic as far as i can tell.