Customer Reviews

1,000 Mexican Recipes

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
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This is a comprehensive collection of recipes for everyday Mexican food that I turn to when I've got an ingredient that I'm not too sure what to do with for a weeknight dinner - it's all there and the recipes turn out well, although by its nature the book doesn't have the same appeal and flair as say Dianna Kennedy's tomes on classical Mexican cooking, chef's Miguel Ravago, Robert Santibanez or Daniel Hove's book on Mayan cuisine. I rate this book 4 stars for convenience and general appeal, but stop one start short to leave room for those inspired cookcooks that can be read in addition to cooked from.

Marge Poore has exhaustively compiled a treasury of classic Mexican recipes. This is NOT TacoHut or DelTaco style food. And REAL Mexican food in its endless variety and tastes has converted many people who have travelled south of the border.

The author, Marge Poore, is a longtime friend of Mexican Cooking instructors Maria Marquez and her daughter, Patricia Merrill Marquez, in the beautiful colonial town of San Miguel de Allende. Marge picked up some preparation tips and recipes from their IMLE cooking school in Leon. Now Patricia Merril Marquez, who entertained Marge in her home last year just after this book's publication, has opened "Mexican Cooking Vacation" in San Miguel.

First, buy Marge's book right now! Then check out the MexicanCookingVacation.com website to reserve a space in 2003, if actually cooking Mexican food in a B&B setting while seeing a beautiful part of Mexico beloved to Marge Poore appeals to you. It's a chance to learn from friends of Marge Poore who are classic Mexican cooks in their own right. And it is a great adventure any time of the year in San Miguel de Allende. Plus, if you bring along Marge's book we will do our best to get it back to you with a personal inscription from the author!

1,000 Mexican Recipes is a classic bible of Mexican cooking. As one enthusiastic reviewer wrote, "If you can't find it here, you won't find it anywhere!" There are indeed cookbooks within cookbooks for the Mexican cuisine sophisticated palates. As with any ethnic work, much lore and history is interwoven with the thousand recipes, so you get a cultural and geographic education along with the inspiring presentations of imaginative Mexican delicacies. Thereare not just recipes but whole chapters devoted to Salsas, Appetizers, Enchiladas Tamales and Tortillas, Salads, Soups, Poultry, Meats, Fish, Vegetables, Beans Rice and Pasta, Eggs, Breads, Desserts and Beverages. There is also a Mexican Cooking Glossary and mail order sources for ingredients listed. This is a hefty book, 644 pages, packed with both familiar and obscure Mexican foods and preparation tips. For anyone who is a serious Mexican foods fan or cook, 1,000 Mexican Recipes is a must. Even the lovely illustration on the cover has a key inside that explains what each item or food is! Now that is what I call making ethnic cooking and foods accessible! Some of the more unusual sounding recipes included Cactus Salad with Tuna (page 202), Tamales in Bana Leaves, Oaxacan Style (p. 153), and Chicken, Ticul Style (p. 288) which contains black beans, Yucatan tomato sauce, pickled red onions, Yucatan habanero sauce, fried plaintains, fried whole tortillas, chicken, and cotija, or feta cheese!

Very good book. Most books so comprehensive are little more than a smattering of questionable recipes. Not so with this one. It's not the Mexican Joy of Cooking or Mastering the Art of Mexican Cooking, but it wouldn't take much to put it close. It covers the basics and then gets right to the dishes, starting with salsas and moving on to entrees, each chapter using previously learned techniques and recipes. In each chapter the recipes start simple and foundational becoming more complex and sophisticated as the chapter concludes. Another nice feature not found in many cookbooks so comprehensive is that each recipe is given context, sometimes with a lengthy introduction, but always with something useful. A very nice touch. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in Mexican cooking. Truly, I'd like to give this book 4 1/2 stars. The only thing it's missing is Joy of Cooking style in-depth discussions of technique. But it's certainly not lacking instruction in technique. btw, I've tried several of the dishes and salsas and have been very pleased so far (my favorite so far is the red pumpkin seed cooked salsa as an enchilada sauce -- was great for leftover turkey!).