Introduces fundamentals of Mexican cooking, including special ingredients and cooking utensils. Also provides recipes for suggested dishes.
An introductory section contains information on the culture, geography, food, holidays, and festivals of the country or region. This is followed by safety tips; glossaries of cooking utensils, terms, and special ingredients; healthy and low-fat cooking tips; and a metric conversion chart. A short discussion on eating customs is followed by sample menus complete with shopping lists. The clearly written recipes that follow are organized by type of meal. Brief introductory notes, suggestions for substitute ingredients, and cooking tips are included in many of the recipes. Preparation time and serving size are indicated. The books are visually appealing with many full-page, full-color photographs (frequently adjacent to the recipes they refer to). A couple of minor quibbles are the lack of pronunciation guides (present in the previous editions) and the lack of a nutritional breakdown for each recipe. Carole L. Albyn and Lois S. Webb s The Multicultural Cookbook for Students (Oryx, 1993) would be a good companion to any of these volumes. Fran Osseo-Asare s A Good Soup Attracts Chairs (Pelican, 1993; o.p.) introduces West African cuisine. These new titles will be useful for cultural and heritage school projects as well as fun reads for intermediate cooks.