Mexican

I am from Mexico and this book is truly authentic. The recipes are delicious and the pictures even more!

I actually bought this for my husband and it's been a smash hit. The book is beautiful, intelligent and has little bits of extra culinary info that help when creating a recipe.

I am a huge fan of Williams Sonoma's cookbooks. They have delicous recipes that are fail proof. Your dishes always come out tasting delcious! I have eyeballed this cookbook for some time. I was so excited to try this, and boy I was not disappointed. My first try I used the mexican red rice and carnitas for a superbowl party. YUMM! The red rice has become a staple at my house... A great cookbook for those of us who love Mexican food, but weren't blessed to be born with a Latina mother. ;)

I have lived many years in southern California where my tastes were influenced by everything from quick-stop hole in the wall cuisine, to first rate gourmet; from cricket tacos to walk-up taco stands near the Tijuana airport slums. I have traveled all over Mexico and the American southwest as well. If there is one thing I learned it is the wide variety of food labeled Mexican in the US. Having a step-mother of Mexican descent, I also leaned the time and effort put into authentic home-made cooking. This book does an excellent job of simplifying many of my favorites including carnitas, enchiladas, and tortilla soup. They have some nice shortcuts that bring authentic flavors to the front in their recipes for fish tacos, and carne asada. My biggest gripe is too much emphasis on meats and not enough on vegetables. The photos are excellent, jst as they are with the other books in this series. The cooking tips are useful for newbies, and most of the recipes stick to readily available ingredients and list suitable substitutes when needed. There is a nice geographic representation of dishes, but they do seem to concentrate on pacific/Baja Mexican cuisine. Nonetheless, there are a few dishes from elsewhere like mole poblano, port tatemado, and duck in green pipian. I like cookbooks for ideas. Aside from preparing the dishes I use this book as a starting point for other creative dishes and this is where I love the shortcuts and substitutions suggested. I would have given marks higher than 3+/4- if there were more vegetarian dishes and some good basics (e.g. rice, refried beans) presented with the same flair and creativity of the existing recipes.

I've made several of the recipes in this book and have yet to receive a complaint from anyone. I've tried at least 6 of the recipes and have not been disappointed. The empanadas and the carnitas are my favorite things to serve, and everyone loves them! Coming from an americanized mexican household, my knowledge on cooking mexican foods has been very limited. Needless to say, many people have been impressed with my cooking lately!