* FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH! *

* FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH! *

 

TREASURES OF THE MEXICAN TABLE; classic recipes, local secrets (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021, 406 pages, ISBN 978-0-358-08676-5, $50 hardbound) is by Pati Jinich (born and raised in Mexico City), host of Pati's Mexican Table on PBS, now in its tenth season. She's won three James Beard Awards, and is the resident chef at the Mexican Cultural Institute. It's an enormous tome loaded with all of the classic recipes and local specialties found in the 32 Mexican states. Her arrangement is by food ingredient or course, beginning with soups and then moving on to tacos, quesadillas, burritos, tamales, salsas, guacamole, beans, rice, eggs, seafood, poultry, red meats (including goat), salads and veggies, and concluding with desserts. Throughout there are many cook's tips and notes, and awesome photographs of the plated food. Recipe titles and the index are in both Spanish and English. The over 200 recipes are complete and very easy to follow. The book could have been improved if it also used metric in the recipes, or at least had a metric conversion chart (hey, there are sale potentials for the rest of the world).

Audience and level of use: those wanting a definitive Mexican cookbook.

Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: baila con tu mujer, carne asada, sopes con papas y rajas, goat braised with guajillo chiles, tongue tacos, aceigas con chorizo y papas, arroz con elote y poblano, venorio con chuletas de cerdo, turkey chipotle meat loaf, zucchini and corn in poblano sauce, "wedding" stew, scallops in chile water.

The downside to this book: to its detriment, there are no metric conversion charts.

The upside to this book: larger print is a definite plus.

Quality/Price Rating: 94.