Cuba Cocina! [Hardcover]

Joyce Lafray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 1994

Here is the most complete guide ever to the robust and soul-satisfying flavors of Cuba, both the traditional or "classico foods and the exciting "nuevo dishes rapidly becoming so popular here and on the island.Caribbean food expert and long-time fan and proponent of Cuban cuisine in America, Joyce LaFray has included hundreds of recipes from home cooks and restaurants that reflect the vigorous and flavorful cooking of this tropical island. The pages of Cuba Cocina! are fitted with the tantalizing scents of garlic, citantro, tomato, sweet peppers, and those ubiquitous favorites, black beans and rice.Distinctively delicious recipes include fresh red snapper served with a tangy citantro-lime sauce, a crab dish that incorporates crisp plantains and a mango vinaigrette, and a Creole stewed shrimp prepared in the style of the province of Santiago de Cuba. Alongside the traditional "arroz con pollo, ropa vieja, pollo frito and roast suckling pig are recipes for nuevo-style roast turkey with black bean stuffing. ginger-sherried roast pork, and pork medallions with yuca and "mojo.To accompany all these dishes are more than two dozen recipes for salsas, and great tropical fruit and vegetable offerings such as fluffy calbaza souffle and eggplant stuffed with ripe tomatoes, peppers, and raisins.On the more indulgent side there are dozens of island cocktails, with and without alcohol. and a sumptuous array of aaah-inspiring desserts: flan with rum sauce, mango-coconut cake, and acreamy custard called natilla. Cuban traditionalists will love the mamey sapote and mango ice cream.For those new to Cuban cooking. an exhaustive glossary covers the essential terms and ingredients. a shopping listoffers Cuban names for major ingredients, and a detailed technique section discusses preparing uncommon fruits, vegetables, shellfish, and more, " Cuba Cocina! means "Cuba Cooks!" and as this book so amply demonstrates, that activity is cause for celebration.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Mouth- and eye-watering, hot, hot, hot Latin and Caribbean recipes.

From Publishers Weekly

Read this book for an insider's urbane perspective on Cuban cuisine-and for its spicy "Floribbean" creations. Food writer and television-cooking-show host Lafray has written several guides to Florida restaurants-and her cookbook also could serve as a culinary guide, since almost one-third of the recipes come from professional chefs and restaurateurs from both the U.S. and Cuba. Yet Lafray's book is not a paean to celebrity chefs so much as a chronicle of the influences of Cuban culture on American cooking, a trend she invokes frequently as "nuevo Cubano." The New Cuban style calls for fresh tropical fruits and vegetables, combined with meats and fish into lighter dishes than might have been traditional in old Cuba. For example, black beans may be made unctuous with creamy lard and garnished with crispy pork cracklings-or cooked with olive oil, instead. A practical tone makes Lafray's recipes seem unintimidating: unusual ingredients are defined, and tips on handling and preparations are found in almost all recipe prefaces. Enthusiasm can make Lafray sound a bit repetitious, but she demonstrates the style and flair of Cuban cooking and brings recipes of talented Cuban and Floridian chefs to a wider audience.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; 1 edition (November 12, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688110673
• ISBN-13: 978-0688110673
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,193,830 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All of Cuba in a cookbook., May 21, 2001

By 

Bob Older (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cuba Cocina! (Hardcover)

Don't let the French sounding name fool you. I've met this author a couple of years ago in Philadelphia and she brings together a fusion of flavors that make the old classic Cuban recipes come to life as well as some new `nuevo' items that will make your taste buds dance a mambo.

Cuban Cocina - the tantalizing world of Cuban cooking - yesterday, today and tomorrow is written by Joyce LaFray and is a deceitful cookbook only because it contains about 250 pages filled with close to 500 recipes. The book begins with a section on the ingredients and techniques that will be used some of which are non-traditional. There is also an English to Spanish shopping list dictionary, although hard to read with the green color, it is fun and educational, let alone helpful.

Some of the many recipes include: Cilantro Mayonnaise; Pickled Chicken, Havana Style; Marinated Fish with Cilantro; Fresh Conch and Lobster Seviche; Crispy Yuca Ham Croquettes; Lime Avocado Dip; Hearty Galician Soup; Yucassoise; Fried White Bean Cake; Cuban Rice; Marinated Garbanzos; Saffron Rice Salad; Baked Red Snapper with Garlic and Cumin; Grilled Swordfish with Mango and Blueberries; Plantain-Coated Fresh Fish; Sofrito Chicken; Oxtail with Peppers and Capers; Ginger Sherried Roasted Pork; Baked Calabaza Squash with Apples and Cheeses; Sweet Potato Pudding; Pineapple-Citrus Chutney; Pepper Corn Muffins; Banana Flan with Coconut Rum Sauce; Coconut Bars with Guava Jelly and a variety of beverages.

The cookbook is well designed, not breaking the cardinal sin - No pages need to be turned to finish a recipe. Some of the ingredients are not readily available at all grocery stores, but should be from any Latin grocery store. For anyone that wish to add some terrific ethnic foods to their repertoire, Cuba Cocina is a great addition to the bookshelf.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent cookbook from one of Floridas top food critics, August 6, 2005

By 

Milton Esquinaldo "Milton" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: cuba cocina: The Tantalizing World of Cuban Cooking-Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Paperback)

As a native Key Wester, most of my knowledge of Cuban cooking has been passed on to me via my family and local friends. When I moved to Tampa, (and on many trips to Miami) I noticed many differences and interpretations of classic Cuban dishes of my youth. Such differences are natural due to the verbal, generation-to-generation passing of Cuban cooking. It is very nice to see a cookbook that records this tradition and its variety.

Joyce LaFray's book is the best example that I have seen of capturing true Cuban cooking. I have made a few of the recipes and can honestly say that they are excellent! Her recipe for "Erasmo's Black Beans" is out of this world - having sampled a hefty portion recently at a food tasting event.

If you are experienced in cooking Cuban food; or a beginner who wants to look like a brilliant Cuban food chef - this book is for you. Go ahead and order it - you will be glad you did!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cuba Cocina! The Tantalizing World of Cuban Cooking-Yesterda, June 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cuba Cocina! (Hardcover)

The book is very true to the Cuban style of cooking. It has many recipes that my family forgot how to make since leaving Cuba. It has many old recipes with new twists to them, to make them a little different. This book has almost every recipe that you could imagine and would find in any Cuban restaurant all in the comfort of your own home. This is a wonderful book and very easy to use and understand.