In A Cuban Kitchen (Quintet Book) [Hardcover]

Alex Garcia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2004 | Series: Quintet Book

Immensely appealing and alluringly spicy, Cuban food has exploded in popularity. Recently, many Nuevo Latino chefs have chosen to interpret it in various “fusion” dishes, but the real home cooking of Cuba is delicious and rewarding on its own. Discover in a new cookbook which not only explores the riches of the cuisine but also reveals the unique beauty of Cuba itself. Influenced by the diversity of cultures that have settled on this Caribbean island over the centuries, including Spanish, French, African, Arabic, Chinese, and Portuguese, true Cuban cooking is exciting and varied. From such festive finger foods as croquetas, pastelitos, and bocaditos to traditional entrees like arroz con pollo, picadillo, and bistec emanizado, there’s a wealth of savory dishes to explore. Learn how to create the traditional medianoche, or Cuban sandwich, brew a cup of bracing café cubano, and make the sumptuous dessert known as dulce de leche. In addition to the treasury of 100 traditional recipes, compiled by an accomplished Cuban-born chef, In A Cuban Kitchen provides a fascinating look at sugar cultivation, rum production, and other native resources essential to Cuban cuisine.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Garcia, who was born and raised in Cuba and appears weekly on Food Network’s The Melting Pot, offers an attractive cookbook filled with colorful photos of Cuban classics, including a Sandwich Cubano (Cuban Sandwich), Moros y Cristianos (Rice and Red Beans) and Ropa Vieja (Stewed Shredded Beef). Garcia gives the Spanish name for every dish, with an English translation below in smaller print, and places a short glossary at the beginning of the book to help readers with food terms like "culantro" and "chorizo." The recipes lack introductions or even brief explanatory phrases, so readers are left to figure out for themselves the origins behind such intriguing dishes as Tasajo Camagueyano (Salt-Cured Beef), Bacalao a la Viscaina (Salt Cod, Viscaya Style) or Yuca Frita (Crispy Yuca Sticks). Still, the recipes look terrific, and Garcia’s enlightening introduction will help orient home cooks to the various cultural influences on Cuban cuisine.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Alex Garcia was born and raised in Cuba and has appeared on the Food Network.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (September 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076241541X
• ISBN-13: 978-0762415410
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #685,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Former Food Network Chef Goes Back to His Roots, October 3, 2004

By 

Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In A Cuban Kitchen (Quintet Book) (Hardcover)

Cuban cuisine mixes Caribbean and Latin flavors that turn into some truly memorable dishes. From personal experience, I also find it one of the more difficult cuisines to pull off honestly because one mistake can turn a dish into something generic or worse, unsalvageable. I had enjoyed the personable, fun-loving chef Alex Garcia on the Food Network for several years, as he co-hosted the Nuevo Latino cuisine segments on the dearly departed "Melting Pot" series. I even had the privilege of meeting him and tasting his food firsthand at his rather pricey midtown Manhattan restaurant, Babalu. That's why I had been anticipating his cookbook ever since he mentioned writing it over two years ago. Fortunately the result is a beautifully photographed and tantalizing cookbook with tasty recipes from his native Cuba.

I can vouch for the quality of several of the recipes since many of them were featured on his old series, and I have tried them successfully. The carne mechada (Cuban-style beef stew) is quite hearty and a crowd favorite. Also excellent are the arroz con gandules (pigeon pea rice) and the platános en tentación (roasted sweet plantains). His mojito recipe is fool-proof. Granted some of the native ingredients are hard to find, if not impossible, in some parts of the country, but reasonable substitutes are provided in the recipes. My one disappointment with the book is that even though Garcia writes the introduction, his personality is strangely missing from the book, which is a shame since that's what drew me initially to his cooking. Otherwise this is a fine starter for anybody who wants to give Cuban cooking a try. Along the same lines, I also recommend his former TV co-host Aaron Sanchez's versatile cookbook, "La Comida del Barrio", which focuses on Latin American cuisine as done here in the barrios stateside.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars delicious recipes!!, January 19, 2005

By 

C. Toro "chimissurri" (oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In A Cuban Kitchen (Quintet Book) (Hardcover)

The recipes in this book really work!! I have tried few and they are delicious. I have tried other Cuban cooking books and have been disappointed by the dishes. It seems like some cookbook writers are not thinking that readers are actually going to try the recipes. That is not the case of this book. Chef Garcia's recipes are outstanding!

4.0 out of 5 stars great cookbook!, May 15, 2011

By 

D. Belon "cookbook nut" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In A Cuban Kitchen (Quintet Book) (Hardcover)

I bought this cookbook awhile ago and use it regularly. I used to watch Alex Garcia on Melting Pot many years ago and I think he is a talented writer. I enjoyed reading the author's personal, little stories that are peppered throughout the book and also enjoy the recipes. I am not Cuban but have a tremendous love and appreciation for Cuban food, especially comidas criollas. The book features ingredients that are readily available and also has directions that are very easy to follow. My favorite recipes are cafe con leche, vaca frita, ropa vieja, picadillo, tostones, arroz con pollo, and the sandwich Cubano. I really do wish that the author could have included a few more chicken entrees and also included a recipe for Lechon, a delicous, Cuban pork roast (when done right, it will have crispy, skin). Most cuban cook books have a standard lechon recipe for an entire suckling pig. I am looking for a cookbook that has an adapted recipe that can be made with a typical pork roast and a conventional oven.