El Charro Cafe: The Tastes and Traditions of Tucson [Hardcover]

Carlotta Flores (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 1998

Recipes and lore from El Charro Café, a Tucson landmark famous for its vibrant, fresh Mexican food.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It may come as something of a shock to fans of El Charro Cafe , Tucson's famous Mexican restaurant, that its origins are more French than Spanish. Monica Flin's parents both came from French stock, but when she opened her restaurant in Tucson in 1922, it was Mexican food she chose to serve her customers. The restaurant has moved several times since its founding, but it has remained a family business. El Charro's southwestern cooking relies on chilies, garlic, rice, corn, and a seasoning mixture called pico de gallo, a spice rub used much the same as voguish Cajun blends. It also calls for sun-dried beef, impossible to duplicate outside Tucson, but for which the book offers a complex method of creating a substitute. El Charro's salsas and stews are more readily duplicated, especially for those with access to Mexican produce markets. This book usefully documents the noble traditions of U.S.-Mexican border cuisine. Mark Knoblauch

About the Author

Carlotta Flores runs El Charro Café with her husband, Ray, and her daughter and two sons. "This book is not just a cookbook. It is a tribute to my ancestors, and a legacy to the younger generations of our family. "My book explains in detail the methods of preparing many dishes for which Tucson and El Charro are famous. Although you may recognize some of their names, the way we prepare them is different from anywhere else in the world. "It is a blend of history and culture that cannot be matched." -- Carlotta Flores Carlotta's award-winning recipes have long been reviewed by nationally recognized critics: "An explosion of flavor ..." -- Gourmet Magazine, December 1996 "Best ethnic restaurant" -- Jane Stern, author and restaurant critic, in USA Today poll of best restaurants in the United States. "If you enjoy Mexican food, this is the place." -- Jerry Hulse, Los Angeles Times Voted "Arizona's Best" by the readers of the Arizona Republic, Phoenix.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Fisher Books; First Edition edition (November 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555611214
• ISBN-13: 978-1555611217
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #764,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A family, its traditions and its famous cafe in a cookbook, November 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: El Charro Cafe: The Tastes and Traditions of Tucson (Hardcover)

Many of us collect cookbooks for their unique and/or useful recipes. Rarely does a recipe-book come along that is one you want to curl up with on the couch and read and enjoy for its own sake.

Carlotta Flores' El Charro Cafe is one. It is a joyful tribute to past and future by the author and is full of the color of Mexican flavor in the Southwest U.S. Fisher Books did an outstanding job on the full-color photography on nearly every page, not only of platters of food but of kichey artifacts and symbols of the rich culture as it is lived on both sides of our long border and especially at El Charro.

Throughout the pages are amusing and touching family anecdotes from the time Carlotta's great-aunt Monica began serving cowboys and their familias frijoles and tamales in the dusty, wild Tucson of 1922,to the third and fourth generation's tasteful updates that have made El Charro an international destination-restaurant.

I can think of dozens of friends and relatives who would love to find this prize under the Christmas tree. It would not need wrapping!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent regional cookbook., October 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: El Charro Cafe: The Tastes and Traditions of Tucson (Hardcover)

I first encountered this cookbook at my in-laws' house in Florida. They had dined at El Charro on a recent trip to Tucson, and were so enamored with the restaurant and the food, they bought the book. Unfortunately for them, they can't get many of the authentic spices and foodstuffs in Florida. Fortunately for me in Colorado, I can (excepting the preparation of the carne seca, which is one of the few drawbacks of this book). Gracias, El Charro e Senora Flores.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MY FAMILY LOVED EVERY RECIPE!!!, October 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: El Charro Cafe: The Tastes and Traditions of Tucson (Hardcover)

BEING FROM THE WEST COAST, I THOUGHT I KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT MEXICAN FOOD, AND BEING FROM TUCSON AND KNOWING THE EL CHARRO QUALITY MADE ME THINK I KNEW IT ALL. I WAS WRONG!!! THIS BOOK IS GREAT, IT TELLS A GREAT STORY OF THE TRADITION AND HISTORY OF THE CULTURE BEHIND THE FOOD. THE RECIPES WERE CLEAR AND CONCISE AND FUN TO MAKE. MY FAMILY WAS AMAZED HOW GOOD A COOK THIS BOOK MADE ME. I WAS MORE INTRIGUED WITH MAKING FOOD FROM A BOOK THAT I FELT A CONNECTION TO THE CULTURE THAT MADE THE RECIPES POSSIBLE. I HAVE NOT BEEN TO THE RESTAURANTS FOR SOME TIME NOW AND I FEAR IT MAY BE LONGER AS I AM ENJOYING COOKING AT HOME SO MUCH! BUY THIS BOOK!