Customer Reviews

Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Beautiful illustrations highlight this delightful treasure house of Mexican recipes and fascinating anecdotes of Frida Kahlo. Guadalupe Rivera, Frida's stepdaughter, has gathered here favorite recipes for more than 100 authentic Mexican dishes, that Frida Kalho served to family and friends over the course of her life. This wonderful collection also contains family photographs and some wonderful reproductions of her paintings. Ignacio Urguiza transports the reader, through his glorious photographs, to many of Frida's favorite places, including her blue house in Coyoacan. Urguiza's photos of exotic dishes and settings are visually stunning.

The book is divided into twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, each section a fiesta for the palate and for the eyes. There is a description for every festival and family event celebrated here, along with photographs, illustrations and fond memories, all woven together to provide a fabric of Mexican life and Frida's life. Events celebrated here include Frida's wedding to Diego Rivera, a Mexican national holiday, dinner after the opening of one of Frida's exhibits, Frida's birthday and the Feast of the Holy Cross. From an unusual recipe for black Oaxacan mole, an exquisite sauce of chilies, nuts, spices, tomatoes, garlic, onion and Mexican chocolate, to fresh corn tamales, squash blossom budin, lamb with drunken sauce and delicious meatballs in chipotle sauce, this is a book that will stimulate your senses. All the recipes are easy to follow and the results are marvelous.

I bought this book as a birthday present for a friend and wound up buying another for myself. Reading "Frida's Fiestas" is a cultural experience in itself. What better way to celebrate the life of Frida Kalho and the wonders of Mexican cuisine!
JANA

In this beautiful, lavishly photographed book, the celebratory life of Frida Kahlo is recreated month by month. Each chapter covers a joyous cause for festivity beginning with the month in which Frida and Diego Rivera were wed in August. Prior to the chronoligical following of a month in the life of Frida, the daughter of Diego invites you and entices you to join her in her recollections of the joyous side of Frida's life. Guadalupe Rivera, professor of law and also a writer under the name Guadalupe Martin recounts her life experiences and memories based on her early years as a witness to life in the Kahlo/Rivera household. The unabashed sunny account sets the table, so to speak, for the culinary delights. The reading is insightful and for the most part not a rehash of other accounts available , most notably the definitive(now with Selma Hayek on the cover) Hayden Herrera biography or the nearly as compelling book by Martha Zamora entitled The Brush of Anguish. The writing is concise and gives a glimpse into the life of Frida based on short vignettes providing you with an intimate portrait. You will find the stories delightful and complimentary to the fabulous photographs. The full color pictures are works of art. It is not just the colorful plates and settings but the entirety of the photographs. Each is magnificent, the design and layout of each picture is a testament to Mexican photographer Ignacio Urquiza, whose works have illustrated several cookbooks. The sumptous and exotic dishes are only part of the beauty. The settings and location of the photographs are visually stunning. You are allowed to take a peak into the house in Coyoacan, complete with antiques and recreated table settings. You can also see some of the places Frida enjoyed visiting such as the floating gardens of Xochimilco. All in all this is super book with fantastic recipes and easy to follow directions to create your own festive occasion. It is an excellent cookbook . Highly recommended for your culinary delights. This book will help you celebrate with cuisine from Mexico and give joy as Frida entitled her last painting, "Viva La Vida."

This is a charming, joyful book in a delightful format. The chapters cover a different celebration for each month of the year and begin with personal anecdotes from Lupe Rivera's experiences of the magical times her step-mother created for their family and friends. The impression one gets is the Rivera's loved to eat, especially Diego, and celebrate all the events that came their way with Frida as the instigator and creator of these moments. The bonus is the foods described in each story appear in the menu at the end of each chapter with colorful photographs to entice. This is the real charm of the book, giving the reader a true sense of connection to the story. One does not get a complete picture of Frida from this book, nor does the author intend to do this. It is simply the happy remembrances surrounding the celebrations of their lives, the events that connect a family.

If you are looking for a great Mexican traditional cookbook, look no further. These mouth-watering recipes are grouped by occasions for which they are served, so the reader will also learn about the traditional Mexican fiestas celebrated all year round. What gives the book another dimension, is that these are the recipes that were prepared in Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera' "Casa Azul" in Coyoacán! The numerous anecdotes and the extensive selection of pictures also featured in the book make it an excellent choice, whether you are solely interested in Mexican cooking, or looking to read about the fascinating couple Rivera and Kahlo were and continue to be. If you are considering this book for a gift, beware! You will end up keeping it for yourself...

Adding a culinary aspect of Frida's life was an incredible idea! Lupe Marin does an excellent job in sharing the secrets of popular Mexican food and how they influenced the art and persona of Frida Kahlo. This book definitely opens the senses to sensual recipies you could share with friends and significant others!

If you are fascinated by the life of Frida Kahlo AND you enjoy culinary explorations, then you will absolutely LOVE this book. You are granted the privilege of peeking into Frida's dining room and kitchen, and you will find that this savoury experience complements magnificently her already sensational biography. A version "en espanol" is also available.

Lucky for us, this book is a 5-star in both categories: cookbooks and picture books. The recipes are magnificent: easy-to-follow and mouth-watering delicious. We're not veteran cooks yet we've been able to procure all ingredients and complete every recipe we've attempted just as they are pictured. Some of these recipes may become staples in your family as they have in ours. Others you'll want to pull out for special events. Additionally, the photography is real eye candy. Not only does this book contain crisp photos of completed dishes, but also numerous scenic shots and other interesting photos. The real challenge with this book is whether to keep it with your cookbooks or on your coffee table.

As a former food and travel editor, untold numbers of cookbooks have crossed my desk. I was always amazed, and still am, at how many ill-conceived cookbooks get published, hung together with almost no premise, seemingly untested recipes, and no pictures. Most are printed in one ink color to save the publisher money--or include just with a signature of pictures in the middle. Often times the pictures are as poor as the recipes.

This book is one of the very few that rises above the rest. The story is intriquing, the recipes divine, the photography inspired. Several years ago, knowing it will be collectible someday, I bought five copies to archive.

This book is wonderful. I could never have imagined that Frida was so Mexican that even the food from her native country was important in her life. Diego Rivera's daughter, Guadalupe, does an excellent job describing what she saw in the year she spent living with her father and Kahlo in "La Casa Azul."
The major strength in the book lies in the stories the author tells in relation to the dishes she introduces in each chapter, and why and when Frida ate them. You would think this is banal, but it is not: it can offer you insights into Frida's personality, her social standing, her love for her country, and sometimes her art.
Another plus is the photos of the actual dishes; they are very beautiful, very colorful, but most importantly, they are taken in context, with various parts of "La Casa Azul" as the background, such as the garden and the dining room. You can almost see Frida, sitting at the table, enjoying a good conversation with her guests.
Finally, I have already cooked several of the dishes, and my favorite by far is "Carnitas." It's really tasty!
I highly recommend this book. You won't regret buying it.

I'm a huge Frida Kahlo fan, and this is much more than a mere recipe book. While Hayden Herrera's biography gave us the flavor of Frida's life, Frida's Fiestas gives us the flavor of her kitchen, bringing those of us who wish to know more about the artist and the woman just a little bit closer to sharing and understanding her life. Frida celebrated life to it's fullest; her favorite recipes and the artistic way they are presented on the pages of this book are a celebration as well. Viva la Vida!