Mexican Family Cooking [Paperback]

Aida Gabilondo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 1992

A well-known Mexican cook, Aida Gabilondo offers a wonderful array of dishes -- zesty red snapper baked in a sause of tomato, pimento, and jalapeno peppers, a mouth-watering version of the classic Mole Poblano (chicken in a spicy sauce subtly flavored with chocolate), a fast and easy tamale pie, festive stuffed green chiles with walnut sauce, and many, many more.
Elegantly designed and beautifully illustrated, this marvelous cookbook is a complete cooking course and more. Throughout, Aida Gabilondo relates the origins of a dish, and the local lore and custom, so that we learn not just about the food but also about the magnificent Mexican landscape, culture, and people. Here is the very best of Mexican cooking written with the needs of the American cook in mind.
"Excellent, step-by-step, well-illustrated instructions that will ease the entree of Mexican cuisine into American homes." -- Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this fine volume, Gabilondo, a professional chef, shares a full range of more than 260 appealing recipes from her native Mexico, including a number of desserts and corn tortilla dishes. A chapter on fiesta fare contains the author's favorite recipes: meatball soup; stuffed green chilis with walnut sauce; shrimp, pineapple and jalapeno salad; exotic crabmeat hash; pork ribs and hominy soup; zucchini and cheese crepes; broiled wrapped oysters; tamale pie. Gabilondo describes, in glossary form, various ingredients and their specialized use in Mexican cookery, and where to obtain the more unusual items; the array of fresh, dried and canned chilis and recommended methods of handling them; basic cooking techniques and equipment; and mail-order sources for Mexican food. The chatty, exaggerated narrative is more than compensated for by excellent, step-by-step, well-illustrated instructions that will ease the entree of Mexican cuisine into American homes. Author tour.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

A well-known Mexican cook, Aida Gabilondo offers a wonderful array of dishes -- zesty red snapper baked in a sause of tomato, pimento, and jalapeno peppers, a mouth-watering version of the classic Mole Poblano (chicken in a spicy sauce subtly flavored with chocolate), a fast and easy tamale pie, festive stuffed green chiles with walnut sauce, and many, many more.
Elegantly designed and beautifully illustrated, this marvelous cookbook is a complete cooking course and more. Throughout, Aida Gabilondo relates the origins of a dish, and the local lore and custom, so that we learn not just about the food but also about the magnificent Mexican landscape, culture, and people. Here is the very best of Mexican cooking written with the needs of the American cook in mind.
"Excellent, step-by-step, well-illustrated instructions that will ease the entree of Mexican cuisine into American homes." -- Publishers Weekly

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (February 18, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449906833
• ISBN-13: 978-0449906835
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Mexican

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Salt, Pepper and Love", January 26, 2001

By 

Erin E. Saenz (Sacramento, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mexican Family Cooking (Paperback)

Don't pass up a chance to buy this cookbook if you really want to learn about what you are cooking and if you love Mexican cooking. This is every mothers cookbook to her son or daughter, chock full of great family recipes, short stories and love. Mrs. Gabilondo taught me all about chilis in 8 short pages full of illustrations-I have never had to refer to any other book for this information. Her book is my bible. It is now a worn, jacketless hardback I purchased in 1986. When the man of my dreams appeared I cooked him her recipes for Cheese and Potato Chowder and Minced Steak Burritos. We are now married and I have used this book to cook his family favorites as he is hispanic. The recipes have become part of my life. You have all the different sauce and salsa recipes in this book you will ever need and frankly it is the only book for mexican cooking you will ever need. If you think making tamales would be too hard the simple illustrations make it much easier-trust me. (My in-laws have even taught my two young daughters 3 and 5 to make tamales and they are better at it than I am!) The recipes for Chicken and Rice, Tamales, and Chicken Mole I have made for up to 50 people and more and Mrs. Gabilondos' recipes still hold. Also, all my husbands family and friend have raved over the results-and they know what they are talking about. My personal favorite was making the Roast Leg of Lamb with Garlic as there is a great story behind the great meal that I will leave to my children in the notes I will put in their copies of Mexican Family Cooking by Aida Gabilondo. They will not be leaving home without it. I have made more than half of the recipes in this book and most are every day family meals now. I love to just pick it up and read it for the recipes, stories and because of the love imbued in it by the author.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY TWO... Or Three..., March 4, 2001

By 

"chefnan" (Ponte Vedra, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mexican Family Cooking (Paperback)

My best instincts told me my mother would love this book, so I purchased two copies of the first edition hardback in '86. Working from this wonderful mix of recipes and reminiscence, the flavorful bounty from this book has graced both our tables for more than a decade. My third copy was purchased the day after my aunt came to visit. Born and raised in Mexico, she wasn't expecting her niece in North Carolina to serve the best Chile Verde she'd ever tasted. Compliments led to confessions, and I brought out this cherished book. Once she'd read the first few pages I knew I would give it to her. Plan to share this book with your family.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best ethnic cookbooks I have used., December 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Mexican Family Cooking (Paperback)

This book offers step-by-step instructions for making authentic Spanish dishes. Aida avoids unobtainable or proprietary ingredients in
the recipes. We have found the "Green rice" and the "Chicken and Spices" particularly good.

My only regret is this is the only book by Mrs. Gabilondo.