Customer Reviews

My Mother's Bolivian Kitchen: Recipes and Recollections

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

 

 

I bought this book out of a sense of nostalgia - I spent a year in Bolivia, and the descriptions of the foods and the cities brought back a lot of memories for me. However, I did find a couple of typos in the recipes, and some of them seem incomplete somehow, as if there were a step missing. However, the recipes that I did make turned out quite well. Good luck finding some of the ingredients, though.

A friend sent me "My Mother's Bolivian Kitchen," by Jose Sanchez as a Christmas present. What a wonderful book! I began to read it and I couldn't stop. The narrative is extremely captivating: a mix of history, anthropology and food recipes. It is written with great sensitivity and warmth inspired by the author's memories of his mother.

Really enjoyed the family recollections. Brought back memories of my own upbringing. For my birthday, I prepared the banana squash soup. It was a great success. I was almost embarrassed with all of the compliments that were given. The apple flan is
delicious! (not to be eaten very often because of the eggs)
Overall, the book is a wonderful adventure in the kitchen.

I was so disappointed with this cookbook. Bolivia gets overlooked, lumped into a group with Peru and Chile or misrepresented in so many South American cookbooks that I was anxiously awaiting this book devoted to Bolivian cooking. Bolivia is a colorful country, vibrant in culture and food I had hoped this cookbook would present this vibrancy. Instead, it is one of the dullest cookbooks I've bought. The stories are nothing exraordinary, the photos are black and white and of poor quality and the author makes no attempt to describe the uniqueness of some of the Bolivian ingredients nor does the author offer appropriate substitutions. Hippocrene should be ashamed of the product they published. The cover of the cookbook is in color and looks great so why didn't Hippocrene carry that into the interior of the book.

I enjoyed this book, I ordered it as gift for my children,I know they miss my Bolivian dishes, I have given them Bolivian cook books in Spanish, but I think this one is more practical and reading about his memories of times past was nice.I want to thank the author for this gift and that his "mamita" is very proud of all the lessons learned.
For our dishes one should not use "Chili" ,the flavor is not the same, one can find Bolivian "ajies"[hot peppers] on line or Peruvian Stores.
Bolivian spices,mates,etc; can now be order to Bolivia, on line.
I am also giving this book as part of a wedding gift.

It is in fact a good book. For those that don't know about Bolivian cooking and its stories, I suggest you try it.

As a fellow Bolivia-born american, I treasure the gifts and wisdom that is shared in the pages of this magical book. It holds ageless, priceless recipes that have been shared through time and generations by our Bolivian families. Within these recipes, Jose also tells a story of the culture and beauty of our country, Bolivia, that is full of passion, flavor and richness, much like the food.

I am proud of this man for his unselfish desire to share this wealth of recipes and recollections with me and the world. I attribute this book and my final return to Bolivia after 20 years, with the start of my quest for a greater balance in my life. Thank you Jose!