Nuevo Latino: Recipes That Celebrate the New Latin American Cuisine [Paperback]

Douglas Rodriguez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2002

Latin American cuisine has vaulted to the top of America’s food scene in recent years, introducing a dazzling, seductive blend of South, Central, and North American cooking, christened Nuevo Latino. Award-winning chef Douglas Rodriguez pioneered the movement, first in Miami and then in New York at Patria and Chicama. The acclaimed chef’s signature dishes are collected in his groundbreaking cookbook NUEVO LATINO, the book that set a thousand grills ablaze in backyards and restaurant kitchens across the country. The now-classic recipes celebrate and reinterpret a broad range of old-style dishes from Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, and other countries throughout Latin America. Such utterly unique creations as Grilled Flank Steak over Mushroom Ceviche, Sugarcane Tuna with Malanga Purée and Dried Shrimp Salsa, and Chocolate Tres Leches are a feast for the palate as well as the eye. This is the ultimate presentation of revolutionary cooking inspired by the sensational flavors of the Americas.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The appeal of this exciting, sometimes downright wacky food from the co-owner and chef of New York City's Patria restaurant lies in its bold combinations. Rodriguez fearlessly mixes metaphors in dishes such as Ham Croquetas with Brie and Wilted Kale; sometimes, as with Banana-Lentil Salad, the combinations are traditional, but new to North American palates. The chapter on salsas and mojos (spicy salsas with garlic, citrus and olive oil) fairly crackles with flavor surprises: Papaya-Mustard Salsa; Ruby Grapefruit, Shallot and Cilantro Mojo. Rodriguez's roots are Cuban, but his influences are broadly Latin American, from Nicaraguan Banana Tres Leches to Peruvian Causa, a chilled potato terrine. Background information on basic techniques and recipes, a glossary of unusual ingredients and a handful of mail-order sources enhance the offerings' accessibility. Rodriguez occasionally drops names into his pleasantly chatty recipe headers, and some recipes, e.g., The Smokeless Macanudo, a filled chocolate cake shaped cleverly into cigars, may be better suited to a restaurant menu than home cooking. But on the whole, bright Latin flavors and Rodriguez's unfettered enthusiasm combine in a collection that only a curmudgeon could resist.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Rodriguez first gained fame as the chef of Miami's acclaimed Yuca restaurant, and his New York City restaurant, Patria, has been hot since it opened last year. A Cuban American who grew up in New York, Rodriguez described his food at Yuca as "nuevo cubano," but since then he's expanded his repertoire to include his own interpretations of dishes from throughout Latin America, including Oyster Croquetas with Banana-Lentil Salad and Boniata and Salmon Tamals. The more exotic ingredients may not be easy to find, and some of the dishes include several separate components. But the recipes are clear and well written, and more ambitious cooks will be tempted to try them. For regional (Miami/ New York) libraries and other collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (May 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580083803
• ISBN-13: 978-1580083805
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,445,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gets Your Mojo and Adobo Sizzlin', June 6, 2002

By 

rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Nuevo Latino: Recipes That Celebrate the New Latin American Cuisine (Paperback)

Is this cool way of cookin?! I'm totally impressed by the style and excitement of this style of cuisine, full of marinades (adobo in Spanish, both dry rub and liquid), and that hot/cool tension of Latino food.

With tropical fruits and Latino veggies and tubers (malanga, yuca, etc) this introduces most of us to an exciting whole new venue of possibilities.

It's all here, drink suggestions and Breads (you've got to try the Yellow Arepas, they're worth the book itself). Amazing array of salsas and mojos, such as Ruby Grapefruit, Shallot and Cilantro Mojo (unblievable flavors).

The offerings here are spectacular, Grilled Flank Steak over Mushroom Ceviche. Who would have thought of that, ceviche applied to small button mushrooms which this guy found in Peruvia through his dad's barber.

Knockout dishes like Original Plantain Coated Mahimahi served with Tamarind Tartar Sauce. Avocado and Pistachio Crusted Gulf Snapper with Black Bean Sauce. Sugarcane Tuna with Malanga Puree and Dried Shrimp Salsa. Mango and Mustard-Glazed Salmon with Calamari Rice.

This review could continue to speak of creative dish after dish. Desserts are equally attractive, with fruit and flans and rice and a neat dish to dazzle your guests from Cuba, Brazo Park Avenue with Banana Mousse.

All nicely packaged by one of the best, Ten Speed Press, with class and style, color photos and rich, vibrant text.

My frontrunner for Latino cooking resource.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite flavors, August 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Nuevo Latino: Recipes That Celebrate the New Latin-American Cuisine (Hardcover)

Rodriguez is an excellent chef and a great cookbook writer. I bought this after eating a couple of meals in one of his newer restaurants in NYC, Chicama, where the creative ceviches, oyster appetizers and other dishes are absolutely out of this world. Combining unlikely flavors to create new versions of Latin American standards, this book contains many recipes you will want to make over and over. Only challenges: some ingredients are hard to find, and most of the recipes take a little extra preparation. Small price to pay for uncommonly good food.

14 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Checked it out of the library, now I'm buying it!, January 6, 1998

By 

Diane J. Fischer (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nuevo Latino: Recipes That Celebrate the New Latin-American Cuisine (Hardcover)

We've just returned from a Caribbean cruise with its final destination in Costa Rica. We were inspired by the diversity of the flavors and food presentation everywhere we visited...so inspired we decided to come home and have a New Year's Latino brunch for friends and neighbors. So, our local library had Nuevo Latino on the shelf and we were on! Douglas Rodriguez' book is well written so that it tells an interesting story of his career journey, and it presents recipes, definitions of ingredients, and presentation ideas in a practical and easy-to-replicate way. Now, even the trips to the grocery store with all these new "foreign" foods in the produce section conjure up memories/ideas from the recipes he's presented. Can't wait to go to New York to experience Patria, but also know that what we made from his book was excellent. Our friends thought we were great cooks! And that's the point of cookbooks, isn't it! Thanks to Nuevo Latino.