Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Translation of The Definitive Puerto Rican Cookbook!, December 13, 2003
I'm Puerto Rican-American. My Puerto Rican parents raised me in New Jersey on traditional Puerto Rican food: arroz con pollo (rice with chicken cooked inside), pastales (Puerto Rican tamales), relleno de papas (meat-filled potato dumplings), alcapurias (meat-filled hot-dog shaped fritters), pernil (pork roasted in the oven, as opposed to "lechon" which is pork roasted over fire), arroz con gandules (rice with beans -- one of several kinds of delicious beans), tostones y yuevos (fried plantan -- sweet soft yellow or salty firm -- with eggs), mofongo (a garlic-filled tostones ball mashed into a ball of delectable flavor), etc. Like a reader who posted here previously, I felt sad (and happy) when I first ate a dish prepared by my Taiwanese wife (a wonderful home chef) who followed the recipes in Puerto Rican Cookery, a translation of Cocina Criolla, the most popular and traditional cookbook in Puerto Rico. When we visited my parents, who retired in Puerto Rico two weeks ago (Thanksgiving 2003), we were pleased to see both Puerto Rican Cookery and it's original Cocina Criolla selling all over the island: all bookstores, tourists shops, the great fortresses of the island -- San Cristobal and El Morro, etc. Simply put, this book is 'THE DEFINITIVE PUERTO RICAN COOKBOOK -- acknowledged as the preeminent guide to Puerto Rican cuisine in Puerto Rico itself. There are other good books sold in Puerto Rico, but even in Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican Cookery (Cocina Criolla) is the unquestioned number one. My wife used it to make several dishes, and although I would not admit this to my mother, my Taiwanese wife out-Puerto Ricaned my mother at the kitchen stove. Buy this wonderful book with "tus ojos cerrados" ("with your eyes closed"). That's a Puerto Rican/Spanish idiom meaning that even a blind man or woman wouldn't go wrong in selecting this wonderful book. It was written by a Puerto Rican matriarch of a great Puerto Rican family, who was banished from the kitchen by her aristocratic Puerto Rican family. (She is a relative of the 1950 oscar-winning Puerto Rican actor, Jose Ferrer -- who won for his English-accented CIRENO DE BERGEAC) Her revenge, marry a man who loved to cook and embark on a life-long pursuit of anthologizing the island's best traditional dishes. The book is 10000% traditional. "Te lo prometo!" (I promise you!) If you buy one Puerto Rican cookbook, buy the original Spanish "Cocina Criolla" or this 10000% faithful translation, Puerto-Rican Cookery. The instructions are step-by-step. You'll learn many recipes for Puerto-Rico's secret spice -- sofrito! :)
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All you'll ever need to cook perfect Puerto Rican dishes, April 3, 1999
By A Customer
Carmen Aboy recopilates the best and most traditional recipes ever found in Puerto Rican kitchens. This book's been around for quite some time, with minor alterations in each yearly edition. Recipes are extremely simple and easy to follow, plus the ingredients are accesible in both, the latin and the US market. Besides, Carmen added a few tips for better cooking and for the table setting. This is a complete cookbook, with a great variety of dishes. I use it almost on a daily basis, and it has becomed a heirloom in my family. Your kitchen will improve to 5-star-restaurant levels!!!!!! Buen provecho!
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive collection of Puerto Rican recipes in one book, July 25, 1997
By A Customer
As a child I remember the many smells from my mother's kitchen as she made another simple but tasty dish. Arroz con gandules, frittas, bistec, and many more. Now, working overseas, I was constantly calling my mother to ask her how she made certain dishes so that I can cook them for my family so they too can experience Puerto Rican foods. Until recently I had never found a cook book that had any reasonable number of recipes from Puerto Rico. All there was were the typical Carribean cookbooks that may have one or two recipes credited to my home island. Recently I stumbled upon "Puerto Rican Cookery" by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli, and it has been one of the greatest finds for me. Every dish that I can remember is in this book. The recipes are very detailed from ingredients to procedures. I have compared some of the recipes to the ones that I received from mom and they are very similar, proving their authenticity. I always look forward to trying a new recipe because I know that as long as I follow Mrs. Valldejuli's instructions my family is in for a great meal, just like abuelita's (grandma's). My wife, a working mom, appreciates it also as it means she doesn't have to cook because dad has taken over the kitchen now. With "Puerto Rican Cookery" anyone can be confident that the results will be culinary taste treats that they will want to experience over and over again
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