Real Taste of Latin America: A Culinary Tour [Paperback]

Gonzalo Monterroso (Author), Diana Boudourian (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Warwick Publishing (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1894622359
• ISBN-13: 978-1894622356
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,483,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother with this poorly conceived book., June 19, 2005

By 

Joseph M. Eisenberg (Portland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Taste of Latin America: A Culinary Tour (Paperback)

Here we have more proof that some publishers have no clue how to make a useful cookbook. "A culinary tour" it may be, but this book will have trouble making it off of your shelf and into your kitchen.

I was skeptical of this book from the beginning. It claimed to cover all of Latin America, from the many diverse regions of Mexico and the Caribbean to Brazil and the South American horn. It might be simpler to survey the cuisines of Spain, France, Italy and Greece in one volume than those of dozens of nations stretching through 100 degrees of latitude. The cover was also a bad sign; what is that lovely dish of jalapeños doing floating above the enlarged photo of a flower?

The authors do their best to divide up the continent into sections (Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, the Andes, the Southern Cone and Brazil) and find one or two characteristic dishes from no less than 22 nations. Each section starts with a historical and regional overview, which runs into the recipes for that region, leading to layout problems. Pictures of beaches and brightly-dressed natives give a travel-guide feel that may appeal to some.

The recipes themselves are usually simple and easy enough to make despite short instructions, but they are rarely exciting. Most are not illustrated, but those that are follow the cover picture; the dish floats in the center of a blown-up flower. Oddly, the illustrations did not always match the descriptions, sometimes showing red peppers where the recipe called for green.

In all, a good editor and better layout might have saved this book, but it would still not be a good edition to your cookbook shelf. You would do better with a focused book, such as those on Mexican cooking by Rick Bayless or Diana Kennedy.