Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant flavors of a World-Class Cuisine (Hardcover)

by Rick Bayless (Author) "EVERY CUISINE HAS CLASSIC COMBINATIONS OF FLAVOR THAT EMANATE FROM ITS PLATTERS and plates..." (more)
Key Phrases: stirring every few seconds, juices with the tomatoes, puree sizzle, Central Mexico, Classic Mexican Fried Beans, Essential Chopped Tomato-Serrano Salsa (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Not since his first book, Authentic Mexican, has there been such an accessible opportunity to learn about real Mexican cooking. Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen offers translations of authentic Mexican dishes that preserve their authenticity. The book opens with 14 salsas, sauces, and seasonings that Bayless calls "cornerstones of Mexican dishes." Other than some chile peppers essential to certain dishes, most ingredients are found in any supermarket. For any less common ingredients, a mail-order source or an easy substitution is provided. This brilliant book is engaging, informative, and inspiring.

From Publishers Weekly
This definitive collection from Chicago chef and James Beard Award winner Bayless, in collaboration with his wife (and fellow restaurateur) and food journalist Brownson, proves comprehensively that the best Mexican food requires?and amply rewards?dedication and, often, time. Bayless begins with 15 Essential Recipes for salsas and sauces that work as "building blocks." Substitutions are suggested for uncommon ingredients, and excellent descriptions identify fresh and dried peppers. Throughout the text, sidebars inform about such items as tortilla presses, cactus paddles, pumpkin seeds and the delicacy huitlacoche (black corn fungus). Bayless explains fat's importance in the Mexican diet and tells how to make good lard at home. The chapter on salads includes two versions of guacamole, one given a fresh twist with roasted tomatillos; the chapter on soups offers Chilied Tortilla Soup with Shredded Chard and Oaxacan Black Bean Soup. An array of authentic Mexican fare is explored in "Tacos, Enchiladas and Other Casual Fare" (Simple Red Mole Enchiladas with Shredded Chicken) and "Vegetable, Bean, Rice and Egg Dishes" (e.g, Green Poblano Rice). "Fiesta Food" includes recipes for moles and tamales. Gringo cooks can relax with simpler main dishes?Red Chile-Braised Chicken wreathed in ancho and garlic sauce, smoky Chipotle Shrimp or zesty Chile-Glazed Country Ribs. Desserts are as delectable as Modern Mexican Chocolate Flan and as unusual as Crunchy Amaranth Tart and Creamy Lime Pie. Mail-order sources and a bibliography are included. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (October 21, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684800063
• ISBN-13: 978-0684800066
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,638 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully authentic and accurate., December 21, 1999

By	Luis Benavides (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

I'm mexican and a lover of good food. I can say that Rick Bayless knows about Mexican food more than most Mexicans. His deep understanding of Mexican culinary culture amazes me given that he wasn't born in Mexico. I have cooked many recipes from his cookbook and found them very detailed and easy to follow. In addition, having tasted authentic Mexican food (as opossed to the American version of Mexican food) duting all my life, I can attest that Rick's recipes really go to the heart of Mexican cooking. His recipes are a manual for authentic Mexican cooking techniques, to a level I have not seen in cookbooks written by native Mexicans. I travel frequently to Chicago and always enjoy eating at one of Rick Bayless' excellent restaurants (I like them so much that I have repeteadly arrived several times when it's closed on Mondays). Like another reader, I would have liked more color photographs, however, Rick Bayless' superb prose more than compensates for this omission.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From introduction to index, this is one of the best!!, July 6, 1997

By A Customer

It is not often that an introduction written in a cookbook captures your attention, and most people probably don't even read them yet the one in Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen really sets the tone of this book. The publication claims over 150 recipes but with Bayless's 'variations and improvisations' section after almost every recipe, there are many more possibilities to choose from. True Mexican cuisine jumps from each page and each menu item also contains words from the heart, giving history to each. Recipes include: Shrimp Seviche with Roasted Cactus, Ripe Plantain Turnovers with Fresh Cheese Filling, Mexican-Style Sweet Roasted Garlic Soup, Spicy Yucatecan Beef "Salad" Tacos, Smoky Braised Mexican Pumpkin with Seared White Onion, Chipotle Shrimp, Lamb Barbacoa from the Backyard Grill and Modern Mexican Chocolate Flan with Kahlua. A lot of heart and soul as well as time went into this book. Most recipes not only contain variations and improvisations, but also include some shortcuts and many with advanced preparation ideas to help today's busy cook. With 150 recipes in over 420 pages these recipes were written in complete detail. Ingredients are almost all available in regular grocery stores with only a few at specialty stores. Mexican Kitchen is definitely a cookbook to add to your collection. Mexican Kitchen by Rick Bayless is published by Scribner Publishing. Exceptional recipes written with a lot of passion and love for food. A good book to add to any shelf

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Master of Mexican Cuisine Does Staples and more!, July 8, 2005

By	B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

`Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen' is restaurateur / PBS show host Rick Bayless' second major book on Mexican cuisine in cooperation with his wife, Deann Groen Bayless, and the first with collaborator, JeanMarie Brownson.

The primary point of view which distinguishes this book from both his earlier `Authentic Mexican' book and his later PBS tie-in, `Mexico, One Plate at a Time' is that it deconstructs major aspects of Mexican dishes by breaking them down into `Essential' recipes and recipes which use these essential preparations as an ingredient.

This has a lot in common with Ming Tsai's technique in his latest book, `Simply Ming', with the difference that while many of Ming Tsai's preparations were of his own devising, Senor Bayless is presenting us with the fact that the Mexican cuisine by its very nature, lends itself to this `modularization'.

Almost all of the essential recipes are sauces and salsas. As Rick explains, the notion of a salsa is much broader to the Mexican mind than it may be to us gringos looking at the notion from the outside. The essential recipes are:

Simmered Tomato-Jalapeno Sauce
Roasted Tomato-Jalapeno Salsa from the Stone Mortar
Chopped Tomato-Serrano Salsa
Chopped Tomato-Habanero Salsa
Simmered Tomato-Habanero Salsa
Quick Cooked Tomato-Chipotle Sauce
Simmered Tomatillo-Serrano Sauce
Roasted Tomatillo-Serrano Salsa
Roasted Tomatillo-Chipotle Salsa
Sweet and Spicy Ancho Seasoning Paste
Sweet and Smoky Chipotle Seasoning Salsa
Bold Pasilla Seasoning Paste
Simmered Guajillo Sauce
Roasted Poblano Rajas with Seared White Onions and Herbs
Garlicky Achiote Seasoning Paste
Corn Tortillas

I reproduced all these titles here to give you the best possible sense of what is at the heart of this book. Like the Italian cuisine and its preserved meats, cheeses, pasta and vinegars, the great variety of Mexican cooking is based on a few essential ingredients and the most important ingredient family, the dried chile and corn flour, came about, like Italy's meats and cheeses, from the need to preserve important ingredients from spoilage.

If this book were nothing more than these recipes plus the dishes which can be built from them, it would be a great book of recipes, but not quite the `IACP Cookbook of the Year' winner from the Julia Child Cookbook Awards. Each recipe is presented with a variety of different methods, mostly based on alternatives between using the Mocajete (volcanic stone mortar), using the food processor, or using the blender. I give enormous credit to Bayless for not encouraging us to immediately going out and ordering ourselves a Mocajete since they are both rather expensive and (authentic versions are) difficult to find. While I am something of an atavistic cook, I may have been inclined to search one out anyway, but Bayless confession that the modern appliances are quite satisfactory in most applications leaves me satisfied with the equipment I already have.

In addition to the richly detailed and annotated recipes, there are terrific sidebars on ingredients and methods. This is the first place I have read that there is an important difference in taste between the yellow and the white onion, and that the white onion is preferred for Mexican dishes, unless otherwise specified. Senor Bayless also makes it clear that the Habanero and the Scotch Bonnet are two different plants, and identifies those features that distinguish one from the other. Note that the level of heat is NOT one of the things that separate the two fruits.

The remainder of the recipes fall into all the usual categories, with a few Mexican specialities. These are:

Salads and Other Starters
Light and Hearty Soups
Tacos, Enchiladas, and other Casual Fare
Vegetable, Bean, Rice, and Egg Dishes
Classic Fiesta Food
Main Dishes
Desserts
Wine and Margaritas

As egg dishes are one of my favorite criteria for judging a cookbook, I looked at these more carefully than the others and found more than just your usual omelets, scrambles, and fried eggs with Mexican sauces and Fritos. Mr. Bayless' version of Huevos a la Oaxaquena gives us an egg cooking method which I have not seen in any French cookbook, although the result is not too different from scrambled eggs cooked hard rather than the French preferred moist result.

One section that caught my eye was the recipes for moles (in Classic Fiesta Food). The first two recipes required 28 and 27 different ingredients respectively and the procedures for both took three pages of text. Fortunately, aside from the stock, none of the ingredients required a lot of additional preparation, but, I can easily see why moles are relegated to recipes for special occasions.

I wish I could say that Mr. Bayless' books, especially this award winning volume, were the best sources for Mexican recipes, but he has strong competition from Ms. Diana Kennedy. I have reviewed several of her books, and I suspect that if you simply want good Mexican recipes, Ms. Kennedy may have the edge, but go with Mr. Bayless if you have an interest in what it is that makes the Mexican cuisine tick.

You may have noticed Mr. Bayless little trade paperback on Salsas, which have a strong resemblance to some of the material in this book. Some reviewers believe the salsa book is lifted from this volume. This is not true. The approach is the same in both books, but the names of the salsa recipes in the two books do not exactly coincide. And, the salsa book has the added feature of giving the same recipe in several different sizes, which is simply great for entertaining and a real Mexican food junkie.

This may be the best of Mr. Bayless books to get first. His writing is better than in `Authentic Mexican' and he covers more dishes than in `One Dish at a Time'.