Authentic mexican/southwestern cookbook?

[trev80]

I'm looking to purchase 1 authentic mexican/southwestern cookbook. Is there something comparable to the joy of cooking or bittmans how to cook everything where it is the know all best and covers pretty much everything? Does Rick Bayless have anything like this maybe?

[willownt]

In addition to having great cookbooks ("Mexican Everyday" is nice too, by the way, and helpful for his analysis of the difference between authentic home food and "fancy" feast food normally written up in cookbooks) Rick Bayless is definitely worth watching -- most PBS stations have his show on the weekend, it seems.

Has anyone read any of Zarela Martinez' books? I saw her on Martha where she said as her gift to her customers, to celebrate 20 years of her NYC restaurant, she is posting instructional cooking videos on youtube.

[DiningDiva]

I have at least one of her cookbooks and she's very good. In her Oaxacan book she gives instructions for making chocolate from cocoa beans. Pretty cool :-)

[DiningDiva]

Diana Kennedy's "My Mexico" or "The Art of Mexican Cooking" are probably your best bet. They are both pretty comprehensive and have lots of good detail and information in them explaining ingredients and methods.

Rick Bayless' "Mexican Kitchen" is my perferred coice. His first book "Authentic Mexican" was recently reissued and also a very good cookbook.

I've studied with Diana and Rick and both are very good and both their recipes are structurally very sound, meaning they'll "work" or turn out almost every time. I think it's a matter of taste or preference which one you choose or like better. It's hard for me to choose between them.

[missmodular818]

I purchased the Green Chile Bible, the Red Chile Bible, El Paso Chile Company Texas Boder Cookbook, Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook but my favorite happens to be The Sonoran Grill by Mad Coyote Joe. Go figure.

[danhole]

For a sampling of Rick Bayless recipes go to:
http://www.fronterakitchens.com/cooki...

Have you ever watched his shows on PBS? Fascinating! But he talks very fast.

[DanaB]

Second or third the recommendation for Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican. It's pretty comprehensive (I'd compare it more to Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian or Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking than to an encyclopedic book like Joy of Cooking) and everything I've made out of it has been delicious.

Patricia Quintana has some good books as well.

[mimilulu]

If you're looking for homestyle cooking, I'd like to add a different recommendation -- "Cocina de la Familia" by Marilyn Tausend is highly rated on Amazon. I own it, and although I've yet to cook anything from it, it looks pretty comprehensive. If you order it on Amazon, make sure you're ordering the English language version, there's a Spanish version also.

[C. Hamster]

IMO for Mexican, Diane Kennedy and Rick Bayless' book (they each have several) can't be topped.

[paulj]

In a used bookstore I found a coffee table book in the 'The Beautiful Cookbook' series that covers all of Mexico. Actually, there's a version that combines the Mexico and the Texas volumes. There are a lot of recipes that go well beyond the 'tacos and tortillas', as well as descriptions of various regions and their foods. I wouldn't pay full price for one of these volumes, but at clearance prices they are worth buying (if you have shelf space).

paulj

[DiningDiva]

Mexico the Beautiful was written by Marilyn Tausend who is equally as good as Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless in terms of her skill and knowledge. In spite of the fact it's a coffee table book, the recipes are quite good and they turn out well.

[luckyfatima]

I own and love the Rick Bayless book you speak of. It is multiregional and quite detailed. I can't think of an English language Mexican cookbook that compares.

I know you requested a book, but there is this excellent website called Mexconnect that is just too great not to mention:

http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/recipe...

[WildSwede]

I have several of his books and they are my favorites. I would recommend RB's books in a heartbeat. The Authentic one has a lot of additional information and tips.

[brucesw]

Like most countries there are many cuisines of Mexico; in fact the Wikipedia article says some people consider the cuisine of Mexico to be exceeded only by Chinese in the scope of its variations. Then, of course, southwestern (US) cuisine has many variations, too. There is Cal-Mex, New Mex-Mex, Tex-Mex, probably also Arizona-Mex. Any book that covers 'pretty much everything' would have to me multi-volume, it seems to me.

For an introduction to authentic Mexican with lots of notes about regional variations (within Mexico) you might consider the groundbreaking Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy, published in 1973. I have Authentic Mexican by Bayless and and it too has lots of comments on regional variations. I like it too but whether it's his most comprehensive or not, I don't know. As for the various regional (Southwestern US) variations I have a couple of Tex-Mex books but something tells me that's not what you're really looking for.