Authentic Mexican

(book, Rick Bayless)

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h4. From the publisher

After 10 years of loving exploration, Rick Bayless, together with his wife, Deann Groen Bayless, gave us Authentic Mexican, at the time the only complete and easy-to-use compendium of our southern neighbor's cooking. Twenty years later, this classic book has just been reissued in an anniversary edition.

This all-embracing cookbook offers the full range of Mexican dishes, from poultry, meat, fish, rice, beans, and vegetables to eggs, snacks made of corn masa, tacos, turnovers, enchiladas and their relatives, tamales, and moles, and finally ending with desserts, sweets, and beverages.

Recipes include Yucatecan marinated shrimp tacos and crispy cheese-filled masa turnovers; spicy corn chowder and chorizo sausage with melted cheese; mole poblano, charcoal-grilled pork in red-chile adobo, and marinated fish steamed in banana leaves; and exotic ice creams, caramel custards, and pies. There's even a section devoted to refreshing coolers, rich chocolate drinks, and a variety of tequila-laced cocktails.

The master recipes feature all the pointers you'll need for recreating genuine Mexican textures and flavors in a North American kitchen. Menu suggestions, timing, and advance-preparation tips make these dishes perfectly convenient for today's working families. And traditional and contemporary variations accompany each recipe, allowing the cook to substitute and be creative.

More than 100 illustrations carefully detail special cooking techniques as well as bring Mexico and its food to life. An introductory chapter shares Mexican culinary history and modern regional tastes and customs. And an illustrated glossary contains hard-to-find information about locating and working with authentic Mexican ingredients and cooking equipment.

Rick and Deann Bayless traveled more than 35,000 miles investigating the six distinct regions of Mexico and learning to prepare what they found. From town to town, recipe by recipe, they personally introduce you to Mexico's cooks, their kitchens, their markets, and their feasts.