When
I was in culinary school a friend of mine gave me a copy of
Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen for Christmas. Since then I haven't
looked back. Rick Bayless is the sole authority on Hispanic
cooking in my life. We have all read celebrity chef cookbook
introductions that say :"my only secret is the freshest possible
ingredients blah blah blah..... with Rick Bayless it is very
easy to see his commitment to the best product available. You
can feel the love, so to speak. It almost floats from the pages
of his new book, Mexico : One plate at a time. The book is well
written with great photographs and line drawings. It covers
a broad range of topics ranging from snacks to drinks and desserts.
The book is really fun to read. It was published as the
companion book to the television cooking series by the same name. I think
it far surpasses Charlie Trotter's similar effort that was published in
1999. This book is a definite must read for anyone who likes Mexican food.
It has a beginning introduction and a ending Q&A section for each recipe
chapter that is helpful and interesting to read. I am fortunate enough
to live in the city where Rick Bayless's restaurants are located so I
have been able to sample his food there and at home out of his cookbooks.
I know his recipes work and I strongly suggest this book. My guess is
that it will probably be a award winner this year. Remember, you read
that here first!!!