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SHORTCUTS TO 100 BEST LATIN RECIPES

Name: SHORTCUTS TO 100 BEST LATIN RECIPES
Author: Sergio E. Yibrin
ISBN: 978-0595-46827-0

by Sergio E. Yibrin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 17, 2008

Latin Cooking for Dummies.

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Latin cooking made simple for those uninitiated in the cuisine or the kitchen.

Honduran-born Yibrin has converted his native dishes into recipes that time-pressed Americans can whip up after the workday. And he does so without sacrificing the signature ingredients, such as yucca, plantains and chorizo, which are popular south of the border. Each offering is preceded by a pithy introduction that makes readers feel as though they have discovered a Latin grandmother’s personal cookbook, which holds decades of spicy culinary know-how. Eschewing traditional preparation methods, this guide is for true cooking neophytes who will be satisfied crafting a dessert with store-bought dulce de leche and ready-to-use crepes. The book provides a quick culinary tour of Central and South America with easy-to-follow, time-friendly instructions for a host of salsas, empanadas, tostadas, spiced stews and flans. The conch soup serves a piquant appetizer to the chicken chilaquiles with green salsa, which pleases not only the palate but the pocketbook with only four ingredients. However, some of the recipes feel stretched out. A full page is dedicated to the preparation of white rice; separate recipes are provided for guacamole and guacamole on chips, or â€œguacamole tostadas”; and five pages on rice with chicken, chorizo, shrimp, squid or vegetables could have been combined into a single recipe that indicates the grain’s compatibility with each ingredient. But Yibrin does append helpful tips to the more challenging dishes, flagging spots where chefs should be mindful of sudden burning and offering suggestions for peeling foreign fruit. Despite the guide’s heavy reliance on packaged ingredients, the recipes will result in fare exotic enough to impress discerning dinner guests and demanding family members alike.

Latin Cooking for Dummies.

Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2008

ISBN: 978-0595-46827-0

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.