The South American Table: The Flavor and Soul of Authentic Home Cooking from Patagonia to Rio de Janeiro, with 450 Recipes by Maria Baez Kijac – a wealth of South American recipes in this cookbook, though the indexing is such that if you wanted to look for Brazilian recipes you’ll have to go through the book page by page. But Ms. Kijac is very thorough so I don’t mind that too much.
Viva la Vida: Festive Recipes for Entertaining Latin-Style, from Colombia-born Rafael Palomino. Not too many Brazilian recipes here, but the cookbook does contain many fresh and imaginative dishes that I’ll probably be coming back to this book again when we study more of South America.
*****Tasting Brazil: Regional Recipes and Reminiscences. new yorker, food writer – 175 recipes, traveled through brazil. includes menu guides at the end of the book with music suggestions, a thorough coverage of the history of brazil and its food, discussion of ingredients, each dish accompanied by a blurb that explains its historical connections or where the author got the recipe. — one of the best for recipesAn excellent cookbook, well-researched and organized. The range is extensive and yet the recipes are kept simple and “doable”. This book, though more a cookbook than a novel (as compared to Ntozake Shange’s) — still entertains; each recipe introduced by a short anecdote or history. A must for any Brazilian cookbook collection. We tried her Peixe Frita Fortaleza, Basic Rice, and Sopa de Mariscos.
*** Long recognized a classic on the list of Brazilian cookbooks, I would recommend this cookbook to anyone interested in trying out Brazilian recipes, but especially for those people who are looking for those Brazilian sweets with intriguing names such as Casadinhos (Newlyweds), Corre Corre (Hurry! Hurry!), Colchão de Noiva (Bride’s Couch), Dois Amores (Two Loves), Quero Mais (“I Want More”), Beijinhos (Little Kisses), and Olhos de Sogra (Mother-in-Law’s Eyes). If I had any complaint about this cookbook, it would be that I feel like every recipe has to have eggs or coconut milk, so even though the collection itself is impressive (307 recipes), I still found myself wanting to consult other cookbooks to compare and contrast.
– This one isn’t meant to be a comprehensive Brazilian cookbook, but an introductory one. It almost reads like a children’s book and therefore may be a good choice to go over with a child to pick dishes he/she may want to try and cook with Mom/Dad. Very basic, with about 20 recipes included. One of the authors, Karin Duro, is the creator of Cook Brazil, an awesome resource for Brazilian recipes.
Ang, Eng Tie. Delightful Brazilian cooking. Seattle, WA: Ambrosia Publications, 1993. *** – Recipes are simple and clearly-written in large print.
Harris, Jessica B. Tasting Brazil : regional recipes and reminiscences. New York: Macmillan, 1992. –
Idone, Christopher. Brazil: A Cook’s Tour. New York : Clarkson N. Potter/Publishers, 1995. *** Nice pictures. By the time I got this cookbook though, I’d tried several recipes already, and there wasn’t much here that still interested me/us.
Peterson, Joan. Eat smart in Brazil : how to decipher the menu, know the market foods & embark on a tasting adventure. Madison, WI: Ginkgo Press, 1995. **** – An excellent introduction to Brazilian cuisine is Eat Smart in Brazil. Though meant to be a guide for tourists visiting Brazil, it includes a look into the history of Brazilian food, regional differences, a few recipes to whet your appetite before you go, tips for shopping while you’re in Brazil including phrases to use, and of course, the primary purpose of the book: an extensive menu, food and flavors guide.
*** Written by Norman Van Aken, owner of the award-winning restaurant Norman’s. Not a Brazilian cookbook per se, there is only a handful of Brazilian recipes in this book, but you will learn so much about South American cuisine that it doesn’t matter. I think that it does for Latin American cookery what Corinne Trang’s Essential of Asian Cuisine does for Asian food. The essays alone on food history, including Asian and African influences, make this book worth reading. And though the pictures are somewhat sparse, what they’ve chosen to put in the book are beautiful.
This list is a work in progress.
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