Tex Mex And Mexican Cookbooks

[carpetbagger, esq.]

working on my christmas list, and it's time to add a few cookbooks. anyone have any good suggestions for some tex-mex and mexican cookbooks?

[Chris Amirault]

Diana Kennedy's books are the tops in Mexican.

[theabroma]

Diana Kennedy, Rick Bayless- they are still the undisputed sources of lo mexicano. BTW, does anyone on your list read Spanish? If so, I have a big list!

Theabroma

[carpetbagger, esq.]

Diana Kennedy, Rick Bayless- they are still the undisputed sources of lo mexicano.  BTW, does anyone on your list read Spanish?  If so, I have a big list!

Theabroma

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I took spanish for 5 years, and my gf majored in it while in college (and does translation work for a publishing company as a side gig). bring it!

[rooftop1000]

Personally I like Mexico the Beautifull...its part of a series and they are all coffee table books but the recipes look damn authentic to me...who am I ? nobody ...but everything I made from it so far was good

unfortunatly I left it at a former job where I was asked to take a few days off till they called back with a new schedule....that was uhhh 8 months ago

[andiesenji]

Diana Kennedy, Rick Bayless- they are still the undisputed sources of lo mexicano.  BTW, does anyone on your list read Spanish?  If so, I have a big list!

Theabroma

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I second this motion. You can't go wrong with either or both of these.

I also like the variations developed by the Two Hot Tamales.

I enjoyed their shows on the Food Network and have had great success with recipes from their book.

I also like Rob Walsh's The Tex-Mex Cookbook. In addition to the many recipes that are often quite different from traditional Mexican recipes, he gives us a lot of history to explain the evolution of the recipes. It is an interesting read in addition to its source as a cookbook.

[prasantrin]

I've heard that cookbooks by Jacqueline Higuera McMahan are quite good. "Rancho Cooking, Mexican and Californian Recipes" is the title of one of her books. It is more Mexican Californian (i.e. based on recipe from the Californios--the Mexicans who settled in California before the US acquired the area). I'm not sure if that still fits your criteria, but it sounds like an interesting book, nonetheless.

She does have some other Mexican/Southwestern books, and even a Mexican Breakfast book! Some seem to be out of print, though.

[Steven Blaski]

My favorite Tex-Mex cookbook is by Bill and Cheryl Jamison (they've written many great books, including several on barbecue):

The Border Cookbook : Authentic Home Cooking of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico

[Culinista]

I find Patricia Quintana's books amazing--amazingly authentic and well researched regional recipes. The problem might be that they are not really meant for an American kitchen, even though many exist in English. The recipes respect tradition, which means they are labor intensive and feed an army.

[ASM NY]

I would suggest Modern Mexican Flavors by Richard Sandoval. It's not traditional Mexican recipes, it's more about Mexican food combined with French technique. I have found the recipes in that book to come out very very well.

[Grovite]

I also like Rob Walsh's The Tex-Mex Cookbook.  In addition to the many recipes that are often quite different from traditional Mexican recipes, he gives us a lot of history to explain the evolution of the recipes.  It is an interesting read in addition to its source as a cookbook.

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I'll second that book. It is a great read and does a great job of elevating Tex-Mex from the bastardized slop that Diana Kennedy makes it out to be, to what it really is, the regional cuisine of Texas and the Border.

Anything by Rick Bayless is great as are The Los Barrios Family Cookbook by Diana Barrios Trevino, A Gringo's Guide To Authentic Mexican Cooking by "Mad Coyote" Joe Daigneault and Nuevo Tex-Mex by David Garrido and (again) Rob Walsh.

[marinade]

For a pretty good list of Texas cookbooks click here.

There is a used copy of "Texas on the Half Shell" by Phil Brittin And Joseph Daniel. This rare gem is extremly hard to come by. Just buy it.

Janet Jarvits Bookseller

(edited to include homepage)

Edited November 30, 2005 by marinade (log)

[sladeums]

1,000 Mexican Recipes by Marge Poore.

I have all the Kennedy and Bayless, a few from Zarela, and have read all of Quintana's; but this is probably the Mexican cookbook I would recommend just for the sheer volume of usable recipes.

I'd second the rec on Mexico the Beautiful, great coffee table book that is also quite practical.

However, if your collection is totally lacking in this area or if you are totally new to Mexican cooking, Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico is probably the one to own.

A few other good ones:

The Mexican Gourmet by Maria Dolores Torres Yzabal

Recipe of Memory by Victor Valle

Seasons of My Heart by Susana Trilling