[.ca] Cuban Home Cooking: Favorite Recipes from a Cuban Home ... (ISBN 0942084373)

Very Authentic !!!:
Many books claim to give AUTHENTIC recipes with there Colorful Pictures and expensive price tag but most fail to claim. Having lived in South Florida and eating the foods on a regular basis I have to say that this little book is as Authentic as it gets from the ingredients of the black Beans to the secret ingredient in (Bistec Empanizado)Cracker Meal; which I could never figure out until reading this book,. A great book which I give five stars. If only they publish a greek cooking book as authentic as this one.

The recipes were just like mom used to cook.:
I was looking for the right Cuban cookbook for a long time. I received this cookbook as a Christmas gift and it was the answer to all my prayers. It was simple to read and follow and my husband love the food. I am thankful for this cookbook.

Great book - and I'm Cuban-American!:
Raised with typical Cuban dishes (both of my parents immigrated from Cuba to the US), I searched for a good, concise Cuban cookbook and found it! This it it! Sure, there aren't any fancy pictures but there are also no fancy ingredients or obscure dishes. The list of recipes covers all the basic dishes (I read the list to my mother and she agrees - it's all in there) and the recipes are so simple and easy (almost all are only a paragraph long). I've tried other Cuban recipe books and I still *always* come back to this one for dishes that turn out as close to Mom's as possible. Maybe I'll just toss the other books out... all I need is this one!

Disappointing:
This is a low quality, uninspired book. The dishes are obvious & bland, considering the subject matter. Not even the black bean recipe is useful . . . Go elsewhere for cuban cuisine.

Delicious introduction to Cuban home style cooking.:
Black beans and rice was all I knew about Cuban cuisine until I had a chance to review "Cuban Home Cooking: Favorite Recipes From A Cuban Home Kitchen" by Jane Cossio, sent to me by her editor, Joyce LaFray, from Seaside Publications of Florida. And all I knew about food from southern Florida was grits, collards, fried chicken, and hush puppies. Now I am unafraid to try some of those more exotic foods (such as Cuban calabaza, plantain, and yuca), which I see in our local produce store and did not know how to prepare properly. Jane Cossio and Joyce LaFray provide a good sampling of Cuban recipes for a variety of dishes, such as soups, vegetable dishes, meat dishes, sea food, desserts, and even Cuban coffee. Do you like soup, and want something different? Look for the recipe for "Quimbombo" or Okra Soup, which calls for okra, pork, green pepper, garlic, plantain, shrimp, and various spices. How about some Calabaza Fritters or Baked Sweet Plantain in Wine? I can't wait to try the Chicken and Yellow Rice, made with green and red peppers, saffron, and beer. You might try the mouth-watering recipe for "Old Clothes". Huh? This is what the Spanish name, "Ropa Vieja," means--it's a delicious shredded beef dish. The only thing more that I would add is a touch of habanero chile or tabasco sauce. Also, if you have 3,800 people to feed try the Caldo de Elefante, or Elephant Stew. It only takes one elephant and two chickens (just a joke!). Along with the great recipes, I do appreciate the spiral ring binding which allows me to lay the book flat on my kitchen counter without the usual worry of breaking the binding to make it lie flat, or of pages turning by themselves. Also, the author provides a list of commonly used Cuban foods, with their Spanish translations, and a general inventory of commonly used ingredients to stock in your pantry. -- R. Morley, The Boojum Tree Bookstore.