Recipes + Cook Books

Filled with reminiscences and evocative halftone photos of Randelman's childhood in pre-Castro Cuba, this book presents more than 200 traditional recipes for Cuban dishes, a cuisine that lusciously combines Spanish, Indian, African, Chinese, and Portuguese influences.

Raichlen doesn't just drop the unwary cook into chapters of recipes that have been altered to reduce fat and salt and all the other nastiness. He begins with all the reasons for doing just that, and the many ways in which the true Latin diet is perfectly suited to a healthy pyramid approach. Nor does he shy away from truth, beauty, and justice, stating categorically that there are some dishes where lard just can't be left out of the flavor profile. He goes on, however, to show the reader how to cut way back on the total amount of lard used while retaining its great flavor.

Chapters are divided by kinds of food--appetizers, soups, salads, beans, and rice--not by place of origin. So it's kind of a Latin adventure to flip through this book, never knowing where you are going to land. There are Little Pots of Red Beans with Sour Cream from Nicaragua (140 calories per serving), Chicken and Vegetable Stew from Colombia (374 calories), Tamales from Mexico and from Cuba (163 versus 120 calories), Seafood Stew from Brazil (345 calories), Stuffed Pot Roast from Puerto Rico (533 calories), and flan from everywhere (423 calories). Steven Raichlen gives the reader a great way to spice up a diet, and a great diet to help life last a long, pleasurable time. --Schuyler Ingle