A Taste of Old Cuba: More Than 150 Recipes for Delicious, Authentic, and Traditional Dishes FROM THE PUBLISHER
A feast for all the senses, A Taste of Old Cuba combines a Cuban expatriate's charming and vivid memories of a childhood on the idyllic island before Castro's revolution with more than 150 recipes for delicious, authentic, and traditional Cuban dishes.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
When reading de O'Higgins's first cookbook, evocative prose seems to bring a distant Cuba back to life. Thanks to a lifelong love of Cuban food and devotion to her extended family, O'Higgins never lost touch with her Caribbean roots: she was raised there in the 1920s and '30s. With a sensibility that is responsive to both the flavors of food and the feelings that accompany meals remembered, the writer lets readers understand the myriad of influences that have formed Cuban cuisine. From her Catalan grandmother came recipes for cocido and sopa de ajos-classic Spanish soups. From her father, sportsman and bon vivant, came recipes for rabbit stews and lisa frita, or black mullet fish, pan-fried in olive oil and lime juice. Dried shrimp, a staple of the Chinese immigrants who settled in Cuba, makes a Cuban-style fried rice when blended with saffron, Valencia rice and pimentos. The 150 recipes O'Higgins collected and tested are clear and accessible, with prefaces that both entertain and inform the cook, making the book a worthwhile addition to the cookbook lover's library. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)
Library Journal
Lluria de O'Higgins grew up in Cuba during the 1920s and 1930s, and her food memoir offers a look at a bygone culture as well as recipes for classic Cuban specialties. Because the author's family was rich for the early part of her life but thereafter relatively poor, she draws on a broader range of experiences-including both elaborate meals and simpler ones (she fondly describes some favorite dishes as "dclass")-than Mary Urrutia Randelman in Memories of a Cuban Kitchen (LJ 10/15/92). Her well-written text provides a vivid picture of her early life, and the recipes are indeed authentic. Joyce LaFray's Cuba Cocina (LJ 6/16/94) showcases today's Cuban American cuisine; Lluria de O'Higgins fills in the background. For most collections.
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