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Encarnacion's Kitchen: Mexican Recipes from Nineteenth-Century California

AUTHOR: Dan Strehl (Editor)
ISBN: 0520236513
SHORT DESCRIPTION: A landmark of American cuisine first published in 1898 as "El cocinero Espaol "("The Spanish Cook"), "Encarnacion's Kitchen" is the first cookbook written by a Hispanic in the United States, as well as the first recording of the foods of...

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Editorial Review

Encarnacion's Kitchen: Mexican Recipes from Nineteenth-Century California
- Book Review, by Dan Strehl (Editor)

From Publishers Weekly
Though this bible of 19th-century California cuisine is now more than a century old, a new and seamless translation by Strehl (The Spanish Cook) proves that common sense culinary advice is timeless. Pinedo's introduction to her recipes offers guidance on selecting produce and cuts of meat that stands the test of time, including this gem: "Foods are much more appetizing and healthy when they are cooked in a clean and tidy manner. Many lives have been sacrificed because of a lack of cleanliness in bronze, copper, and ceramic pots." Many of the recipes themselves-which are organized traditionally, beginning with soups and ending with desserts-also stand up to today's picky tastebuds. Good examples of century-straddling delights include Pinedo's recipes for whitefish stuffed with hazelnuts and almonds and for Relleno Para Ganso, or stuffing for goose, which, like many of the recipes, shies away from specific quantities ("Finely chop some cooked mushrooms...add a good piece of butter, with some lemon juice"). Touted as traditional "Californio food" (cuisine prepared by Spanish-speaking California immigrants and residents), these recipes may be a little too exotic for the contemporary health-conscious palate: Menudo a la Espanola (Spanish-style tripe) and Morcilla Negra a la Espanola (Spanish-style black blood sausage) are two such examples. Still, the book, with its Bunuelos, o Suspiros de Monjas (Puffy Fritters, or Nuns' Sighs), serves as a window on another time, as a cultural document as much as a culinary one. And the simplicity with which these dishes can be recreated more than makes up for a deep-fried dependence on lard. Victor Valle (Recipe of Memory) provides an enlightening introductory essay that briefly chronicles the life and times of the remarkable woman who shaped present day Cal-Mex cookery. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
In 1991 Ruth Reichl, then a Los Angeles Times food writer, observed that much of the style now identified with California cuisine, and with nouvelle cuisine du Mexique, was practiced by Encarnacion Pinedo a century earlier. A landmark of American cuisine first published in 1898 as El cocinero espanol (The Spanish Cook), Encarnacion's Kitchen is the first cookbook written by a Hispanic in the United States, as well as the first recording of Californio food--Mexican cuisine prepared by the Spanish-speaking peoples born in California. Pinedo's cookbook offers a fascinating look into the kitchens of a long-ago culture that continues to exert its influence today.

Of some three hundred of Pinedo's recipes included here--a mixture of Basque, Spanish, and Mexican--many are variations on traditional dishes, such as chilaquiles, chiles rellenos, and salsa (for which the cook provides fifteen versions). Whether describing how to prepare cod or ham and eggs (a typical Anglo dish labeled "huevos hipocritas"), Pinedo was imparting invaluable lessons in culinary history and Latino culture along with her piquant directions. In addition to his lively, clear translation, Dan Strehl offers a remarkable view of Pinedo's family history and of the material and literary culture of early California cooking. Prize-winning journalist Victor Valle puts Pinedo's work into the context of Hispanic women's testimonios of the nineteenth century, explaining how the book is a deliberate act of cultural transmission from a traditionally voiceless group.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

About the Author
Dan Strehl, Manager of the Frances Howard Goldwyn Hollywood Regional Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, is the author of The Spanish Cook (1992) and One Hundred Books on California Food and Wine (1990). Victor Valle is Director of the American Communities Program at Cal State Univerisity Los Angeles, Professor of Ethnic Studies at California Polytechnic State University, coauthor of Recipe of Memory (1995), and a member of a Los Angeles Times team that won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the Chicano community in Los Angeles.

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Book Review

Encarnacion's Kitchen: Mexican Recipes from Nineteenth-Century California
- Book Reviews, by Dan Strehl (Editor)

Encarnacion's Kitchen: Mexican Recipes from Nineteenth-Century California

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In 1991 Ruth Reichl, then a Los Angeles Times food writer, observed that much of the style now identified with California cuisine, and with nouvelle cuisine du Mexique, had been practiced by Encarnacion Pinedo a century earlier. A landmark of American cuisine first published in 1898 as El cocinero espanol (The Spanish Cook), Encarnacion's Kitchen is the first cookbook written by a Hispanic in the United States, as well as the first recording of Californio food - Mexican cuisine prepared by Spanish-speaking peoples born in California. Pinedo's cookbook offers a fascinating look into the kitchens of a long-ago culture that continues to exert its influence today.

In additon to his translation, Dan Strehl offers a remarkable view of Pinedo's family history and of the material and literary culture of early California cooking. Prize-winning journalist Victor Valle, who provides the book's opening essay, puts Pinedo's work into the context of Hispanic women's testimonios of the nineteenth century, explaining how the book is a deliberate act of cultural transmission from a traditionally voiceless group.

SYNOPSIS

A century ago, Encarnacion Pinedo produced El Cocinero Espanol (The Spanish Cook), the first Hispanic cookbook in America, put into the cultural context of the Californios, the Spanish speaking peoples of California. The first and only contemporary account of how Mexican food was prepared in CA during the 19th century.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Under the guidance of Strehl, a writer (One Hundred Books on California Food and Wine) and a librarian at the Los Angeles Public library, Pinedo's classic El cocinero espanol (The Spanish Cook), first published in 1898, finds a modern audience. The first cookbook written by a Hispanic in the United States, it succeeds on two levels. First, it presents many sophisticated and mouthwatering recipes. In Pinedo's time, Mexican cooking was a celebration of Spanish and other gourmet cookery, not humble food. While the measurements are not as precise as those found in today's cookbooks, the recipes seem both workable and intriguing. Second, the book allows a glimpse at a proud woman whose culture was trampled by Anglo settlers. Readers will sense the place and the role of a woman-and an unmarried one at that-in a 19th-century kitchen, but, more important, they should gain a clear picture of how the Mexican populace in California clung fast to its heritage. While this may make for more learned reading than for easy cooking, this volume deserves inclusion in both academic and large public library culinary history collections, especially in California.-Peter Hepburn, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lib. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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