Spanish Language Latin American Cookbooks

September 19, 2015 7:14 PM

My all-time favorite food is Mexican/Latin american food. I'm a pretty accomplished cook and I am semi-fluent in Spanish, as such, I am looking for your best, traditional Spanish Language latin american cookbooks/recipe websites.

The set up: A few months ago, I stumbled upon Albondigas and was blown away with how good they were. When I asked the little old lady at our local Taqueria if they ever made albondigas, she actually said, "How do you know about albondigas!?" I feel like there's a whole world of latin american food that I, as a gringo, am completely missing out on! Where can I find the spanish language Silver Spoon/America's Test Kitchen of Latin American food? I don't want Rick Bayless or Diana Kennedy. I saw this previous question, but I'm looking specifically for authentic Spanish Language cookbooks or websites.

(alternatively, if someone can link to a place to buy the ConACulta Regional cookbooks, that would be awesome.)

posted by ThaBombShelterSmith to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

It's not in Spanish, but The South American Table is authentically South American. It obviously won't include Mexican food, though.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:54 PM on September 19, 2015

It's more Joy of Cooking than America's Test Kitchen, but for Argentina the classic old-school standard is Doña Petrona.
posted by dr. boludo at 8:55 PM on September 19, 2015

latin american food isn't a thing. at least, in latin america. maybe it's a north american category, but each country has quite different food. and albondigas means meatballs. i am pretty sure you already had meatballs.

what i am getting at, is that your question is too vague. it sounds like you like the food that the local immigrant population near you prepares. that's likely mexican, and may even be from just a few regions of mexico. so your best bet is probably talking to the people that make the food and asking them what region the food comes from, and then looking for a cookbook from that region. then, hopefully, the meatball recipe there will be in the style you like...
posted by andrewcooke at 6:39 AM on September 20, 2015

Manual de Cocina of the Crandon Institute, known simply as " el libro del Crandon" is a classic and an amazing cook book from Uruguay.

It's very likely to be all new food for you, since, as andrewcook mentioned, is different from what you've probably tried.
posted by Promethea at 8:27 AM on September 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Of interest? Ricardo Muñoz Zurita on His New Dictionary and the Richness of Mexican Gastronomy: "His greatest work is perhaps the Diccionario Enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana, a text that aims to codify every ingredient and technique in the vast gastronomic canon of Mexico."
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:30 AM on September 20, 2015

Response by poster: I guess I should clarify. I used the term "Latin American" because I wanted MORE than just Mexican food recipes. So far, the suggestions have been awesome.

Also, while there are foods that I love from my local taco place, I want NEW recipes. I want foods that they don't have on the menu. I didn't even know that Mexico HAD meatballs, so when I found a recipe for mexican style meatballs, I was shocked and excited. What else am I missing?

If that means exploring tons of specific regional cuisine, that is awesome. I want to explore all of central and south america in all their exciting, unique flavors. Not just Mexico, I want Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, etc!
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 9:11 AM on September 20, 2015

Well, from the South American Table, you probably haven't tried "Tres Leches" cake, made from cream, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. I think they're not actually in the batter itself, but incorporated once the cake is baked. Everyone seems to think this is the bestest cake ever.

Also, if you like fish, I'm sure you've never had Fanesca, which is a soup and will also be in the South American Table. It's made of salt cod and twelve kinds of beans/grains. It's traditionally made on Good Friday only.

I don't think the recipe is in the South American Table, but my relatives make a soup with balls made out of mashed plaintain mixed with peanut butter.

Consider trying a variety of empanadas. I know Chilean ones get sold a lot in restaurants, but IMO, meh.

Dulces de Corpus

There are also little dessert sweets made from communion wafers, but I can't remember what they're called to look up the recipe.

Actually, this looks pretty comprehensive.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:32 AM on September 20, 2015

OK, I just realized that the web site I linked says that empanadas de viento are stuffed with cheese and onion. This is not only ridiculous but offensive. First of all, empanadas de viento have no stuffing, they are just the dough in a thin sheet. Empanadas de queso should have only cheese, not onions. I went to someone's house once and they had onion in their cheese empanadas and we're all still talking about how gross that was. Do not put onions in your cheese empanadas and do not trust any recipe site that tells you should.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:36 AM on September 20, 2015 [1 favorite]