Vintage 1967 cookbook, The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking, presents over 340 recipes from preparation of the basics (tacos and tortillas) to preparation of soups, meat and seafood dishes and more. Author Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz shares information on exotic ingredients used in Mexican cookery. 

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Format: Hardcover and dust jacket, 382 pages 

Copyright: 1967 

Publisher: M. Evans and Company, Inc. 

Author: Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz 

Description: The present-day Mexican kitchen in all its rich variety arose from a unique collision of cooking worlds, Aztec, Spanish and to a lesser extent, French. To the Conquistadores, the native cuisine of the Aztecs came as a delight and an astonishment. They discovered chocolate, vanilla, corn, chiles, peanuts, tomatoes, avocados, squash, dried and green beans, sweet potatoes, pineapple and papaya. To this list, Spain added oil and wine, cinnamon and cloves, rice and wheat, peaches and apricots, and the cattle that provided beef, milk and butter. Later, during the brief reign of Maximilian and Carlotta, sophisticated dishes of French, Austrian and Italian origin were introduced. The corn, Chile, tomatoes and beans that were basic to the Mexican kitchen centuries ago are still basic today. The tortillas, tamales, tacos and quesadillas have changed very little. 

The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking presents the rich variety of the Mexican kitchen in 340 recipes, along with explanations of basic Mexican ingredients and cooking methods. The book is divided into fourteen chapters covering Ingredients, the Corn Kitchen, Soup, Dry Soup (rice and pastas), Sauces, Eggs, Fish, Poultry, Meat, Vegetables, Salads, Desserts and Drinks. There is also a list of stores in the U.S. where Mexican ingredients and cooking utensils can be bought either directly or by mail. 

Mrs. Ortiz prepares her reader for mastery in the art of Mexican cooking by beginning with the preparation of basic foods, such as tortillas and tacos, and then adding, step by step, dozens of variations. Since the Mexicans take soup very seriously, the soups chapter starts with instructions for making an excellent chicken or beef stock, and then moves on to the preparation of the many special soups of the country. And the chicken, meat and fish dishes prepared with sauces, nuts and spices are as endless in variety as they are rare as a treat. 

Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz began her discovery of real Mexican food when her husband, an official of the United Nations Secretariat, was transferred from U.N. Headquarters in New York to Mexico City. Her cooking lessons began in the market place where she learned about the exotic ingredients, the chiles, herbs, and spices, that provide the basis of Mexican cookery. Collecting recipes wherever she went, learning from her husband's family and acquaintances, and trying out dishes on anyone who was available, Mrs. Ortiz became an expert on the Mexican kitchen.

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Condition: Bookboards and interior pages are in very nice condition. Dust jacket has a few small tears along the top and bottom edge.