Maricel E. Presilla

Gran Cocina Latina unifies the vast culinary landscape of the Latin world, from Mexico to Argentina and all the Spanish-speaking countries of the Caribbean. In one volume it gives home cooks, armchair travelers, and curious chefs the first comprehensive collection of recipes from this region. An inquisitive historian and a successful restaurateur, Maricel E. Presilla has spent more than thirty years visiting each country personally. She’s gathered more than 500 recipes for the full range of dishes, from the foundational adobos and sofritos to empanadas and tamales to ceviches and moles to sancocho and desserts such as flan and tres leches cake. Detailed equipment notes, drink and serving suggestions, and color photographs of finished dishes are also included. This is a one-of-a-kind cookbook to be savored and read as much for the writing and information as for its introduction to heretofore unrevealed recipes.

Cacao importer and chocolate expert Maricel Presilla takes chocoholics to new territory‚Äîto the almost primeval plantations of Latin America, where the world's first, and today's finest, cacaos are grown. Presilla, who is at the forefront of the revolution in fine chocolate making, explains that the flavor and quality of chocolate depend on the complex genetic profiles of different cacao strains and on cacao farmers carrying out careful, rigorous harvesting and fermentation practices. With 25 recipes from internationally known pastry chefs and chocolatiers like Pierre Herm?© and Elizabeth Faulkner, and directions for making chocolate at home, THE NEW TASTE OF CHOCOLATE elevates our taste for this food of the gods to a whole new level.‚Ä¢ Presilla is a cacao supplier for premier chocolate makers, such as Scharffen Berger and Guittard, and a consultant to the world's top pastry chefs.‚Ä¢ Over 100 gorgeous location, identification, and food photos.

My little girls,You will grow up and marrya grown boy.You will grow up....I will look for molas,Molas for the little girls.--Cuna LullabyThe remarkable Cuna Indians live on the San Blas Islands off the northern coast of Panama. Cuna women hold much of the power enjoyed by men in other societies. They select their husbands, pass property on to their children, and make a unique form of art called molas that depict every detail of their lives.The spectacular fabric designs in vibrant tropical colors that appear on the front and back panels of molas give us a window into Cuna life. We may see a day in school, mythical birds, the story of Noah, jungle animals, or a girl's coming-of-age.Author Maricel Presilla learned how to read molas when she stayed with the Cuna. Mola is her tribute to the women she came to know and the amazing art they create.An American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists"One of Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year

A chronicle of the history of Christmas meals in the Hispanic islands of the Caribbean speaks of the Arabian influence in Spain and the African influence in the New World and features delicious recipes and family stories.

"A glimpse of life in central Mexico is offered through the embroidery of women in the area; their landscapes and portraits of daily life, past and present, are charming.... An unusual cultural record." -- Kirkus Reviews