Bistro Latino: Home Cooking Fired Up With the Flavors of Latin America - Hardcover

Palomino, Rafael; Moskin, Julia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688155030 ISBN 13: 9780688155032

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1997

Synopsis

From Grilled Swordfish with Cilantro Pesto to Roasted Corn Vinaigrette to Passionfruit Flan, a selection of 150 taste-tempting recipes highlights the best in Latin American home cookery. 25,000 first printing. Tour.

About this title

Review:

Take the flavors and culinary traditions of South America, add the influence of European cuisine, and you have Chef Rafael Palomino's Bistro Latino. As the title suggests, Bistro Latino is an innovative synthesis of European and New World flavors, and it is striking how easily Palomino moves between the cuisines. The lemony seafood salads common to the Mediterranean are replaced with the ceviches of Peru and Colombia. Dishes such as Roast Chicken with Jalapeños and Yuca put a distinct South American twist on traditional French bistro fare. These combinations are natural for Palomino. In his native Colombia, Latin cuisine is in itself a rich brew of indigenous, Iberian, African, Asian, Caribbean, and North American influences. Add to that early apprenticeships in New York and French restaurants, and it's easy to understand the birth of Bistro Latino.

As with traditional bistro cooking, Palomino emphasizes modest, down-to-earth food. However, the similarities stop there. Bold Latin flavor combinations and ingredients transform simple dishes. Fish Baked in Fresh Tangerine Juice and Parsley blend sweet citrus, woodsy mushrooms, and tender whitefish into an entrée teeming with brightness. In fact, the beauty of Bistro Latino is the simplicity. All the recipes are easily prepared at home and require only modest culinary skills. Palomino also does an outstanding job laying out the basics of Latin cooking. The ingredients glossary is extremely helpful to anyone new to the cuisine, and the recipes for basic sauces such as Aji and Hogo, as well as those for salsas and vinaigrettes, are excellent. Bistro Latino is an exciting new approach that guarantees Latin cuisine will never be the same. --Mark O. Howerton

About the Author:

Rafael Palomino began his cooking apprenticeship with Larry Forgione at Brooklyn's River Caf. He went on to work under Michel Guerard at Michel's three-star kitchen in Eugene-les-Bains, France. Rafael has since worked at An American Place, Jams, and Metropolis Caf, all in New York City. He now co-owns and is executive chef at Bistro Latino and Sonora. Rafael emigrated with his parents to the United States from Colombia, grew up in Queens, and now lives in Bedford, New York.

Julia Moskin is a food writer and cookbook editor. She is restaurant reviewer for New York Press and has contributed to Saveur and Appellation magazines. She lives in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0688155030
• ISBN 13: 9780688155032
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 206