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The SalviSoul Cookbook: Salvadoran Recipes and the Women Who Preserve Them
A beautifully photographed cookbook that celebrates the vibrant culture and community of El Salvador through 80 recipes and stories from twenty-five Salvadoran women.
In search of the recipes and traditions that made her feel at home, food historian and Salvadoran Karla Tatiana Vasquez took to the internet to find the dishes her mom made throughout her childhood. But when she couldn't find any, she decided to take matters into her own hands. What started as a desire to document recipes turned into sharing the joys, histories, and tribulations of the women in her life.
In this collection of eighty recipes, Karla shares her conversations with moms, aunts, grandmothers, and friends to preserve their histories so that they do not go unheard. Here are recipes for Rellenos de Papa from Patricia, who remembers the Los Angeles earthquakes of the 1980s for more reasons than just fear; Flor de Izote con Huevos Revueltos , a favorite of Karla's father; as well as variations on the beloved Salvadoran Pupusa , a thick masa tortilla stuffed with different combinations of pork, cheese, and beans. Though their stories vary, the women have a shared experience of what it was like in El Salvador before the war, and what life was like as Salvadoran women surviving in their new home in the United States.
In search of the recipes and traditions that made her feel at home, food historian and Salvadoran Karla Tatiana Vasquez took to the internet to find the dishes her mom made throughout her childhood. But when she couldn't find any, she decided to take matters into her own hands. What started as a desire to document recipes turned into sharing the joys, histories, and tribulations of the women in her life.
In this collection of eighty recipes, Karla shares her conversations with moms, aunts, grandmothers, and friends to preserve their histories so that they do not go unheard. Here are recipes for Rellenos de Papa from Patricia, who remembers the Los Angeles earthquakes of the 1980s for more reasons than just fear; Flor de Izote con Huevos Revueltos , a favorite of Karla's father; as well as variations on the beloved Salvadoran Pupusa , a thick masa tortilla stuffed with different combinations of pork, cheese, and beans. Though their stories vary, the women have a shared experience of what it was like in El Salvador before the war, and what life was like as Salvadoran women surviving in their new home in the United States.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published April 30, 2024
37 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 11, 2024
This is my first and only cookbook that I’ve ever purchased and it does not disappoint! I’m half Salvi through my mom and let me tell you.. WE ARE IN LOVE! We couldn’t be prouder to have our culture represented and recognized! Thank you Karla!
August 27, 2024
Not you usual cookbook in that along with recipes there are vignettes (I am not quite sure what to call them but went with this) from 33 Salvadorian women the author interviewed. The vignettes are 1 or 2 page stories often having nothing to do with the recipes in the book. Some are uplifting and others pretty depressing but all do a good job of providing a brief glimpse into these women's lives.
The recipes are a delight with their authentic, unfamiliar to me, ingredients. At times the headnotes are overly verbose and longer than the recipe instructions but chalk that up to the enthusiasm of the author. When she set out to research Salvadorian food at the library, after coming up with nothing a librarian told her if she wanted to find a book on this topic she'd have to write one!
Recipes are well-written and there are vibrant color photos for almost every one. Anyone curious about Salvadorian food will appreciate this cookbook. Special shout out for the Bebitas chapter. I thought it would be another boring section with uninspiring familiar drink recipes but I was totally wrong! If you fancy unique beverages then this chapter will be well worth your while.
The recipes are a delight with their authentic, unfamiliar to me, ingredients. At times the headnotes are overly verbose and longer than the recipe instructions but chalk that up to the enthusiasm of the author. When she set out to research Salvadorian food at the library, after coming up with nothing a librarian told her if she wanted to find a book on this topic she'd have to write one!
Recipes are well-written and there are vibrant color photos for almost every one. Anyone curious about Salvadorian food will appreciate this cookbook. Special shout out for the Bebitas chapter. I thought it would be another boring section with uninspiring familiar drink recipes but I was totally wrong! If you fancy unique beverages then this chapter will be well worth your while.
February 29, 2024
I love that the author made it her mission to never forget her roots. The stories about El Salvador, and the backstories about the recipes are absolutely amazing. I also love how she wore her mom down to get the teachings of some of her recipes. I can't wait to use the many pupusa(El Salvador's national dish) recipes. As well as the Tamale recipes.
June 8, 2025
The recipes are delicious, but this book’s true strength is in the stories of the women, the stories of refugee experiences and what it’s like to try to find your identity. Absolutely buy this book.
February 8, 2025
Beautiful and transportive. The ultimate surprise was how curious my 5 year old was about this book. She sat next to me for a full hour one afternoon looking at the pictures and listening to stories the women shared, learning so many new things in the process.
February 27, 2025
This is one of those cookbooks you really read. Ms. Vasquez has stories of the women she collected recipes from, as well as the story of how she came to write the book. The recipes are fascinating, though I had to return the library book before I could make any of them myself.
May 1, 2024
Thank you to Karla Tatiana Vasquez for making a piece of the culture easier to find for any of us who have attempted to seek it out only to discover that it's near impossible to get it all in one place. If at all.
So many of the recipes had this kitchen novice excited and ready to jump up and try them out. They're all well-arranged and perfectly written out, that there is no hesitation for us first timers.
The stories of all the women included added so much more, making it not just a simple cookbook but a biography for the unsung women who might very well be a stranger at the market, a neighbor or even our grandmothers or aunts.
So many of the recipes had this kitchen novice excited and ready to jump up and try them out. They're all well-arranged and perfectly written out, that there is no hesitation for us first timers.
The stories of all the women included added so much more, making it not just a simple cookbook but a biography for the unsung women who might very well be a stranger at the market, a neighbor or even our grandmothers or aunts.
May 5, 2024
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
The SalviSoul Cookbook is a beautifully illustrated and well written collection of recipes and ode to the culture and culinary legacy of El Salvador by Karla Tatiana Vasquez. Released 30th April 2024 by Penguin Random House on their Ten Speed Press imprint, it's 288 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.
This is not just a satisfyingly diverse collection of delicious recipes and cookbook of El Salvadoran foods, but also a collection of memories and stories of the diaspora which the author collected (along with the recipes) from her relatives and acquaintances. Although outstanding as a cookbook, it's also full of personal family photos and stories.
The recipes are arranged thematically: introduction (with a tutorial guide to ingredients, oils, ), accompaniments, essentials, soups, main dishes, drinks, and sweet snacks. The recipes (and text) are written in English, but all the chapters and recipe names are provided in Spanish.
Each recipe has an introduction and background info, ingredients in a bullet list, and step by step prep and cooking directions. Ingredient measures are given in imperial (American) units. Some items will be generally available at any well stocked grocery store in North America, but many ingredients have few or no substitutes and will require access to an international foods store or specialty stockist. Where substitutions are available, the author is very good about providing the info. Most recipes are accompanied by photos.
Five stars. This would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, home use, or for gift giving purposes.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
The SalviSoul Cookbook is a beautifully illustrated and well written collection of recipes and ode to the culture and culinary legacy of El Salvador by Karla Tatiana Vasquez. Released 30th April 2024 by Penguin Random House on their Ten Speed Press imprint, it's 288 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.
This is not just a satisfyingly diverse collection of delicious recipes and cookbook of El Salvadoran foods, but also a collection of memories and stories of the diaspora which the author collected (along with the recipes) from her relatives and acquaintances. Although outstanding as a cookbook, it's also full of personal family photos and stories.
The recipes are arranged thematically: introduction (with a tutorial guide to ingredients, oils, ), accompaniments, essentials, soups, main dishes, drinks, and sweet snacks. The recipes (and text) are written in English, but all the chapters and recipe names are provided in Spanish.
Each recipe has an introduction and background info, ingredients in a bullet list, and step by step prep and cooking directions. Ingredient measures are given in imperial (American) units. Some items will be generally available at any well stocked grocery store in North America, but many ingredients have few or no substitutes and will require access to an international foods store or specialty stockist. Where substitutions are available, the author is very good about providing the info. Most recipes are accompanied by photos.
Five stars. This would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, home use, or for gift giving purposes.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
April 8, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I never thought a cookbook would make me cry, but THE SALVISOUL COOKBOOK did just that. Not once, not twice, but thrice. I only requested this cookbook because I have an extensive collection of cookbooks from many countries and regions, but this was the first one I'd seen for El Salvador and so of course, I was very interested. In that regard, this book is magnificent - it has lots of mouthwatering recipes and vibrant photos of Salvadoran landscapes and foodways and it's worth getting just for that. But what takes this book to another level is its glorious storytelling of individual Salvadoran women's life journeys. In vignette after vignette, portrait after portrait, you will come across incredibly brave, resilient, creative, and dynamic women. Though their stories vary, the women have a shared experience of what it was like in El Salvador before the war, and what life was like as Salvadoran women surviving in their new home in the United States. Their stories make this an immersive cookbook that can be read page to page.
A quick note on the recipes: I have a hard time following instructions when 2-3 of them are bunched together in paragraphs. But that could just be me. I followed a couple of recipes faithfully for rellenos de papa and pupusas de frijol con queso that turned out amazing so just something to keep in mind. This one is a gem and I'm definitely getting a hardcover to add to my collection.
I never thought a cookbook would make me cry, but THE SALVISOUL COOKBOOK did just that. Not once, not twice, but thrice. I only requested this cookbook because I have an extensive collection of cookbooks from many countries and regions, but this was the first one I'd seen for El Salvador and so of course, I was very interested. In that regard, this book is magnificent - it has lots of mouthwatering recipes and vibrant photos of Salvadoran landscapes and foodways and it's worth getting just for that. But what takes this book to another level is its glorious storytelling of individual Salvadoran women's life journeys. In vignette after vignette, portrait after portrait, you will come across incredibly brave, resilient, creative, and dynamic women. Though their stories vary, the women have a shared experience of what it was like in El Salvador before the war, and what life was like as Salvadoran women surviving in their new home in the United States. Their stories make this an immersive cookbook that can be read page to page.
A quick note on the recipes: I have a hard time following instructions when 2-3 of them are bunched together in paragraphs. But that could just be me. I followed a couple of recipes faithfully for rellenos de papa and pupusas de frijol con queso that turned out amazing so just something to keep in mind. This one is a gem and I'm definitely getting a hardcover to add to my collection.
May 19, 2024
The Salvisoul Cookbook, Salvadoran Recipes & the Women Who Preserve Them, by Karla Tatiana Vasquez is a book filled with color and magic! I thought I knew something about the food of El Salvador but I was completely wrong. The ingredients and combinations are at once familiar but so much more. I learned new words and so many new uses for seeds, squash, tubers, and flowers! In perfect sync with the recipes, the stories of the twenty-five strong Women of SalviSoul are heartwarming, brimming with love, and inspirational. Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own. I recommend you buy this book to expand your culinary horizons. The recipes are well written, the photographs are beautiful, and you will meet some amazing women.
September 25, 2025
Love the photographs and stories. However, it felt as though the author didn’t take the time to research outside of San Salvador’s cooking recipes or stories. It would’ve been nice to have included at least one or two recipes from other major cities in the country such as San Miguel. I wanted to love this book but I felt that it was not truly representing all of us salvies who come from other cities. Perhaps, the title of the book was misleading. All I know is that I was beyond excited when I first got it but felt like the rest of El Salvador was ignored in this representation.
February 7, 2025
Married to a Salvi man and I have two adult kids who are half Salvi. I’ve been cooking Salvi recipes for many years, and wished this book was available in the early 90’s when I got married. I only had my mother-in-law for a short time, but I was fortunate to have learned a few recipes from her. This book is wonderful with all its stories and recipes and I look forward to trying out the recipes.
May 19, 2024
El Salvador is not a country I would have thought immediately of, but now I will. These are wonderful stories and recipes showing the world a taste of El Salvador. The photos are beautiful and the recipes are wonderful.
December 2, 2024
it’s a very good book
I wish there was a beginning index for common names of things at least because there were quite a few things I had to google. But my salvi friend was quite a help!
I wish there was a beginning index for common names of things at least because there were quite a few things I had to google. But my salvi friend was quite a help!
April 25, 2024
I really recommend that you read this book cover to cover first. SalviSoul is a remarkable cookbook, so I was tempted to skip to the recipes that excited me the most, but I'm so glad that I read the introduction first let me tell you why...
I've never had a cookbook give me this kind of experience before. In the introduction author Karla Tatiana Vasquez truly transports readers to her point of view when she was a child and what her relationship to food and the women in her life was like. Once you've read through that you realize that the rest of the book is structured in such a way to simulate the way Salvadoran food was introduced to her through her life. I must warn you that I cried a few times in the introduction alone. It really is a transformative experience the level of which I've never had with another cookbook. Maybe it's because I'm not Salvadoran myself.
All of the recipes that I have cooked have been very tasty, but more importantly produced results that either strongly remind me of food that I've had in Salvadoran restaurants, or my Salvadoran friends have vouched for their authenticity. So far I have had this experience with the: tortillas Salvadoreñas, pastelitos, curtido, pupusas de frijol con queso, and sopa de Frijoles con masitas. Eventually I will work up enough courage to make the tamales de pollo and many other recipes in this book.
All of the directions have been straightforward enough and descriptive enough for me to work through dishes that I didn't grow up with so I can't wait to work my way through the rest of the recipes.
Truly I can't imagine that this book won't become anything short of a hit once it's released. I sincerely hope that we will see more cookbooks with Central American food from Karla Tatiana Vasquez.
I've never had a cookbook give me this kind of experience before. In the introduction author Karla Tatiana Vasquez truly transports readers to her point of view when she was a child and what her relationship to food and the women in her life was like. Once you've read through that you realize that the rest of the book is structured in such a way to simulate the way Salvadoran food was introduced to her through her life. I must warn you that I cried a few times in the introduction alone. It really is a transformative experience the level of which I've never had with another cookbook. Maybe it's because I'm not Salvadoran myself.
All of the recipes that I have cooked have been very tasty, but more importantly produced results that either strongly remind me of food that I've had in Salvadoran restaurants, or my Salvadoran friends have vouched for their authenticity. So far I have had this experience with the: tortillas Salvadoreñas, pastelitos, curtido, pupusas de frijol con queso, and sopa de Frijoles con masitas. Eventually I will work up enough courage to make the tamales de pollo and many other recipes in this book.
All of the directions have been straightforward enough and descriptive enough for me to work through dishes that I didn't grow up with so I can't wait to work my way through the rest of the recipes.
Truly I can't imagine that this book won't become anything short of a hit once it's released. I sincerely hope that we will see more cookbooks with Central American food from Karla Tatiana Vasquez.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2024
What a beautiful cookbook and tribute to the women of El Salvador! I came for the Papusas, but stayed for all the other recipes!
August 3, 2024
I love Salvadorian food so this cookbook was definitely a must read for me. The recipes are wonderfully written and mostly easily accessible ingredients.
September 1, 2024
This cookbook has all my favorites and so many new Salvadoran recipes to try. Best part is the author collected stories to share alongside each recipe.
November 24, 2024
Beautiful book
December 1, 2024
This is so much more than a cookbook! The series of profiles read like short stories, giving glimpses into the experience of the women behind the recipes and the stories that have shaped their lives.
January 13, 2026
I love a cookbook that tells the story of it's roots and this one does just that. I am intrigued by the recipes and looking forward to trying them!
April 11, 2024
This was a really enjoyable book, with lots of stories and recipes from the author's family and national roots. It's wonderful to read about where the dishes belong in the family history, with accompanying photos of the dishes, people, and locations that are important.
I'm a novice, but I definitely enjoy pupusas, so I'm excited to give this recipe and so many others a try.
I received a free ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
I'm a novice, but I definitely enjoy pupusas, so I'm excited to give this recipe and so many others a try.
I received a free ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews