What do you think?
Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy
A James Beard Foundation Award–winning record of the traditional regional cuisines of Oaxaca, from one of the world’s foremost authorities on Mexican cooking.
No one has done more to introduce the world to the authentic, flavorful cuisines of Mexico than Diana Kennedy. Acclaimed as the Julia Child of Mexican cooking, Kennedy has been an intrepid, indefatigable student of Mexican foodways for more than fifty years and has published several classic books on the subject, including The Cuisines of Mexico (now available in The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, a compilation of her first three books), The Art of Mexican Cooking, My Mexico, and From My Mexican Kitchen. Her uncompromising insistence on using the proper local ingredients and preparation techniques has taught generations of cooks how to prepare—and savor—the delicious, subtle, and varied tastes of Mexico.
In Oaxaca al Gusto, Kennedy takes us on an amazing journey into one of the most outstanding and colorful cuisines in the world. The state of Oaxaca is one of the most diverse in Mexico, with many different cultural and linguistic groups, often living in areas difficult to access. Each group has its own distinctive cuisine, and Diana Kennedy has spent many years traveling the length and breadth of Oaxaca to record in words and photographs “these little-known foods, both wild and cultivated, the way they were prepared, and the part they play in the daily or festive life of the communities I visited.” Oaxaca al Gusto is the fruit of these labors—and the culmination of Diana Kennedy’s life’s work.
Organized by regions, Oaxaca al Gusto presents some three hundred recipes—most from home cooks—for traditional Oaxacan dishes. Kennedy accompanies each recipe with fascinating notes about the ingredients, cooking techniques, and the food’s place in family and communal life. Lovely color photographs illustrate the food and its preparation. A special feature of the book is a chapter devoted to the three pillars of the Oaxacan regional cuisines—chocolate, corn, and chiles. Notes to the cook, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index complete the volume.
No one has done more to introduce the world to the authentic, flavorful cuisines of Mexico than Diana Kennedy. Acclaimed as the Julia Child of Mexican cooking, Kennedy has been an intrepid, indefatigable student of Mexican foodways for more than fifty years and has published several classic books on the subject, including The Cuisines of Mexico (now available in The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, a compilation of her first three books), The Art of Mexican Cooking, My Mexico, and From My Mexican Kitchen. Her uncompromising insistence on using the proper local ingredients and preparation techniques has taught generations of cooks how to prepare—and savor—the delicious, subtle, and varied tastes of Mexico.
In Oaxaca al Gusto, Kennedy takes us on an amazing journey into one of the most outstanding and colorful cuisines in the world. The state of Oaxaca is one of the most diverse in Mexico, with many different cultural and linguistic groups, often living in areas difficult to access. Each group has its own distinctive cuisine, and Diana Kennedy has spent many years traveling the length and breadth of Oaxaca to record in words and photographs “these little-known foods, both wild and cultivated, the way they were prepared, and the part they play in the daily or festive life of the communities I visited.” Oaxaca al Gusto is the fruit of these labors—and the culmination of Diana Kennedy’s life’s work.
Organized by regions, Oaxaca al Gusto presents some three hundred recipes—most from home cooks—for traditional Oaxacan dishes. Kennedy accompanies each recipe with fascinating notes about the ingredients, cooking techniques, and the food’s place in family and communal life. Lovely color photographs illustrate the food and its preparation. A special feature of the book is a chapter devoted to the three pillars of the Oaxacan regional cuisines—chocolate, corn, and chiles. Notes to the cook, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index complete the volume.
876 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 15, 2010
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 12, 2013
Diana Kennedy has been writing about regional Mexican cooking for literally decades, and she started way ahead of the pack. This book on Oaxacan cooking, which came out relatively recently, is a gorgeous book, something that you would be proud to have on your coffee table. The opening chapter informs you that the triumvirate of Oaxacan cooking is chocolate, corn, and chilis. When I was in Oaxaca, a Zapotec woman told me that a Oaxacan woman mut be able to make chocolate, tortillas, and moles, or she would be considered unmarriagable. She told me this as she was grinding cocoa beans by hand to make the particularly granular chocolate that Mexico and three of the seven Oaxacan moles are famous for.
The book then goes on to delineate the dishes of the sub-regions of Oaxaca. It is very detail oriented in that way, but that also makes it somewhat unusable as a home cook. There are so many ingredients that are unobtainable for the average home cook as to make the book potentially frustrating if you bought it to cook from. On the other hand, if you bought it to look at, to learn from, and to remember Oaxacan cuisine by, it is a perfect match. The photographs are works of art. They remind you of the foods that you ate in Oaxaca and the places that you ate them. The picture of native cooks are priceless--the regional dress in Oaxaca is unlike many places (Guatemala being an exception), and as you page through the book, you can figure out where in the region you are reading about by the way the people are dressed. So definitely buy it if you are looking for something to put on your coffee table, and look to the early cookbooks by Rick Bayless, or Susanna Trilling's cookbook if you are hoping to replicate Oaxacan cuisine at home.
The book then goes on to delineate the dishes of the sub-regions of Oaxaca. It is very detail oriented in that way, but that also makes it somewhat unusable as a home cook. There are so many ingredients that are unobtainable for the average home cook as to make the book potentially frustrating if you bought it to cook from. On the other hand, if you bought it to look at, to learn from, and to remember Oaxacan cuisine by, it is a perfect match. The photographs are works of art. They remind you of the foods that you ate in Oaxaca and the places that you ate them. The picture of native cooks are priceless--the regional dress in Oaxaca is unlike many places (Guatemala being an exception), and as you page through the book, you can figure out where in the region you are reading about by the way the people are dressed. So definitely buy it if you are looking for something to put on your coffee table, and look to the early cookbooks by Rick Bayless, or Susanna Trilling's cookbook if you are hoping to replicate Oaxacan cuisine at home.
September 22, 2010
I have been in love with the food of Mexico and of Oaxaca ever since I first visited this Pacific Mexican state many years ago with my family. Now Diana Kennedy, the english language grandame of Mexican cookery, has released a stunning cookbook that overs that region. Just looking through its pages makes me hungry. When this cookbook arrived (as a birthday present from a particularly thoughtful red head) I knew I had lots of happy cooking ahead of me. Al Gusto, indeed.
March 9, 2014
The pictures make me drool. I want to go to Oaxaca and eat. Not have a cookbook. Food voyeurism is not all it is cracked up to be.
January 7, 2024
This is a very thorough review of food in Oaxaca along with gorgeous pictures. The recipes are arranged geographically. The table of contents (at least in the Kindle version) lists the ingredients for each recipe, which is useful since there are some exotic ingredients which can probably only been found in Mexico, or maybe even just in Oaxaca. I think for me it'll be a great guide to eating in Oaxaca at some point.
January 11, 2011
Amazing - as with all of Diana Kennedy's work, there are great stories to accompany wonderful recipes. I don't know how many of these will find their way to my vegetarian table (most rely on meat), but there's plenty to inspire innovation.
November 24, 2010
Wonderfully complete and authoritative. A visual treat to just browse. A great book to cook from.
December 12, 2010
Wonderful so far!
February 11, 2014
As much anthropology as cookbook; I'm not likely to try to make these recipes, but Diana Kennedy's book make me look forward to the chance of visiting Oaxaca.
December 28, 2017
A standard for Oaxaca’s food but many ingredients are challenging to find outside the area—but a few minutes on the Internet will solve that problem.
January 22, 2020
I have not read a better authentic Mexican cook book as Oaxaca gusto. The cookbook focuses on the sub-regional cooking in this state of Mexico. I mean, where else can you find iguana recipes? Unfortunately, while sumptive, it has almost nothing for vegetarians and many of the recipes call for specific types of ingredients that are hard to find, but not impossible, in the US.
September 14, 2020
I rarely buy cookbooks but this is too good not to be in my collection
January 1, 2023
The complete treatise on Oaxacan cooking. A great read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews