Rick Bayless books

I saw that Rick Bayless will be signing his new book w/ his daughter at the Williams-Sonoma in 900 N Michigan on Saturday (11 a.m. - noon). This got me interested in buying one of his books.

Can anyone recommend which book I should start off with?

I have both Authentic Mexican, his first book, and Mexico: One Plate at a Time. I like both of them, but I use them differently. I guess the best way to describe the difference is to say that the former is old style and the latter new style. In this I mean, old style cookbooks, e.g. Irene Kuo, Julia's Mastering the Art, Madeline Kamman, for the most part, relied on substance and illustrations, not glossy pictures. The older book I used for reading and getting a better understanding of Mexican cuisine and I currently use it as the resource for standard recipes like for tortillas. The later book is the new style, full of food porn, beautiful pictures of each recipe, which whet one's appetite. I use this one when I'm not sure what I want to make or eat. There is good explanatory text in this one as well, it just seems less weighty.

Thanks for the helpful comparison, MAG. I've heard that his recipes can be quite labor intensive. As I love to cook, I don't always mind spending a whole day in the kitchen, but every now and then, it's nice to have some easier recipes to work from as well. Also, I'm fairly new to cooking Mexican.

Do either of these books offer a number of simple recipes along w/ the complex?

Between the two, I would say the later book has more of a mix, but frankly to gauge the veracity of my statement, I would have to look back at the books. The one thing that's leading me to make my assertion is that I have used the later book on occasion for weekday dinners.

I agree completely with MAG's description of Authentic Mexican vs. Mexico: One Plate at a Time. Authentic Mexican is more scholarly, more thorough in documenting regional variations; One Plate at a Time is useful in its discussions of practical matters for North American kitchens, and pairs nearly every traditional recipe with a "contemporary" one created by Bayless.

But the Bayless book I use the most for actual cooking is the one which appeared between those two: Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen. In part, I'm sure, it's because this was the first of his books which I owned. But I also like it for going beyond the standard repertoire of dishes which he covered extensively in Authentic Mexican (yet staying focused on actual Mexican dishes, not fusional stuff with cranberries and whatnot) -- and for its beautiful color photos as well!

Yes, I saw Mexican Kitchen as well. My goodness, I think I might end up with all three! Smart of him to come up with three books that seem so much the same, yet are so different

I have Mexican Kitchen. Since I don't have the other books, I can't compare them, but I like the setup of this book. He shows you how to make several "essential sauces" in the beginning and tells you which recipes use which base. Also, each sauce has a couple simple recipes listed with them.

Those w/ multiple books, do you find there's a lot or any overlap in the recipes?

Hi,

I also appreciate the guidance on what books to acquire. Over the years, I have met people who worked with Bayless. Pretty uniformly, they had a higher regard for his very earliest books.

Another author to consider in this genera is Diana Kennedy. Between Bayless' early books and a collection of Diana Kennedy, you have have a rather complete library.

Over at the Useful Stuff Board, there is a link to Mexican Cooking Illustrated. I have linked to the board rather than the site because I encourage you to check out all the resources at Useful Stuff.

I use "Mexican Kitchen" frequently, but it isn't the heaviest on recipes. It does give a great overview of how to build a dish around a salsa, though. And I rely regularly on the 'black death' paste made by frying dried chipotle peppers and searing the oily mixture with brown sugar (mmmmhot).

His older cookbook Authentic Mexican is available on Half.com as well as that big river-named place.

I don't have a copy of that one, but my mother does. There's a great smoked fish and potato salad in there.

I'm not too crazy about One Plate at a Time or Salsa That Cook.

Janet C. wrote:Those w/ multiple books, do you find there's a lot or any overlap in the recipes?

Interesting question, Janet. To answer this I just looked up "tortilla soup". All three volumes have a recipe: the one in the first book (Authentic Mexican) is the "basic" recipe, listed as Toasted Tortilla Soup with Fresh Cheese and Chile Pasilla. Mexican Kitchen gives a different version, with swiss chard. One Plate at a Time has the same recipe as Authentic Mexican as the traditional recipe for the chapter; it's followed by the "contemporary" Bayless version which has goat cheese, chipotle, and shiitake mushrooms.

This small sample seems to conform to the impressions given above, that Authentic Mexican gives the Mexican standards, Mexican Kitchen goes further in presenting additional recipes from Mexico, and One Plate at a Time pairs some of the Mexican standards with new creations by Bayless.

p.s. I have Salsas that Cook, too, but only from making a pledge to WTTW. I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for Mexican cooking.

Mexican Kitchen is great. Also in contrast to say a Trotter recipe, I find that everything I have cooked out of this has been straight forward and successful. These recipes have been tested and written thoughtfully.

Thanks again all, for your thoughts. I went to my local used bookstore yesterday and lo and behold, they had one copy of One Plate at a Time sitting on the shelves (as if it was just waiting for me). Priced at under $12, I of course didn't hesitate to buy it.

Unfortunately, they didn't have his other books, but I've been flipping through this one and have picked up some interesting tips on Mexican cooking. I especially like the Q&A section after each recipe that gives his recommendations on equipment, comparison of ingredients, etc. Can't wait to try out the recipes!

Thanks for the update, Janet. One recipe I particularly like from that book is the soupy black beans cooked with chipotle and served mixed with greens and tiny masa dumplings.

Yes, I love that recipe too, and it's quite easy to prepare -- I use canned beans when I want to make this quickly and I haven't noticed any difference.