Publisher’s Review
Don’t get me wrong - I love cheddar cheese, and chimichangas, and margaritas (which we don’t actually drink all that much south of the border). But if you think that’s all there is to Mexican food, you’re missing out on so much.
Growing up in Tijuana, Mexico, Marcela Valladolid rejoiced in the complex moles, dozens of different chiles, and homemade tortillas that graced her family’s dinner table. Going to school across the border in San Diego, and later to cooking school in Paris, she found plenty to love in the markets, quickly folding new ingredients into her repertoire. She also encountered some curious foods masquerading as authentic Mexican: cheddar cheese-stuffed quesadillas, tortilla chips drowning in still more cheese, and the ubiquitous everything-but-the-kitchen-sink overstuffed burritos. Where were the authentic, easy-to-prepare Mexican recipes she grew up with? The brightly flavored seafood ceviches, bursting with freshness? The simple, slender burritos filled with nothing more than intensely flavored braised meat and blistered chiles? The salsas that come together in minutes but can transform a meal?
In her vivacious, fresh voice, Marcela aims to invigorate America’s taste for real Mexican food- dishes that can be accomplished on any busy weeknight but that still express the authentic flavors of her native cuisine. Her food is much like her, Mexican but influenced by other cultures. You’ll find recipes for Tilapia Ceviche; Butternut Squash-Chipotle Bisque; Roasted Pork Loin with Pineapple Glaze; Ancho-chocolate Braised Short Ribs; and Fresh Guava Layer Cake.
Inspired ideas, helpful cooking techniques, and ingredient substitutions make this the most accessible, appealing, and contemporary Mexican cookbook you’ll find today. With a hundred delicious recipes and beautiful color photography throughout, Fresh Mexico introduces a new generation of Americans to the vibrant flavors of modern Mexico.
Review From Publishers Weekly
Positing that many Americans associate Mexican cuisine with shiny globs of orange cheese, Valladolid sets out to offer a broader, more diverse and healthier vision of south-of-the-border cooking. The Tijuana-born, Ritz-Escoffier-educated Valladolid is a young mother as well as a culinary television personality. As such, she values "weeknight" recipes that can be produced with a minimum of fuss and a few good flavors. Though Valladolid’s mission is to educate readers of the world beyond Old El Paso taco kits, she distinguishes herself from authenticity-focused Mexican cookbook authors such as Diana Kennedy, allowing for looser, creative interpretations that befit contemporary eaters: osso bucco with lime zest and chilis; mascarpone-stuffed squash blossoms with raspberry vinaigrette; and the decadent Mexican cake, pastel de tres leches, made with Italian meringue as a substitute for the traditional raw egg whites. Using ingredients that are readily found in the U.S., her creations are reliable and at times wonderfully simple, like a bright slaw of jicama, arbol chilis and uncooked beets with toasted sesame oil, or baked cod with anchovies, lime and a few kalamata olives and capers thrown in for good measure. Home cooks will appreciate Valladolid’s enthusiastic yet straightforward approach. (Aug.)
Riviera Magazine
Emeril has "Bam!" and Rachel Ray has her EVOO. For Marcela Valladolid, who's poised to become the next one-name star in TV cooking, the signature hook will probably be adding a dash of chipotle chile to everything. "I can't live without chipotle," says Valladolid, 29, whose cooking show Relatos con Sabor airs to 12 million homes in Mexico, Central and South America. Even while at Paris' Ritz Escoffier culinary school, Valladolid—who lives in Tijuana but rocked Our Lady of Peace plaid as an S.D. schoolgirl—couldn't live without the flavors of home. "Dinner was a baguette with butter and canned chipotle in adobo," she says. Valladolid is the perfect domestic double agent to help people discover modern Mexi-terranean dishes that break nacho-cheesy stereotypes, whether it's her game hens seasoned with pasilla chiles and tequila or crème brûlée studded with dates. Even as a contestant on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, Valladolid scored a big win with her cross-cultural cilantro-rosemary Wishbone dressing. She didn't get the job, but Valladolid stood out. In one tense boardroom scene, Valladolid declared she didn't want to be the Mexican Martha Stewart. But that appears to be happening anyway. Valladolid is spending long days in the kitchen, creating and testing recipes for a cookbook that's being released in the fall of 2008 by Clarkson-Potter, which just happens to be Ms. Stewart's publisher. If that's not pressure enough, it'll be printed in both English and Spanish as she attempts to straddle the two cultures that made her who she is. "On the Martha Stewart Show I was the Mexican girl with the big earrings. I'm totally happy with that label," she says. "It's hard to get piegeonholed when there are 40 million Mexicans in the United States."
Fine Cooking Review
Vibrant and deliciously feisty, the modern Mexican recipes in Marcela Valladolid’s new cookbook are as irresistible as the young Tijuana-based chef herself. Valladolid is passionate about Mexican cuisine, but she’s no stickler for tradition. Whether she’s infusing an Indian technique with Mexican flavor (as in her Cilantro Tandoori Chicken), wrapping a tortilla around duck confit (for a Duck Burrito), or sneaking tequila into crème anglaise (for her Apricot-Tequila Ice Cream), Valladolid finds inspiration where others see culinary boundaries. Her accessible recipes emphasize fresh, easy-to-find ingredients and are perfect for summer—or anytime.
Kimberly Y. Masibay is a Fine Cooking contributing editor.