Cookbook Shelf: Making Food Art in Mi Comida Latina

If you’ve ever tried to replicate a recipe from a home cook, you know that the proverbial “pinch of this, dash of that,” really translates into “until it’s got the right sazon!” Marcella Kriebel discovered this first-hand travelling throughout Latin America while studying cultural anthropology. She also realized that cooking with people in their home kitchens, is a natural conduit to learning about a country, its culture, a family’s history, and their cooking rituals.

Kriebel’s hands-on, intensive cooking classes were augmented by sketchbook journals that she amassed during her travels. This lead to her beautifully produced book Mi Comida Latina- Vibrant, Fresh, Simple, Authentic. In it, you’ll find over 100, hand-lettered and illustrated recipes from her travels in and a cocina full of those tried and true tips that help take a dish from good to glorioso!

A feel good bonus for readers: 100% of the publisher’s after-tax proceeds will go to benefit Adelante Mujeres, an Oregon-based non-profit that empowers low-income Latinas and their families through entrepreneurial and workforce training and education. Kriebel says, “Many of the women of Adelante Mujeres are starting food related businesses, applying the cooking skills they’ve learned earlier in life and combining them with knowledge learned through programs that Adelante Mujeres sponsors. These women are hard working, and passionate about creating good lives for their families.” Here are three of Kriebel’s favorite recipes and she hopes they’ll inspire you as much as they do her. [pagebreak]

Lomo Saltado
This Peruvian beef and potato “stir fry” comes to us via the Peruvian-Chinese culinary fusion known as Chifa. Filling, fast and full of flavor, this is a weekday supper no one is going to complain about! Bonus points to Kriebel for offering substitutions if for example, you can’t find aji amarillo at your local grocery store (she suggests pickled jalapeños as a tasty, albeit inauthentic option). [pagebreak]

Encebollado
This fish soup with yucca is a fan favorite in coastal Ecuador and Northern Peru, perhaps in part because it’s considered one of the go-to hangover cures of choice. Any way you slurp it, this soup is brimming with flavour and best of all, it’s customizable. You like tuna? Use it! Want textural interest? Kriebel suggests you make like the Ecuadorians and top your soup with crunchy popcorn! Porque no? [pagebreak]

Salsa Roja
Any Latin American mama will tell you, a meal isn’t complete until there’s at least one salsa on the table. Some like it hot, others just packed with flavor. Either way, you can up the ante at meal time with this Salsa Roja, roasted tomato salsa. Perfect for spooning over your favorite grilled carnitas, taco or wherever you fancy a hit of flavor!