A colorful celebration of Oaxacan cuisine from the landmark Oaxacan restaurant in Los Angeles 

Oaxaca is the culinary heart of Mexico, and since opening its doors in 1994, Guelaguetza has been the center of life for the Oaxacan community in Los Angeles. Founded by the Lopez family, Guelaguetza has been offering traditional Oaxacan food for 25 years. The first true introduction to Oaxacan cuisine by a native family, each dish articulates their story, from Oaxaca to the streets of Los Angeles and beyond. Showcasing the “soul food” of Mexico, Oaxaca offers 140 authentic, yet accessible recipes using some of the purest pre-Hispanic and indigenous ingredients available. From their signature pink horchata to the formula for the Lopez’s award-winning mole negro, Oaxaca demystifies this essential cuisine.

My Thoughts

Living in Texas, we have many Mexican restaurants and many of us (ok ME!) could live on chips, salsa, guacamole, and tacos.  You will hear that there are many types of Mexican food and this is very true and I have seen a variety here in town and across the country.  If you want to learn more about the history of Mexican food, I found this website that shares more details of the history and the influence of many cultures on the dishes, the cooking sources, and even little known facts regarding tamales, tomatillos, and chilis.

When I opened this cookbook I was greeted with colorful photographs of food and the family that created Guelaguetza.  There is also an in depth history of how the restaurant came into existence and the challenges the family faced over the years during expansion to additional locations.  This history is just as engaging as the recipes.

As I continued through the book, the author shares techniques and information about various ingredients.  I know I mentioned the photographs but I cannot put into words how amazing these photos are to gaze upon.  The richness and the sense of family and food are unimaginable.  You will just have to pick up a copy of this book for yourself to understand what I am talking about.

Each chapter focuses on a specific area of Oaxaca food – from staples to beverages, to main courses, to salsas, and even to desserts.  Each recipe starts with a history of the dish and there is a rich photograph that represents the finished dish.  There is even a step by step illustration that shows how to make tamales.

I like to try a recipe from each cookbook I receive from Abrams as part of their Dinner Party.  I lamented over what recipe would be the winner and since I had a dinner party coming up a dessert might work nicely especially since the food theme was Mexican!  What caught my eye was the Chocoflan recipe.  It seems easy enough and wouldn’t be too sweet.  The ingredients came together easily enough but where I ran into problems was with the cooking time.  The recipe said to cook for 35 minutes in a water bath at 300°.  However, when I opened the oven it was nowhere cooked.  I think I ended up cooking this for about an hour.  Plus my flan layer wasn’t thick enough so the cake batter mixed in with the flan batter.  Now, somehow it all still worked out and while the flan had some chocolate throughout, the cake layer actually rose to the top.  I couldn’t believe it!  I was concerned that cooking it for that length of time would affect the consistency and flavor, but it didn’t.  Now my caramel layer didn’t work but I think that comes with practice and it is easy enough to make more and just drizzle over the top.

Overall this is a fascinating cookbook and I will be trying some other recipes in the very near future.