La Comida del Barrio

Celebrating the culinary traditions of Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Brazilian, and other Latino cultures, this rich collection of recipes is organized by type of eatery rather than by course or main ingredient, including a wide variety of hearty soups and stews, main courses, breads, pastries, and beverages, all made with readily available ingredients.

In this groundbreaking cookbook, chef Aarón Sanchez explores the delicious food and exciting culture of the barrios—the vibrant Latin-American neighborhoods from Miami's Little Havana and New York's Spanish Harlem to San Francisco's Mission, and the entire United States in between. These rich neighborhoods have spawned a new cuisine, melding tradition with experimentation, and taking advantage of locally available ingredients and modern cooking methods. This book is a celebration of that cuisine: not the painstakingly authentic dishes of the homeland, or the hypercreative chef-y inventions of fusion cuisine, but the comforting, delicious food that’' enjoyed in home kitchens and mom-and-pop restaurants across the country, accessible to all cooks.

Since a defining aspect of Latin-American culture is the variety in eating establishments,from casual street vendors to upscale sit-down restaurants, the meal is defined as much by the place as by the dish.