Looking for Some Great Brazilian or Argentine Cookbooks Good Questions

Q: I LOVE Brazilian and Argentinian food, and have never seen a good intro/cookbook covering either.

Anyone have any tips?

Sent by k1ate

Editor: We saw this question in one of the comment threads, and we want to hear the answer to this too! Readers, do you have any great Brazilian or Argentine cookbook recommendations?

The two pictured above (we haven't read them) are:
• Brazil: A Cook's Tour
• Asi Cocinan Los Argentinos/ How Argentina Cooks

Next question?

(Images: Amazon)

Comments (8)

If you don't mind running some words through a translator, I would recommend Mais Voce with Ana Maria Braga (both the new book and the website) for Brasilian recipes.

A lot of old, traditional recipes along with modern variations. Their website has daily recipes from the TV show as well.

The compendium of Brazilian recipes traditionally given to new brides is Dona Benta Comer Bem (think Joy of Cooking/How to Cook Everything, Je sais cuisiner, Il Cucchiaio d'argento, etc.). To my knowledge, it's not available in English, unf.

I would recommend ESCOFFIANAS BRASILEIRAS, a book by Alex Atala, a great brazilian chef, known worldwide. It is not a book about traditional brazilian food; it is a book about brazilian ingredients and his contemporary way of using them.

asi cocinan los argentinos is a good start for argentine cuisine. it doesn't have all my grandmother's recipes, but it has most of them, covers a wide range of ingredients and dishes, and as it's bilingual it's useful in picking up key food words in spanish! if you're looking for an extensive old school (i.e. still list lard as a good ingredient!) argentine sweets/baked goods/dough-based (i.e. empanadas) book, try 'la reposteria de doña petrona' (not sure if it's been translated to english).

For a roundup of South American, including Brazilian, I recommend Nirmala's Edible Diary: http://www.amazon.com/Nirmalas-Edible-Diary-Travelers-Countries/dp/0811869067

As a Brazilian I have to say that I'm pretty dissapointed in the cookbook collection in English.

I would really recommend this blog http://www.foodsamba.com/ It's called Food Samba and her recipes are beautiful and simple.

and no it's not my blog :)

I'm American and bought Brazil: A Cook's Tour after living in Sao Paulo for a year. I don't make a lot of the recipes, but I enjoy making the Creme de Palmito (cream of heart of palm soup) and the sweet avocado dessert. And the photos and travel journal about kitchens throughout several regions of Brazil are great!