About the cookbook
The host of a highly popular PBS series, Pati’s Mexican Table, and a self-described “overloaded soccer mom with three kids and a powerful blender,” Pati Jinich has a mission. She’s out to prove that Mexican home cooking is quicker and far easier than most Americans think.
Her dishes are not blanketed with cheese, or heavy and fried, or based on complex sauces. Nor are they necessarily highly spicy. Surprising in their simplicity and freshness, they incorporate produce and grains. Most important, they fit perfectly into an everyday family cooking schedule and use just a handful of ingredients, most of which are already in your pantry. Many are homey specialties that Pati learned from her mother and grandmother, some are creative spins on classics, while others are not well known outside of Mexico.
Dishes like Chicken à la Trash (it’s delicious!), a one-pot meal that Pati gleaned from a Mexican restaurant cook; Mexican Meatballs with Mint and Chipotle; Sweet and Salty Salmon; and Mexican-Style Pasta can revitalize your daily repertoire. You’ll find plenty of vegetarian fare, from Classic Avocado Soup, to Divorced Eggs (with red and green salsa), to Oaxaca-Style Mushroom and Cheese Quesadillas.
Praise
Here is what the culinary world is saying about “Pati’s Mexican Table.”
Pati Jinich is one of the best Mexican chefs we have here in the United States. Mexico’s vibrant culture and its many influences shine in the recipes from this new collection. Each dish contains a story, and Pati brings the food of Mexico – and her kitchen – into our homes.
José Andrés
chef/owner, Minibar by José Andrés & ThinkFoodGroup
Pati is a breath of fresh air in the food world. She’s warm, beyond smart, she’s funny and a generous and gifted cook. She knows Mexican food as her heritage and as a scholar, but knows, too the realities of being a working mother. She never gave up on the tastes she grew up with, but, she’s got an uncanny way of streamlining how she recreates them. This is one of those books you’ll be cooking and learning from a long time.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper
host, The Splendid Table from American Public Media
Pati’s energy and spirit shine through in this beautiful book. The delicious, accessible recipes represent an exciting and fresh side of Mexican cooking — perfect for sharing with family and friends! The stunning photos, helpful cooking tips, and concise ingredient explanations make this a favorite that you will turn to again and again
Hugh Acheson
author, A New Turn in the South
Press
MEXICAN TODAY makes The Washington Post‘s “31 best cookbooks of 2016” list. 11/28/16. Read full list
“Jinich…is nothing if not thorough in making Mexican cuisine accessible to northern chefs. Her cookbook brims with careful instructions and loads of advice on selecting ingredients to create the extraordinary spectrum of flavors offered by classic Mexican cooking.” – Mark Knoblauch, Booklist. 3/17/16. Read full review
“We all know Tex-Mex, but now there’s Cal-Mex, Chicago-Mex, New York-Mex, Fusion-Mex and, perhaps, Pati-Mex. In Mexican Today, Jinich, host of the popular PBS series ‘Pati’s Mexican Table,’ invites us into her kitchen, where she uses her knack for Mexican seasoning to add a bit of Latin flair to all kinds of foods. As a wife and working mother of three boys with packed schedules, she knows the ins and outs of getting good, interesting, family-pleasing food to the table every night.” – Sybil Pratt, Book Page. 3/30/16. Read full review
“Mexican Today delivers the kind of authenticity for these foods that you’ll never get from Betty Crocker…These are wonderful recipes. You’ll want them not only for themselves, but also for the new ideas they’ll inspire in your own kitchen.” – Karen Yencich, Examiner. 4/13/16. Read full review
“Jinich’s new cookbook deftly combines her own family recipes with new Mexican-flavored takes on everyday mealtime staples. From dishes inspired by growing up in Mexico City to meals planned by a busy mother for a family of five, ‘Mexican Today’ is just that: a modern collection of recipes that never stops looking at the past as it reinvents the future.” – Greg Morago, Houston Chronicle. 4/18/16.
“Jinich…has introduced food lovers to the multi-flavors of the Mexican table and her own take on the culturally rich cuisine. Her latest book…’Mexican Today: New and Rediscovered Recipes for Contemporary Kitchens’ offers a variety of dishes for everything from salads and tortas to sandwiches, soups and one-dish meals to desserts and drinks.” – Eloise Marie Valadez, NW Times. 4/20/16. Read full article
“Like the verb derived from the noun salsa–salsear, meaning making ‘something better, adding an extra layer of life, of seasoning, of joy’ — Pati Jinich’s passion is to share the food of her native Mexico while enhancing it with her multi-ethnic heritage.” – Cheryl Krocker McKeon, Shelf Awareness. 4/23/16. Read full review
“In Mexican Today, you have the guidance to produce authentic, delightful and often hot Mexican food of distinction. This is a striking book about how to achieve excellence. It really isn’t that hard. You just start with one poblano, an avocado, and keep turning the pages of Mexican Today.” – Brian O’Rourke, Huffington Post. 4/25/16. Read full review
“Mexican Today [is] an exploration of contemporary Mexican food that defies all borders.” – Ana Sofía Peláez, NBC News. 4/26/16. Read full article
“Mexican Today explores not just traditional fare, but the country’s evolving cuisine and the many immigrant groups who have influenced it.” – Maria Godoy, NPR The Salt. 5/5/16. Read full article
“Smooth and subtle hearts of palm soup with sweet potato croutons, light crepe enchiladas with Swiss chard and potatoes, and Chinese five-spice plum and apricot empanadas join well-loved Mexican classics such as tacos al pastor, traditional chicken tostadas and chiles rellenos.” – Laura Brehaut, National Post. 6/7/16. Read full article
“Back when Jinich wrote her first book, the Emmy and James Beard Award-winning host of Pati’s Mexican Table stuck to the classics, not veering far from what’s considered traditional. But Mexican food has always been about mixing it up. It’s a hybrid culture that birthed a hybrid cuisine. So in her second cookbook Mexican Today, Jinich explores the exciting possibilities.” – Adriana Velez, SheKnows. 6/8/16. Read full article