Chapters, too, are limited to a couple of hundred words for an introduction. No change here, then: the introduction, given twelve pages in the contents, is actually one and a half pages and several very beautiful pictures presented without context (bar a single sentence for each tucked on the very final page of the book). Though there are occasional exceptions, the series almost always features very minimal prose besides the recipes themselves. Phaidon’s books are recipe collections, and little else. Most significant among these: they are absolutely terrible reads. But in their relative uniformity they are consistently flawed in a number of key places. Is it good bedtime reading? It would be unfair to say that I am not entirely a fan of Phaidon’s international cookbooks – I’ve just checked, and currently have six on my shelves, including currently out of print titles for France and Spain. No wonder the title also credits travel writer Nicholas Gill and Martínez’s own Mater Initiative as co-authors – this is a big undertaking by any measure. Here, though, he expands his vision to offer us over 600 recipes from over 20 different Latin American countries. Martínez has previously broken onto our cookbook shelves with an exploration of his native Peruvian cuisine in LIMA, and a classic fancy-chef-does-good coffee table volume named after his restaurant Central. The Peruvian chef might also be the series’ most interesting author to date he’s certainly the only one whose Wikipedia page has a section titled ‘Piranha smuggling incident’. Who wrote it? Virgilio Martínez is our guide to the biggest region to draw Phaidon’s attention so far. Each book follows roughly the same format – hundreds upon hundreds of authentic recipes, a smattering of pictures, and the occasional joy of having a dish require you to do something obscene to an animal you’ve previously only seen in a wildlife reserve. The range was already fairly curious, with most titles priced at £35 despite the fact that some measure roughly twice the size of others. #WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.What’s the USP? The latest entry in Phaidon’s ongoing quest to publish the definitive cookbook for every cuisine in the world, The Latin American Cookbook joins an increasingly heavy shelf that includes The Silver Spoon (and a few of its spin-offs) as well as titles dedicated to Japanese, American and Jewish foods.
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