Cuba Cooks Recipes and Secrets from Cuban Paladares and Their Chefs

Award-winning chef Guillermo Pernot and acclaimed author Lourdes Castro unveil authentic Cuban recipes for home cooks, celebrating the bold flavors, creative techniques, and unique inspirations of the country's finest paladares.

Pernot and Castro tour the island, collecting dishes and stories that reveal a vibrant contemporary cuisine. Each dish has been adapted from the best private restaurants from Old Habana to Santiago de Cuba and the author's own celebrated restaurant, Cuba Libre, marrying traditional foundations with modern influences.

Divided into chapters for fresh seafood (Mar), meat (Tierra), vegetables (Granja), delectable desserts (Postres), and handy Basics (Esenciales), Cuba Cooks includes recipes for Arroz con Bacalao, Charred Snapper in Coconut Sauce, Oyster Ceviche, and elegant Stone Crab Mojito; Ajiaco (Cuban stew), Cuban Fried Chicken, Duck Ropa Vieja, Honey-Glazed Lamb Ribs with Cachucha Vinaigrette, Pork Belly Fried Rice, a traditional whole pig-roast, and a legendary smoked chicken from the side of the road; Black Bean Gnocchi with Culantro Butter, Green Plantain Soup garnished with Popcorn, and Malanga Tacos Stuffed with Eggplant; Old Habana street vendors' roasted coconut and almond Cucuruchos, Guava Ice Cream, Cuba Libre's Chocolate Tart with Caramelized Bananas, and Bonatillos, traditional sweet potato pudding balls.

Guillermo Pernot is a nationally renowned chef and restaurateur, currently chef-partner at Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar in Philadelphia. Named "Chef of the Year" (2012) by Esquire magazine, Pernot is a two-time James Beard Award winner for Best Chef (Mid-Atlantic) and Best Single-Subject Cookbook for Ceviche: Seafood, Salads, and Cocktails with a Latino Twist (Running Press, 2001).
Lourdes Castro is a professor, recipe developer, and author of three cookbooks, Latin Grilling (Ten Speed, 2011), Simply Mexican (Ten Speed, 2009), and Eat, Drink, Think in Spanish (Ten Speed, 2009). A recurring judge on Food Network's Beat Bobby Flay, Castro has also appeared on NBC's Today Show, CBS's The Early Show and The Talk, and on news and lifestyle programs for Better TV, Univision, Telemundo, and CNN en Español. Her recipes have also appeared in Food&Wine, Latina magazine, and The New York Times.
Jose Andres is an award winning Spanish-American chef, author, and restaurateur with restaurants in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, South Beach, Puerto Rico, and Mexico City.