Puerto Rico True Flavors Hardcover – April 1, 2010

I'm PR with two adult daughters that love our cooking, but don't speak Spanish. Those version allows them to create great PR dishes for their families.

Master Chef Will Benet has brought The Taste of Puerto Rico right into my kitchen.With easy to follow recipes you will smell the deference in your kitchen.Starting with the staples of what makes Puerto Rican food defferent than anything you have ever tasted. From Sofrito which impacts and is used in most of all our stews, rice,bean etc. I'm 64 years old all my life I wanted to open up a Puerto Rican Resturant now with what may be the Puerto Rican Bible of our cultures food I'm confident my dream will come true . Pictured here is Arroz con Pollo ,Stewed pink beans .The chicken and rice you can enjoy by it's self but I had to taste what it would be like with the beans wow moment was had and my mouth enjoyed the full flavors of this delicious dish. So if you looking for a book on how to cook Puerto Rican food look no further as Chef Will Benet has made it fun and enjoyable .I have my friends already asking me when will I open up my Resturant what a compliment all thanks to this Book Puerto Rico True Flavors my dream one day will become a reality.

My niece did not grow up on Puerto Rican cooking. Now with her boyfriend being from Puerto Rico, she wanted to learn to cook authentic Puerto Rican food. I learned from friends and didn't have a good cookbook suggestion. I poured over review after review to find the perfect cookbook...and I did! When she opened it, she was thrilled. This book has easy to understand directions and lots of pictures. She was thrilled with the glossary in the back. As soon as her boyfriend looked at it, he got so excited. Everything that his mom and grandmother ever made him is right here in this book. As he looked through the pictures and recipes, he kept shouting, "Yes, that's how she does it!!" Needless to say, my niece is thrilled with the book. Even the complaints I read in a few reviews, to me, are not negatives. A couple of people complained that the chef suggests using Goya products and Adobo and Sazon. I'm not sure if those review writers think I'm going to grind my own spice mixtures in my kitchen or what, but I'm not. I am proud to use Goya products and so is every Puerto Rican mom that I know in my neighborhood. I will not be mail ordering special brands or ingredients so that I can make my family the perfect pot of rice; I'll be buying Goya at my local grocery store. Overall, I highly recommend this book!!

The three stars are because the contents of this book seem great. This was meant to be a Christmas gift, and at $40.00, I wouldn't’ consider it an inexpensive book. I had to order the book three times before I received one that didn’t have a damaged cover. The cover is a puffy padded one, so it rips, creases, and punctures very easily making it look like an old, battered and used book upon arrival. Unfortunately, the third book did not come in time for Christmas, and wasn’t exactly perfect. The Amazon staff was very helpful and polite, but it was a frustrating experience.

I had the pleasure at eating at one of Chef Benet's restaurants in Puerto Rico last summer. The meal, in fact the entire experience, was delectable. Chef came and sat down with us for a while as we spoke of the great chefs of Washington, DC - the late, great Jean-Louis Palladin, Jose Andres, and others.My best friend of 30 years, Barbara, was new to Puerto Rican food, and she loved the food of the island - mofongo, yuca, pork in all forms, bacalao, pan de agua, the spice palate, all of it.Wilo Benet especially made an impression on her. It was not easy finding this book. In fact, I could only find it through Amazon.com.It was her favorite, by far, Christmas present. She texted me last night to tell me that she was, at that very moment, making a recipe from it - Arroz con Gandules.I expect dinner from her next week.As for the book, it is beautiful - the recipes are accessible, the photographs lovely, and I will be able to attest to the efficacy of the recipes soon enough.Buy the book. Eat at Varita and Pikayo. Enjoy.

I visited San Juan, Puerto Rico several months ago and came across this book in a souvenir shop. I debated on buying it and chose not to. When I returned home to New Jersey, I regretted not buying it. So I came across it by chance on Amazon and thought I would not let this opportunity pass me by and so I bought the book. What is great about this book is the beautiful pictures of just about every recipe and the more in detail step by step instructions for certain recipes. Additionally, I have made the following recipes and all extremely amazing:*Sofrito, *Picadillo, *Tembleque, *Chuletas Fritas, and *PiononosThank you Chef Wilo for sharing your passion and culinary expertise with the world. Deliciousness!

It came messed up the cover

I bought this book in English because my fiance is American and he wanted to learn how to cook Puerto Rican meals, while I wanted a good reference good for those times when I couldn't call my mom to ask her about recipes. I love how the book is a compilation of recipes that represent the basics of Puerto Rican cooking, and it is explained in a step by step fashion. In addition the book is filled with great photographs that are useful for those who don't know what some stuff looks like. The only thing is that I don't follow every recipe exactly because I also integrate what I learned from my family. Still, its a great recipe book, and the layout is very pretty and modern This will be in my library for many years to come.