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43 of 48 found the following review helpful:
 A Taco Extravaganza! Apr 29, 2009
By rodboomboom
Miller is an astute student of food and culture, witness his other cookbooks which so involve the anthropology of a region and its marriage with its cuisine, e.g. his Red Sage cookbook and my review here on amazon.
His intro to this work is fascinating and taco inspiring, e.g. "This food was alive, colorful, aromatic, tasty, crunchy, juicy, flavorful--as if I had crossed a new frontier of food experience." So his time in Mexico as child in summers and as continuing visitor and taco sampler as adult has inspired this very cookbook. His stated purpose is to excite the user of the cookbook about Mexico's street food, that they are as he states: "fast, fresh, economical and easy, a good match to the rapid pace of our modern lifestyle."
He thus provides authentic favorites from Mexico as well as adaptations such as Lobster and Avocado, as well as Chicken with Apples and Goat Cheese.
With each recipe there is suggestion for type of tortilla, accompaniment, usually a salsa, and a drink recommendation. I find this useful as well as on some recipes where difficult ingredients could be an issue, he provides alternatives, e.g. one of the wonderful few that I have made out of here so far, Baja-Style Tempura Fish, the recipe calls for shark, but he also mentions that mahi mahi or tilapia work as well. Likewise with Rabbit with Chiles and Tomatillos, he suggests that chicken thighs can substitute as well. Also, prepared the Tacos Al Pastor and served with his drink recommend of Coco Locos, which never tried before, and guests said it was knock out of dish! I agreed!
Each recipe also includes valuable amount of tacos the recipe yields as well as a Heat Level index and prep time estimate.
These are truly recipes to get excited and involved with new and exciting tacos, salsa, accompaniments to have fun making and serving. His idea of a taco party sounds mucho fun!
Well done with color photos and excellent directions and glossary of techniques, equipment, ingredients and sources for likes of bison, elk, chiles, etc.
This one is keeper!
21 of 22 found the following review helpful:
Love this cookbook! Jun 25, 2009
By P. R. Crandall
All the recipes I've tried so far are wonderful and very authentic. This cookbook is not for a beginner cook, though. Be prepared to spend some time with these recipes, but they are sooo worth it.
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Tacos offers great detail and breadth of recipes Oct 16, 2009
By Chicago Book Addict
I've picked up other cookbooks devoted to a single food like The New Lasagna Cookbook: A Crowd-Pleasing Collection of Recipes from Around the World for the Perfect One-Dish Meal and Biscottiand they can sometimes feel like they just bring together the standard recipes you've seen elsewhere or include a lot of filler to round out the book. Tacos by Mark Miller is the exact opposite.
What I love about this book is that it's the perfect marriage of detail and great recipes. Miller gives you everything you need to succeed, especially when it comes to making homemade tortillas. I really loved the depth of the directions and it reminded me a lot of cookbooks by Rick Bayless.
The recipes are what really get me excited. There is such a breadth covered in this book. It was a perfect balance of more traditional recipes I would hope would be included and unique or fushion recipes that brought me new taco ideas I hadn't thought of. I'm especially captivated by the Braised Beef Short Rib Tacos, Baja Style Tempura Fish, Thai Shrimp, and especially the Chicken with Apple and Goat Cheese Taco. There are also many great photos within the book to give you an idea of what the finished recipe will look like.
I especially like that the cookbook clearly indicates not only how long each recipe will take to complete, but also the heat level. It's great because it makes it easy to adjust if you typically do not like spicy food or find your food is not spicy enough. It's worth noting that most of the recipes take an hour or more to prepare so this is definitely not a quick cookbook. However, I did find the skill level required to be reasonable. Yes, some of the recipes call for cooking meats that are not standard in the American diet, but other than that there are no techniques I saw that would be above the average home cook. The level was consistent with most average cookbooks I have used and magazines like Martha Stewart and Cooking Light.
Overall I think this book is fanastic and am excited ay all my taco making possibilities.
19 of 24 found the following review helpful:
Mouthwatering Apr 28, 2009
By Shawn Hartley
I received this title yesterday. Cover-to-cover, it is mouthwatering. Excellent photography and all the recipes appear to be rather straight-forward.
I would have liked to have seen an extended salsa section, but the basics are covered well enough and would stand as a base for your imagination.
I'd recommend it.
UPDATED 4/2011
I gave this 5 stars before, but I just wanted to let everyone know that the Sonoran rub for the pulled pork tacos works on just about everything I've thrown in the smoker. Ribs, brisket even chicken (though go a bit lighter in usage). Fantastic. If you like a flavorful heat, man you can't go wrong with this.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Fast becoming my favorite cookbook Oct 15, 2009
By Bruce L. Swabb
This is an incredible cookbook. I have plowed through at least 10 of the recipes so far, and have not been disappointed with any of them. My friends have been raving about the tacos!
After reading the forward, I am now on a quest to find the real live taco carts that Mark discusses. I also appreciate the lisitng of sources for certain ingredients, as it can be a bit difficult to find certain items such as green chili powder.
See all 14 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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