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Ama: A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen
Tex-Mex is a delicious, irreverent cuisine that combines the deep traditions of Texan and Mexican cooking. Think meaty stews, breakfast tacos, and tres leches cake. Home cooks will learn how to make them all—in addition to crunchy salads, slow-cooked meats, and fresh cocktails—in this collection of more than 100 recipes from San Antonio native and Los Angeles chef and restauranteur Josef Centeno. Organized into chapters by type of food—including breakfast, vegetables, main courses, desserts, and a super nacho party—this is down-home cooking and grilling at its most inspiring. Presented in a colorful package with more than 100 food and atmospheric photos, this cookbook is a hands-on winner for anyone who loves big flavors, casual parties, and firing up the grill.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
January 31, 2023
This cookbook has fresh new innovating recipes for people who love to cook Mexican. The pictures are vibrant, colourful and your mouth will water when you see them. For every course there is a multi recipes and I can't wait to start cooking with this book. One minus some ingredients are hard or harder to get. There for this book gets 4 points!
This is a ARC from the publisher via Netgalley, which I got for an honest review.
This is a ARC from the publisher via Netgalley, which I got for an honest review.
August 30, 2019
I need this book in my kitchen right now! It's not released until 10/1/2019 so the best I could do was pre order it and I can't wait. Rick Bayless is my go-to guy for Mexican cuisine, but hold the phone, Josef Centeno just stepped in.
3 reasons I'm in love with this cookbook:
1. The photographs are amazing!
2. The recipes (I know this should be #1, but the pictures are really great). I love Tex-Mex and as the author stated, Tex-Mex is something that continues to evolve. He has provided traditional recipes mixed in with those that are new. The recipes are approachable without being intimidating and ingredients that shouldn't be too hard to find. The directions are easy to follow with terminology that's understandable.
3. His story. He tells about who he is and all those that have special significance in his life, like Ama. He pays homage to those that paved the way before him and you know he cooks from the heart.
After I read the last page I felt like I could have a beer and a few tacos with Mr. Centeno.
Thank you NetGalley, Josef Centeno, Betty Hallock, and Chronicle Books for an advance copy.
3 reasons I'm in love with this cookbook:
1. The photographs are amazing!
2. The recipes (I know this should be #1, but the pictures are really great). I love Tex-Mex and as the author stated, Tex-Mex is something that continues to evolve. He has provided traditional recipes mixed in with those that are new. The recipes are approachable without being intimidating and ingredients that shouldn't be too hard to find. The directions are easy to follow with terminology that's understandable.
3. His story. He tells about who he is and all those that have special significance in his life, like Ama. He pays homage to those that paved the way before him and you know he cooks from the heart.
After I read the last page I felt like I could have a beer and a few tacos with Mr. Centeno.
Thank you NetGalley, Josef Centeno, Betty Hallock, and Chronicle Books for an advance copy.
May 14, 2020
It may be that it is the pandemic that has made this book such a hit at our house. We have always loved chili peppers in our kitchen and we had a goodly supply of them before we picked this book up, but needless to day, a trip to the Mexican grocery was a necessary early step in getting really in to this book. We sent our youngest to brave the COVID world, wearing a mask and having a pocketful of hand sanitizer. There were almost no shoppers, a very helpful clerk, and an odyssey of fresh and dried chilis to work with.
My spouse made the Amá spice mix, which almost made us abandon ship it was so pungent. Maybe do this outdoors if you can manage it. Then we plunged in. The Spanish rice and Borracho Beans are very easy to make and delicious. One of the early dishes was the Tumeric-Ginger Chicken Fajitas, which were both unusual and spectacularly delicious. We know we had a keeper and we did not look back. At this point we have made more than a quarter of the dishes and no end in sight.
My spouse made the Amá spice mix, which almost made us abandon ship it was so pungent. Maybe do this outdoors if you can manage it. Then we plunged in. The Spanish rice and Borracho Beans are very easy to make and delicious. One of the early dishes was the Tumeric-Ginger Chicken Fajitas, which were both unusual and spectacularly delicious. We know we had a keeper and we did not look back. At this point we have made more than a quarter of the dishes and no end in sight.
September 11, 2019
The recipes look to die for in the photographs, which are bright, colorful and can make you drool puddles. The recipes, however, for me, are too much. They call for so many ingredients that for one, I don't keep in the house and if I did, I would waste so much money because I would never use them again. This was not for me, but I am sure someone else would enjoy it.
#Texmex #Netgalley
#Texmex #Netgalley
September 30, 2019
Amá
A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen
by Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock
I miss Mexican food and do my best to make it here in Lebanon. I learned to make authentic tortillas from a woman in Saudi Arabia, learned to make salsa from a Mexican cookbook to serve to an embassy friend missing home and I have enjoyed reading and eating food from south of the border for years. I have more than one Mexican and Tex-Mex cookbook in my collection but NONE of them have the varied recipes using so many tasty ingredients as this one does. In fact, as I began reading I immediately wrote to my daughter (a foodie) to tell her about this book suggesting that she should see if she can find it. Sadly I won’t be able to find all of the ingredients where I live BUT I might be able to find substitutions and approximate the recipes. I certainly hope so. In addition to the recipes there is a great deal of family history that enriches this book. We learn of generations past that the author remembers fondly while sharing their recipes and history.
What I liked:
* The history of the author, his restaurants and family’s
* The ease of reading the recipes and feeling I could recreate the recipes if the ingredients were available
* The flavors that popped in my mind as I read through the book
* Being reminded of home and eating out decades ago in Los Angeles
* Seeing twists on recipes I make now or have made in the past using Centeno’s family seasonings and recipes
Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I buy it for myself or others? Yes
Which recipes would I want to try first? Perhaps some of the salsas, desserts and mixed drinks and I have to say I am fascinated by the idea of using beer in cooking beans.
Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen
by Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock
I miss Mexican food and do my best to make it here in Lebanon. I learned to make authentic tortillas from a woman in Saudi Arabia, learned to make salsa from a Mexican cookbook to serve to an embassy friend missing home and I have enjoyed reading and eating food from south of the border for years. I have more than one Mexican and Tex-Mex cookbook in my collection but NONE of them have the varied recipes using so many tasty ingredients as this one does. In fact, as I began reading I immediately wrote to my daughter (a foodie) to tell her about this book suggesting that she should see if she can find it. Sadly I won’t be able to find all of the ingredients where I live BUT I might be able to find substitutions and approximate the recipes. I certainly hope so. In addition to the recipes there is a great deal of family history that enriches this book. We learn of generations past that the author remembers fondly while sharing their recipes and history.
What I liked:
* The history of the author, his restaurants and family’s
* The ease of reading the recipes and feeling I could recreate the recipes if the ingredients were available
* The flavors that popped in my mind as I read through the book
* Being reminded of home and eating out decades ago in Los Angeles
* Seeing twists on recipes I make now or have made in the past using Centeno’s family seasonings and recipes
Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I buy it for myself or others? Yes
Which recipes would I want to try first? Perhaps some of the salsas, desserts and mixed drinks and I have to say I am fascinated by the idea of using beer in cooking beans.
Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
December 15, 2023
good recipes and not too complicated
September 10, 2019
This Tex-Mex cookbook did not really win me over.
On the plus side, the photographs look delicious and I would happily try any recipe from this book that someone cooked for me. The dishes are very much from scratch and use a lot of spice and peppers. There is a fried chicken recipe I’m dying to taste, and a chicken fried steak recipe which you rarely see in cookbooks these days.
On the minus side, these dishes are from scratch. The ingredient lists are long, and although mostly consisting of spices, there are also several different chiles and peppers required that are not always easy to obtain. I have had issues finding some of these peppers even living in a big city with easy access to Mexican supermarkets. It would have been very helpful to have a list of substitutions and/or similar types of peppers for options so a cook who is unfamiliar with the types (or has no access to them) could still attempt a particular recipe.
Several recipes also take a great deal of time to create, and it would be helpful if time estimates were provided for cooks who are unfamiliar with this type of cooking. Most recipes call for many pots and pans, and several burners going at once. Small kitchen operators should be careful.
That said, if you are a cook who is experienced in Tex-Mex or Latin cooking and are looking for a gorgeous cookbook with from-scratch recipes, I would say this is for you. My comments are not serious complaints, only warnings that this book is not for beginners and requires access to some possibly hard to get ingredients. Every single photo in the book looks scrumptious (wait until you see the desserts!) but the time involved in cooking these dishes – not to mention the clean up from all the pots and pans – makes this a no for my cookbook shelf. But if someone else wants to cook these recipes and have me over for a meal, I will be there with bells on.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC given in exchange for an honest review.
On the plus side, the photographs look delicious and I would happily try any recipe from this book that someone cooked for me. The dishes are very much from scratch and use a lot of spice and peppers. There is a fried chicken recipe I’m dying to taste, and a chicken fried steak recipe which you rarely see in cookbooks these days.
On the minus side, these dishes are from scratch. The ingredient lists are long, and although mostly consisting of spices, there are also several different chiles and peppers required that are not always easy to obtain. I have had issues finding some of these peppers even living in a big city with easy access to Mexican supermarkets. It would have been very helpful to have a list of substitutions and/or similar types of peppers for options so a cook who is unfamiliar with the types (or has no access to them) could still attempt a particular recipe.
Several recipes also take a great deal of time to create, and it would be helpful if time estimates were provided for cooks who are unfamiliar with this type of cooking. Most recipes call for many pots and pans, and several burners going at once. Small kitchen operators should be careful.
That said, if you are a cook who is experienced in Tex-Mex or Latin cooking and are looking for a gorgeous cookbook with from-scratch recipes, I would say this is for you. My comments are not serious complaints, only warnings that this book is not for beginners and requires access to some possibly hard to get ingredients. Every single photo in the book looks scrumptious (wait until you see the desserts!) but the time involved in cooking these dishes – not to mention the clean up from all the pots and pans – makes this a no for my cookbook shelf. But if someone else wants to cook these recipes and have me over for a meal, I will be there with bells on.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC given in exchange for an honest review.
July 8, 2019
I was given an ARC PDF of Ama in exchange for a candid review.
I truly enjoyed this cookbook. The photographs are very crisp and beautiful. The recipes and instructions are easy to follow and clear. I thought it was a very sweet idea to include the mentions from TX to family throughout the book for certain recipes and/or ingredients. I am definitely planning on trying out some of these recipes!
I truly enjoyed this cookbook. The photographs are very crisp and beautiful. The recipes and instructions are easy to follow and clear. I thought it was a very sweet idea to include the mentions from TX to family throughout the book for certain recipes and/or ingredients. I am definitely planning on trying out some of these recipes!
July 11, 2019
Ohhh my goodness. This cookbook is a foodie's dream!! Not only are the photos mouth watering, but the instructions and recipes are perfection. I really enjoyed reading through each piece and have a new motivation for cooking! Who's going to win at family dinner? This girl!
August 1, 2019
Having lived in the southwest for a large part of our relationship, one of the things my other half and I miss the most now that we live back in New England is the food. I was so thrilled to find this cookbook because it has so many of the foods we knew and loved when we lived out that way.
The book is based on recipes from Bar Ama's menu, "a neighborhood restaurant— a small, noisy, friendly Tex-Mex joint, not in Texas but in the center of downtown Los Angeles, next to an alley off of Fourth Street." The recipes are inspired by the owner's Ama's recipes. There's family tradition and history explained, which makes the entire cookbook all that much more fun and interesting.
Anyone who reads my cookbook reviews regularly knows that I often give/take stars based on a few specific checklist points. This book does not have nutritional breakdowns, so that would normally get it a -1 star from me; however, that is countered by the family history and the photographs that make every single recipe look mouth watering. I'm excited to try out so many recipes in this cookbook.
The book is based on recipes from Bar Ama's menu, "a neighborhood restaurant— a small, noisy, friendly Tex-Mex joint, not in Texas but in the center of downtown Los Angeles, next to an alley off of Fourth Street." The recipes are inspired by the owner's Ama's recipes. There's family tradition and history explained, which makes the entire cookbook all that much more fun and interesting.
Anyone who reads my cookbook reviews regularly knows that I often give/take stars based on a few specific checklist points. This book does not have nutritional breakdowns, so that would normally get it a -1 star from me; however, that is countered by the family history and the photographs that make every single recipe look mouth watering. I'm excited to try out so many recipes in this cookbook.
July 29, 2019
I am so hungry right now!
I love Mexican food but here in the UK it's pretty limited so the best thing is to make it yourself. This book is a bit of a revelation, I had no idea that Tex-Mex was influenced from so many different places. The stories about the food are really interesting, especially the little reminiscences by the authors.
The pictures look great, I really like to see what a dish is supposed to look like and the instructions are clear and straightforward.
I want to get right to the kitchen and get cooking. There is one minor issue though and that is some of the ingredients may not be easy to get hold of here in England. However, this is what google was invented for - sourcing alternatives or ordering from specialists.
I love Mexican food but here in the UK it's pretty limited so the best thing is to make it yourself. This book is a bit of a revelation, I had no idea that Tex-Mex was influenced from so many different places. The stories about the food are really interesting, especially the little reminiscences by the authors.
The pictures look great, I really like to see what a dish is supposed to look like and the instructions are clear and straightforward.
I want to get right to the kitchen and get cooking. There is one minor issue though and that is some of the ingredients may not be easy to get hold of here in England. However, this is what google was invented for - sourcing alternatives or ordering from specialists.
August 21, 2019
Thank you to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved, loved, loved this cookbook! Well structured chapters, drop-dead gorgeous photos, do-able recipes with some more complex dishes as well, and interspersed with wonderful stories and personal history of the author's family, which shaped his view of food and cooking. I am enormously sad that I live so far from the author's restaurant - and that I live in a country that abhors spicy food, so I am going to find it difficult to get the ingredients I need... but this book has me excited to start cooking!
I loved, loved, loved this cookbook! Well structured chapters, drop-dead gorgeous photos, do-able recipes with some more complex dishes as well, and interspersed with wonderful stories and personal history of the author's family, which shaped his view of food and cooking. I am enormously sad that I live so far from the author's restaurant - and that I live in a country that abhors spicy food, so I am going to find it difficult to get the ingredients I need... but this book has me excited to start cooking!
September 20, 2019
Can we all take a moment to appreciate how ridiculously gorgeous this book is?! The cover of this book immediately grabbed my attention and it’s just as stunning on the inside. The food photography is so well done, everything looks appetizing. Plus, it’s honestly designed really well, too. The pages are super clean and consistent.
The recipes themselves are very straightforward. And none of them seemed overly complicated, even the desserts. Which I greatly appreciated. As far as ingredients go, there are definitely some that are a bit difficult to find in my local tiny grocery store. But the majority of them were easy to grab. Definitely recommend this cook book.
The recipes themselves are very straightforward. And none of them seemed overly complicated, even the desserts. Which I greatly appreciated. As far as ingredients go, there are definitely some that are a bit difficult to find in my local tiny grocery store. But the majority of them were easy to grab. Definitely recommend this cook book.
July 16, 2019
As a Texan, I agree with Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock that "Tex- Mex isn't authentic. The only thing authentic about Tex-Mex is that it isn’t authentic: It evolves and adapts."
This cookbook is easy to follow with wonderful pictures are vibrant, colorful and you will make what to eat the food when you see them. I can wait to make the Mexican Sriracha, Ama spice mix, Grandma Alice's Chipotle chorizo, and Mom's Green enchiladas.
This cookbook is easy to follow with wonderful pictures are vibrant, colorful and you will make what to eat the food when you see them. I can wait to make the Mexican Sriracha, Ama spice mix, Grandma Alice's Chipotle chorizo, and Mom's Green enchiladas.
August 11, 2019
Ama is a great cookbook! The recipes are delicious (I made the flour tortillas, Carne Guisada, and borracho bean dip)! The photographs are beautiful, and the recipes are well written. I live in Chicago, so the ingredients are all easily found here in any market. My one misgiving is that I hate that the recipe title is vertical rather than horizontal. I would recommend this to my friends and family.
February 7, 2020
This was the choice for cookbook club which, as a Texan, made me incredibly happy. That said, it was not quite Tex-Mex as I know it. Some of the recipes were familiar, yes, but it is a chef who grew up in San Antonio and now has a restaurant in Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles aspect shows in many of the recipes. I still liked the stories, and the recipes that were made tasted delicious, but when it says it's a modern approach, it does mean it.
May 3, 2020
Pretty photography and enticing recipes. Some of the most appealing recipes have ingredients that are out of reach for me, and a large proportion of the meat dishes unfortunately have chiles - which I hate the taste of, but understand is a key part of tex-mex. There IS a table of contents with page numbers for each recipe at the beginning of the book, which is the most important thing for a cookbook IMO. Flavor text usually details how the dish is served or its origins, which is nice.
January 1, 2025
So a big thing is availability. Basically I got this book specifically for the front cover and you cannot do it without fresh masa. Which unfortunately I cannot get. Yes I dinged a full star for that. That’s a major choice for a front image that incentivizes someone to read your book. The fact that it’s not an easy to get item and not something easy ordered (fresh masa needs to be used within 24 hours of having been made) I think it could have been better formatted for kindle
September 25, 2019
A good Tex Mex cookbook with some delicious recipes. I wish more of the recipes had accompanying pictures as I am much more likely to try those that do.
A great addition to my cookbook library. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an unbiased review.
A great addition to my cookbook library. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an unbiased review.
November 14, 2019
Being fairly familiar with Tex-Mex food, Ama kinda blew my mind. The book came across as a labor of love, an ode to family and to the passion of culture and food (all in my sweet spot!). The photos are beautiful, the book well laid-out and above all the recipes (though some a bit more time consuming than I'd prefer) are so different than my go-to dinners; exactly what I needed.
December 30, 2019
Legit from beginning to end. More involved than some, but definitely seem worth the effort. I buy Cascabels every year for chili but never get through them all, so the cascabel pimento cheese which is then used for Chiles rellenos looks awesome. The Mexican salmorejo is going in my rotation too. Lots of good ones here!
August 2, 2020
The recipes in this collection span the culinary spectrum from home cooking to special occasion show stoppers. The accompanying photos are Insta worthy. But a number of the spices and some of the other ingredients used on the regular will likely prove prohibitively difficult to acquire for many of middle America’s home cooks.
October 13, 2020
If you were a lover of chilies, spicy food, etc, then this is the book for you!! I don’t know how spicy everything is, but I do know that a lot of these recipes call for different varieties of chilies and a smattering of ingredients I don’t regularly keep in my pantry. This book wasn’t for me, but it wasn’t a bad recipe book!
August 6, 2019
In Amá, Centeno, owner of Bar Amá, a neighborhood restaurant in downtown Los Angeles shares a variety of dishes inspired by his Mexican roots.
The food dishes range from home to upscale. Breakfast features twists such as Huevos rancheros, Migas, and Carne guisada. His family recipes which are also served in Bar Amá include Mama Grande’s Chicken Soup, Grandma Alice’s Chorizo and Queso Asadero; Amá’s Carrot and Potato Sofrito Enchiladas and Mom’s Green Enchiladas.
There’s also the author’s Tex-mex version of Caesar salad and some street delicacies such as the Mexican street corn (sautéed with cotija, mushrooms’ and bacon).
A chapter is devoted to savory bites you’ll find at Bar Amá such as Queso and Vegan Cashew Queso, Tortilla chips, Nachos, and Bar Amá’s guacamole. Cocktail highlights include the author’s version of Amá margarita, The Nacho, (so named after an adult film star named Nacho Vidal, who is a fan of Nachos), La Pina, and Snake’s Blood.
Some extras include Mama Hallock’s Pecan Pie, Vanilla Bean semifreedo with dulce de leche (a version of vanilla ice cream made at Bar Amá; Tex-Leches Chocolate-coconut cake and Capirotada, a Mexican bread pudding served at Lent.
Accompanied by enticing photos, this book is sure to inspire home cooks to give these recipes a try.
Thank you to the authors, NetGalley, and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The food dishes range from home to upscale. Breakfast features twists such as Huevos rancheros, Migas, and Carne guisada. His family recipes which are also served in Bar Amá include Mama Grande’s Chicken Soup, Grandma Alice’s Chorizo and Queso Asadero; Amá’s Carrot and Potato Sofrito Enchiladas and Mom’s Green Enchiladas.
There’s also the author’s Tex-mex version of Caesar salad and some street delicacies such as the Mexican street corn (sautéed with cotija, mushrooms’ and bacon).
A chapter is devoted to savory bites you’ll find at Bar Amá such as Queso and Vegan Cashew Queso, Tortilla chips, Nachos, and Bar Amá’s guacamole. Cocktail highlights include the author’s version of Amá margarita, The Nacho, (so named after an adult film star named Nacho Vidal, who is a fan of Nachos), La Pina, and Snake’s Blood.
Some extras include Mama Hallock’s Pecan Pie, Vanilla Bean semifreedo with dulce de leche (a version of vanilla ice cream made at Bar Amá; Tex-Leches Chocolate-coconut cake and Capirotada, a Mexican bread pudding served at Lent.
Accompanied by enticing photos, this book is sure to inspire home cooks to give these recipes a try.
Thank you to the authors, NetGalley, and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 13, 2019
Gorgeous cookbook with some great recipes. Made the carne guisada and was enchanted with the result. It occasionally asks for hard to find ingredients (especially where I live in Canada), but some little substitutions never hurt nobody.
(Read a review copy on NetGalley.)
(Read a review copy on NetGalley.)
July 23, 2021
I made five recipes in here, and I was thoroughly converted. This does lose some points for some strange organization within the chapters, but I really loved the queso, chorizo, and guacamole recipes in particular. I'm looking forward to spending more time with this book.
August 23, 2019
Love this book and have enjoyed trying these recipes. My family absolutely adores them. We will be buying copies for family and friends as part of our Christmas gift.
September 3, 2019
I cannot wait to cook from this (or, more accurately, my partner!) - these tex mex recipes look fresh and definitely flavoursome.
September 16, 2019
This is a solid...meh! It was ok but not much in the original.
January 6, 2020
I want to make a bunch of these recipes. But I probably won't buy the book (and therefore actually make them).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews