Nuevo Cocinero Americano en Forma de Dictionario.. by [Culinary History] [Cookery] Anonymous - 1858

Paris: Libreria de Rosa y Bouret, 1858. Early edition. Publisher's morocco stamped in blind with gilt to spine. All edges marbled. Marbled endpapers. Measuring 240 x 150mm and collating complete including hand-colored frontis and six plates to rear: [8], 1008, [12]. Some rubbing to extremities and joints cracked but holding. Occasional foxing or soiling, mostly confined to preliminary and terminal leaves or to margins; some soiling to closed text block. Small hole to pages 879-880 affecting two letters. Overall a surprisingly clean copy of a rare cookery that helped bring Mexican food to the capitol of haute cuisine. The three-volume first edition of 1831 (printed in Mexico) survives complete at 15 libraries while OCLC reports no holdings of this Paris edition. There are no complete copies of the first edition on the market, and no examples of the present in trade.

At its release in 1831, El Cocinero Mexicano became one of the most successful Mexican cookeries of the century. Touting the unique flavors of North American ingredients and recipes, it provided simple and approachable methods that invited cooks of all skill levels to engage (Universidad de Guadalajara). The fact that a revised and reorganized version -- Nuevo Cocinero Americano -- so quickly traveled across the Atlantic to be published in Paris speaks volumes. A massive compendium organized as a cooking dictionary, Nuevo Cocinero similarly encouraged small, medium, or large kitchens to introduce Mexican food into French households with the same seriousness and care as they would French cuisine. Investments such as this in not only preserving but also disseminating Mexican cookery around the world contributed to UNESCO's declaration that alongside traditional French gastronomy, Mexican food belongs "to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage" as a "cultural treasure worth preserving," and that Mexico has proven its commitment to creating "a long-term political environment that protects its cultural diversity and its indigenous cuisines" (NPR).