Book Review : “Flavors of Belize, the Cookbook”

“Flavors of Belize: The Cookbook” presents over 120 recipes spanning the cultures of Belize.  From British to Lebanese to Garifunn, they are all here.  Some of Belize’s most renowned chefs and cooks submitted recipes to this project.  These folks range from the classically trained chefs to ones that learned to cook only in their mother kitchen.   This diversity brings out an outstanding variety of gastronomic offerings.

Throughout the book care was taken to present the recipes with clear descriptions and directions so that they can be produced in any home kitchen.  The first thing I made was the guacamole.  My wife has a real passion for good guacamole and she gave it her approval.  After the success of the guacamole, I moved on to pork chops with pineapple salsa.  Nice clear directions made the salsa easy to make.  I made both of the versions, one with jalapenos peppers and one without for my children.   The salsa went well with the grilled chops.  My picky children even ate the pork chops covered in the salsa.  The last dish I fixed was the lobster and avocado salad from the red ginger restaurant on Ambergris Caye.  My wife and I were able to make an entire meal out of this.  The recipe is fairly complex but it really shows how clear and well written the directions are.

The last section of the book details the contributors and their restaurants.  Short paragraphs detail each chef or cook and the cuisine they present.   This is an excellent source for planning where to eat if you are traveling to Belize.   This cookbook is an excellent trip through the culinary culture of Belize.

Disclosure: A free copy of this cookbook was given to a volunteer with the expectation that they would write a fair and honest review of it.