Book excerpt: This indispensable cookbook, an instant classic when first published in 1989, is now back in print with a brand-new introduction from the most celebrated authority on Mexican cooking, Diana Kennedy. The culmination of more than fifty years of living, traveling, and cooking in Mexico, The Art of Mexican Cooking is the ultimate guide to creating authentic Mexican food in your own kitchen, with more than 200 beloved recipes as well as evocative illustrations. The dishes included, favorites from all the regions of Mexico, range from sophisticated to pure and simple, but they all share an intrinsic depth of taste. Aficionados will go to great lengths to duplicate the authentic dishes (and Kennedy tells them exactly how), but here too is a wealth of less complicated recipes for the casual cook in search of the unmistakable flavors of a bold cuisine. Kennedy shares the secrets of true Mexican flavor: balancing the piquant taste of chiles with a little salt and acid, for instance, or charring them to round out their flavor; broiling tomatoes to bring out their character, or adding cumin for a light accent. By using Kennedy’s kitchen wisdom and advice, and carefully selecting produce that is now readily available in most American markets, cooks with an appetite for Mexican cuisine–and Kennedy devotees old and new–can at last serve and enjoy real Mexican food. “This is the ultimate in Mexican cooking from the world’s leading authority.” —Paula Wolfert, author of The Cooking of South-West France