Fany Gerson - My sweet Mexico: recipes for authentic pastries, breads, candies, beverages, and frozen treats

Some of the recipes in this book include raw eggs. When this ingredient is consumed raw, there is always the risk that bacteria, which is killed by proper cooking, may be present. For this reason, when serving this ingredient raw, always buy certified salmonella-free eggs available from a reliable grocer and store them in the refrigerator until they are used. Because of the health risks associated with the consumption of bacteria that can be present in raw eggs, this ingredient should not be consumed by infants, small children, pregnant women, the elderly, or any persons who may be immunocompromised.

Copyright 2010 by Fany Gerson
Photographs copyright 2010 by Ed Anderson

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gerson, Fany.
My sweet Mexico : recipes for authentic breads, pastries, candies,
beverages, and frozen treats / Fany Gerson. 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: The first cookbook to present authentic versions of beloved Mexican sweets plus a creative selection of new recipes rooted in traditional flavors and ingredientsProvided by publisher.
1. DessertsMexico. 2. Cookery, Mexican. I. Title.
TX773.G3823 2010
641.5972dc22
2010014469

eISBN: 978-1-60774-236-4

v3.1

A mi pa por las alas

When I began to do research, I promised myself I would devote a section in one of my notebooks to recording the names of all the people I needed to thank. Not only did I not follow through on my own promise, but I also quickly realized I would need several notebooks to keep track of everyone.

Although the specific idea for this cookbook was planted a few years ago, my love for Mexican sweets began at a very early age. I want to thank my mother for teaching me as a child to appreciate the value in homemade food; she imparted her view of it as an art as well as showing me the enormous diversity we have.

I need to thank my sister, Yaelita, for always being my guinea pig and for being the person I imagined by my side while writing the book. To my brother, Jaisi Fus, for being a continuous source of inspiration and for never relinquishing his self-appointed personal cheerleader status.

The two most instrumental people to this bookwho were truly vital to it coming to passare my dad and Manolo. Words cannot begin to express my enormous appreciation. They both helped me in so many waysits not that they dont deserve an individual acknowledgment, but rather that my gratitude is so immense that I wanted to thank them jointly. They made this book what it is by advising me as I organized my research strategy, housed me and my cats, encouraged me, pushed me, guided me, believed in me, and put up with a lot of samples and sticky floors! But most of all, I am thankful for their love, which has been present at all timeseven when it forced me to dig deep to prove that this was my art.

This book is truly a collaboration involving friends, family, colleagues, craftsmen, strangers, and many, many people who love food as much as I do. I am very appreciative for their love and support.

I need to thank Lisa Queen, my agent, for pushing me to write the book I always dreamed of, for believing in me since the very beginning, and for her friendship. A big thanks to Eleanor Jackson who helped get things in order to submit the proposal and for her enthusiasm in the project.

If I created a publisher and hand-picked all of the people to collaborate with during the production of this book, I could never in my dreams have devised a better one than Ten Speed Press. Lorena Jones, although no longer part of Ten Speed, believed in the importance and passion of the book and I will always be grateful to her.

The uncanny patience that my editor, Melissa Moore, has had with medealing with my endless minute questions and my obsessive insistence to understand thingscombined with her sensibility to Mexican food culture made her a perfect match as my editor. I feel very fortunate to have worked with her for many reasons and very happy to know that a friendship blossomed from the experience.

I also want to thank designer Katy Brown for putting all of the pieces together in such a lovely manner; I never imagined my book would look so good. And to photographer Ed Anderson, for helping me capture the essence of Mexican sweets and the people in such a beautiful and real way, as well as his patience in adapting to some unusual and unplanned travel circumstances. To everyone else at Ten Speed, my deepest gratitude for believing in the book as much as I do and for helping me make it happen.

There are many friends, family members, and colleagues that helped me along the way: some helped by guiding me or recommending a person or a place, others by showing me around and even giving me a place to sleep during my travels. I thank them all dearly but want to especially thank Roberto and Marco for letting me use their kitchen and their taste buds, for their input and ideas, but most of all for their unconditional support and love. They were there from the very beginning and even helped me guide my ideasit has not gone unnoticed. I look forward to many more years of good food and friendship.

Shelley Wiseman will never know how much her advice on the process of recipe testing helped me out, but I hope to repay the favor someday! Jose Luis Curiel helped me obtain and understand many of the recipes that were hard to find and I will never forget the passion and knowledge he so generously shared with me.

Josefina is another dear friend and colleague that I need to thank for her support, advice, generosity, and introduction to her family, which helped enormously with many aspects of the book and beyond, as we have now become friends as well.

My friend Alex has looked out for me since I moved to New York a decade ago, always believing in me and the importance of this book. She has been a sort of guardian angelI admire her professionally and personally, but most of all I feel fortunate to have her in my life.

Thierry and Maya are some of the most openhanded people Ive met and they made the development of many of the recipes in this book possible. I am indebted to them and truly value their continuous encouragement.

There are always those behind the scenes people that make things happen without others ever knowing. In this case, I must thank Dado because I dont think I wouldve found the strength I needed to do the book without him.