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.

I cannot wait to cook from this (or, more accurately, my partner!) - these tex mex recipes look fresh and definitely flavoursome.

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.

I can't wait to try the recipe for "Mom's Rice". I love cookbooks like this that combine restaurant food and homey favorites. The whole book was a great mix of Tex Mex recipes and twists on old classics. I really enjoyed the headnotes, they were informative and conversational.

This book is extremely interesting. I love that it is written in two languages and the overall concept is beautiful. The recipes are excellent and I am glad to have new meals in my arsenal especially to host dinner parties. The only warning I would give people is these are not for the new cook. Some knowledge and comfortability in the kitchen is required.

This is a beautiful Tex-Mex cookbook which skirts the line between Tex-Mex and even simply Tex food sometimes (the chicken fried steak is a great example here). I was very impressed by the assortment of recipes and tantalizing photos. The chapter on nachos and other appetizer/snack items is probably my favorite in the whole book (I would have maybe even moved it to the beginning of the book instead of nearly the end)! I can envision many football Sunday parties with a plethora of dishes from that chapter in particular. This would be a great cookbook for anyone who enjoys Tex-Mex food, but I would especially recommend this for someone who can access Latin American markets for some of the ingredients, although in this day and age most can be ordered online. Definitely two thumbs up.

Love the pictures that accompany the recipes, wish there had been more pictures to accompany more of the recipes. Every looks really tasty and uses fresh ingredients.

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!

Thank you to Chronicle Books and Netgalley for a copy of Ama by Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock for review.

I am not sure I have ever eaten real Tex-Mex after flipping through this cookbook for review! All the recipes sound so interesting and complex, I can't wait to try them. Some of ingredients were not familiar with me so this might not be a cookbook I can just pick up for weekday cooking for my family but it would be great for special dinners that I can plan in advance and maybe source some of the more specialized ingredients.

The pictures in this book are truly mouthwatering though so I am excited to see if I can create some of these recipes in my own kitchen in Canada!

Um Hello! YUM! This book was mouth watering. I live in Texas, I love mexican food. This is my cookbook. Even though I have adopted the low carb lifestyle, every recipe in this delicious book will make a hit with the family and on cheat night. I love a book with pictures so I can visualize what it is I am about to consume. I can not wait to try out all of these recipes.

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in return for my honest review.

Although I now live in the Midwest, I spent many of my formative years in Texas - and I miss my Tex-Mex!!! Midwesterners are averse to s[icy cooking so it is hard to find any decent Mexican or Tex-Mex cooking 'round here. so I love having all of the necessary recipes to make my favorite Tex-Mex recipes in Ama. The recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients easy to source and my family loves the food. What more could you want?

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.

Fantastic not only because of the recipes but also due to the stories. I like it very much, that each recipe comes with a little introduction and very useful tips on preparation, substitution, additions and little tweaks.
Beautiful photos and I like the way the recipes are sorted very much. Very delightful.

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.

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.

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 noticed the level of detail that went into this cookbook. I found myself engrossed in the many flavorful recipes that I wanted to make for myself and just not my family. Also, I found the history that was centered around the pictures of the dishes, both heartwarming and engaging. This is one of the best cookbooks that I read thus far. I can express how the level of detail provided the extra elegance to an already excellent book of exciting dishes! Kudos.

I seriously can't wait to try these recipes. They are all your typical Tex-Mex favorites but he added his flair and it looks delicious. There are some adorable little family stories mixed in to boot. I will definitely be recommending this one for the library to purchase and may even add a hard copy to my own home kitchen if these recipes pan out the way I hope they will.

Outstanding.

This is a fantastic showcase of what I might call “elevated Tex Mex cuisine.”

I’m hesitant to refer to at as merely, a cookbook, because it’s so visually exceptional, from the food photography to the design and layout.

But the book isn’t just a pretty face. My husband and I tested several recipes last night, and were delighted to find that we loved every one that we tried. The roasted Asian squash, lobster taquitos, and Mom’s green enchiladas were notable standouts. Looking forward to testing many, many more of these.

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.