Much as I enjoyed my time in West Virginia and now here in New Jersey (ups and downs included), California will always be home to me. Granted, I identify a lot better with northern California (norcal) than I do with southern California, but the food diversity can’t be beaten on either end of the state!
I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Grand Central Market, but it’s definitely a place I’d like to visit! It looks and sounds like foodie heaven! It’s located in downtown LA and open 361 days a year from 7am to 10pm.
The Grand Central Market Cookbook: Cuisine and Culture from Downtown Los Angeles
By Adele Yellin and Kevin West
Genre: Food/Cooking
Pages: 256
The Grand Central Market Cookbook starts off with an introduction of the market and the cookbook portion is a culmination of recipes from all(!) the food vendors at the Grand Central Market. Some of the recipes have been adapted and/or reimagined to work in a home kitchen.
When I travel, I invariably plan my it around where I want to eat, and if I’m traveling with someone, we tend to break down the different places we’d like to hit up/split food from, so I really liked the “mix n’ match” approach you could take with this book!
It’s divided into the following chapters:
- Breakfast
- Tacos, Etc.
- Carbs
- Happy Hour
- Meat and Fish
- Veg
- Sweets
The breakfast section includes recipes for Yeasted Waffles (pictured above), Pan Dulce, Tumi (Turmeric Almond-Macadamia Milk), Smoked Salmon Latkes, Vitality Smoothies, Soju Bloody Marys, and several other delicious-lookin’ goodness.
Do you like the fact that there’s a whole section dedicated to tacos!? (We love our tacos, okay?) You can learn to make…
- Handmade corn or flour tortillas, gorditas, chips/tostadas, quesadillas…
- “All the Salsas” (they’re not kiddin’–this includes red, habanero, green, [cooked or uncooked], roasted tomato, salsa ranchera, salsa negra, pico de gallo, salsa morita, corn salsa, and avo puree)
- How to prepare all kinds of different meats (e.g. carne asada, carnitas, al pastor), chicken or duck flautas
- Vegan Crunch Avocado Tacos with corn salsa + chipotle “mayo”
- Spinach + Cheese Pupusas w/ curtido
- (etc.)
Carbs!!! As much time as I spend counseling my diabetic patients about limiting their carbohydrate intake…I adore carbs. This section includes recipes for Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles!), Curry Udon, Cold Smoky Ramen, Sticky Rice, Ancient Grains Bowl with Kombucha Dressing (pictured above)…
Happy Hour is all about the appetizers! Learn how to make Herb-Tahini Dip, Artichoke Hot “Wings” (pictured above), Oysters on a Cloud, Watermelon Slushy, Agua de Tuna, Spiked Beet-Sumac Soda…
The Meat + Fish section includes…Banh Mi Lamb Burgers(!!!), Poke(!!! this is what I’d eat for the rest of my life if I could only choose one thing–I’d likely die of mercury poisoning, but I would be happy?!), Tokyo-style Karaage Fried Chicken, Velvet Steak with Chimichurri, …
“Veg” is…you guessed it–the veggies! Learn how to make Ensalada Mixta (pictured above), Pressed Cucumber Salad, Drought Salad, Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad), Summer Vegetable Stew with Green Mole, Sauerkraut Salad, Roasted Butternut Squash with Dukkah…
…and what cookbook is complete without a dessert section? (heh… :D ) Learn how to make Salted Caramel Bread Pudding, Cinnamon Ice Cream, Mango Sorbet with Fresh Pineapple Sauce + Chile-Lime Salt (pictured below), Apple Focaccia, Horchata, Coconut-Lime Cocadas…
The recipes in this book include 3 different cuisines–Anglo-European/Mediterranean, Latino, and Asian (you can subdivide these even further if you’d like), and most of the recipes can be made using your everyday kitchen items. Each recipe includes a short intro, the ingredients + instructions, and the serving size.
Interspersed between the recipes, there are excerpts and interviews about the different food vendors that contributed to this book–I really liked reading about their food philosophies and how they got started! :] Food diversity was one of the things I missed the most prior to moving back to a coast once more, so you better believe I love this book! I can’t wait to try these recipes!
- Have you ever been to the Grand Central Market?
- What’s your favorite outdoor food market to visit?
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This sounds like a great place to visit! In Cincinnati, we have a place called Findlay Market that has great food. When I went to London last year, I went to Camden Market and I highly recommend going there too! Fun book – I like that it has features/interviews with the vendors.
-Lauren
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I’ve heard awesome things about the food scene in Cincinnati! Kinda sad that I didn’t get a chance to make it out there while I was living somewhat closer to there. :[ Food markets are so fun to explore!
I want some of those waffles!
My favorite outdoor markets are the local (i.e. small!) farmer’s markets. I’ve been to Pike’s Place and it was just way too crowded/chaotic to be any fun.
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Me too! *-* I need to try making em’!
I like exploring both, but definitely with you on the crowds–I’m not so much a fan of those so the smaller ones are extra awesome! :P
I’ve actually been to the Grand Central Market. One year we were running the LA Marathon and wanted to pick up some bananas and other pre-race food. The hotel we were staying at directed us, and we actually got a little lost, ended up walking through a half mile tunnel (scary!), then when we come out it was like we’d traveled to another culture. We kept walking, past bars that were playing live Mariachi music in the middle of the afternoon, until we finally came to the Grand Central Market. It was incredible! Especially for two people who were just looking for somewhere to buy bananas! Huge, with so many different sellers selling so many different things.I think this cookbook must be very interesting!
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That’s awesome that you’ve been there–I hope I get to visit it and explore/eat everything someday! :D Sorry to hear that you got lost initially, but hooray for accidental awesome discoveries? :D?
+ agreed! This cookbook is awesome! I want to make so many things in it, hahaha.
Farrah recently posted…The Grand Central Market Cookbook
You always find the most interesting cookbooks! If it has a whole section dedicated to tacos, it has to be a winner – right?
Kristy from Southern In Law recently posted…Recipe: Easy Salami Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
hahaha, that was my thought as well! :P
Farrah recently posted…The Grand Central Market Cookbook
This looks delish!!! Love the vibrant and fun colors :)
Me too! :]!
Farrah recently posted…The Grand Central Market Cookbook
I love paging through cookbooks so thank you for giving me an inside look at this one! I could go to a bookstore and spend hours there just browsing!
Meeeee toooo! Then I wanna make all the edible things in the world, hahaha. :P
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