Blanche Z. De Baralt.

Cuban Cookery. Gastronomic Secrets of the Tropics, with an Appendix on Cuban Drinks.

Havana, Cuba: Molina & Cia, 1931.

Octavo, 158 pages. Illustrated with line drawings by Conrado Massaguer. A later but early edition of the first Cuban cookbook printed in English. De Baralt was the American wife of a Cuban doctor who moved to Havana around the turn of the century. She clearly felt at home there, as she refers to Cuban food as "our" cuisine throughout. She also exhibits a notable understanding of other world cuisines in her introduction, in which she tries to locate Cuban cooking relative to others - favorably of course. The book contains an appendix of fifty-three cocktails and refrescos, including what is the first printed recipe for a Cuban mojito, here called a 'Cuban Mojo'. The mojito is widely considered to have appeared and become popular in Cuba in the 1920s, but this is its first appearance in print. Tiny cut to the spine, otherwise a fine copy in publisher's black cloth with a printed red pasted down label to the front board. [OCLC locates 7 copies].

Rum Cocktail (Cuban Mojo)In medium size glass put :One teaspoonful sugarJuice and rind of a green limeSprig of mintOne jigger Bacardi RumSeveral pieces of iceFill glass with soda water.Serve with a long spoon

Price: $900.00