University Press
of Florida's
book of the month
December 1998
The Christmas Eve Cookbook
With Tales of Nochebuena and Chanukah
By Ferdie Pacheco and Luisita Sevilla Pacheco
click here to read the first story, The Incredible Nochebuena Journey of Benito Juarez!
Take a look at the table of contents or read the introduction to this great book!
( Click here to download Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) Reader)
In this illustrated collection of over 200 recipes and holiday stories, Ferdie Pacheco and Luisita Sevilla Pacheco have cooked up a holiday melting pot of immigrant lore and cuisine in America.
"A double bargain since it
includes both the history of an elegant and popular family
restaurant and 178 recipes. . . .
A must-read for all food and history lovers."--Florida
Living
In this beautifully illustrated collection of over 200 recipes and more than 25 holiday stories, Ferdie Pacheco and Luisita Sevilla Pacheco create a holiday melting pot of immigrant lore and cuisine in America.
The book begins in Ybor City, where Ferdie Pacheco grew up in the 1930s and '40s, an immigrant utopia of Cubans, Spaniards, Jews, and Italians in Tampa, Florida. Pacheco's own Latin heritage sets the stage for the book's focus on Christmas Eve, or Nochebuena--for Latin families often the biggest feast day of the season, when friends and family sit around a table laden with traditional dishes, telling stories that grow more colorful each year.
As the Pachecos know, however, the beauty of American holiday celebrations is their rich diversity, and so they range well beyond Ybor City, collecting recipes and stories--old and new--from Cuban, Spanish, Italian, Sicilian, Mexican, and Jewish friends around the country.
A master story-teller, Pacheco recounts tales that are by turns hilarious, moving, and inspiring. Known to many as "The Fight Doctor," Pacheco includes a delightful Nochebuena story about his daughter Tina and Muhammad Ali.
Recipes are organized by nationality and type of food, including appetizers, salads, gravies and sauces, soups and stews, meats, game, seafood, pasta and dumpling dishes, rice and bean dishes, tamales and chili, vegetables, jellies, desserts, and drinks.
Together these recipes, stories, and Ferdie Pacheco's own wonderful illustrations remind us that while no two Christmas Eve or Chanukah celebrations in America are ever quite the same, they all have in common the love of good food and a good story. The Christmas Eve Cookbook offers enough of both to make the holidays last all year round.
Nochebuena storyteller Ferdie Pacheco, M.D., has worn the hats of family doctor (including a stint as Muhammad Ali’s personal physician), Emmy-award-winning TV boxing commentator, historian, artist, playwright, screenplay writer, and author of six books, three published with University Press of Florida:
Pacheco’s Art of Ybor City , 1997
The Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook with Adela Hernandez Gonzmart, 1995)
Ybor City Chronicles, 1994
and Fight Doctor, View From the Corner, and Renegade Lightning.
Nochebuena chef Luisita Sevilla Pacheco, formerly a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher of flamenco, is also a photographer (her work appears in Fight Doctor and View From the Corner) and a wonderful cook. She and her husband, Ferdie, live in Miami.
192 pp. 6 X 9.
9 black and white sketches, 22 b&w photos, index.
ISBN 0-8130-1624-x Cloth, $19.95
Shopping Cart Operations
For MasterCard/Visa holders, accumulate titles in the Shopping Cart and submit your order electronically.
