Daynah’s Review: Disney Encanto: The Official Cookbook

Disney Encanto: The Official Cookbook
Recipes by Patricia McCausland-Gallo
Written by Susana Illera Martinez

Food heals the heart and soul, and in some cases, it heals bee stings too! Maribel’s mother spent a lot of time in the kitchen, cooking delicious meals for the family, especially for her accident-prone husband. She can heal you with a meal, her recipes are remedies, for real! She was not the only one that enjoys cooking delicious food in the family. Mirabel and the Familia Madrigal enjoyed spending time in the preparing meals together as well. Join them in the kitchen with this official cookbook, featuring delicious authentic Colombian dishes inspired by Disney’s Encanto!

“Encanto: The Official Cookbook” celebrates the cuisine of Colombia with more than 70 dishes from the enchanted world of Encanto! There is a variety of delicious ingredients that contribute to Colombia’s diverse cuisine, ranging from very fragrant spices to tropical fruits and local stables.

For someone like me who is not familiar with Colombian dishes, I found the “Ingredients Guide” at the beginning of the book extremely helpful. This makes the cookbook very inviting to all, and learning about all the different types of ingredients was a wonderful experience. Achiote oil, Ají dulce (small peppers), and culantro (spiny cilantro) were some of the new ingredients this book introduced me to.

The pages of this deluxe cookbook are filled with magically tasty mains, appetizers, and desserts inspired by La Casita and is divided into 9 chapters, with about 7-12 recipes in each:

• Chapter 1: Seasonings, Salsas, and Foundation Recipes
  One thing you will learn about Colombian food is the abundance of flavors it has! This whole chapter is dedicated to seasonings, salsas, and other foundation recipes that will accompany other recipes throughout the book. The two recipes that are popular in my household are “Enchanting Scrambled Eggs” and “Uno, Dos, Tres Avocadoes Spread” which both take about 25 minutes to prepare and cook.
• Chapter 2: Amasijos, Bread, Breakfast, and Snacks
  Amasijos are non-yeasted bready foods that evolved from the convergence of European baking and native flatbreads. The arepa is a good example of one. This is a cross between a tortilla and a pancake that’s become the nation’s signature snack. Recipes in this chapter include various corn arepas, sweet rolls, fritters, and baked snacks.
• Chapter 3: Soups and Stews
  This chapter has recipes for some delicious comfort food. The most unique recipe in this chapter is the “Enchanted Coconut Seafood Chowder” which is easy to make and takes two hours to prepare and cook.
• Chapter 4: Pork, Beef, and Poultry
  Chicharrones, the famous Colombian Friend Pork Belly dish, are perfectly crispy and crunchy fitters and a magical dish.
• Chapter 5: Seafood
  Colombians have access to both the Pacific Coast and the Caribbean, so there are ample recipes for seafood dishes. The recipes in this chapter are absolutely appetizing and highly recommended if you have access to fresh seafood.
• Chapter 6: Rice
  Who knew there were so many ways to cook rice? Whether you want savory or sweet, there’s a recipe for it! “Caribbean Starlight Seafood Rice (Arroz con mariscos)” is a great dish for seafood lovers as ingredients include shrimp, calamari, octopus, and clams. For those with a sweet tooth, the “Dazzling White Coconut Rice (arroz blanco con coco)” is a fun treat with uses only 4 ingredients – rice, sugar, salt, and coconut milk.
• Chapter 7: Side Dishes
  Compliment the main dish with a few side dishes! There are recipes for 12 side dishes to enhance your Colombian dining experience. “Spilled Creamy Potatoes” also called Papas chorreadas is an easy and classic dish from Colombia.
• Chapter 8: Sweets
  From meringues to cookies and pudding to custard delights, this chapter contains 11 recipes for mouth-watering sweets and desserts.
• Chapter 9: Drinks and Fruits
  A meal is not complete without a tasty drink or healthy treat! This chapter features 12 different beverage and fruit recipes that will surely tickle your taste buds. The “Heartwarming Cocoa Hug” recipes is perfect for chilly mornings. It’s a traditional drink where sweetened chocolate squares are dissolved into heated milk and mixed with a molinillo (wooden whisk).

Overview

Throughout the book you will find stunning full-color food photography and iconic artwork and scenes from the movie, which makes it very magical and unique. At the top of each recipe is box that conveniently displays how much prep time, cooking time, servings and ingredients needed, as well as the difficulty and dietary considerations. I find this feature very useful to help plan out how much time is needed to create the dish as well as plan the shopping list beforehand. The instructions for each of the recipes are also very easy-to-follow, even if the difficulty is set to hard.

My favorite parts of the book were seeing all the beautiful and vibrant photos of food, reading the little stories about each dish and how it ties into the Colombian culture and the characters and scenes of Encanto, and also the spending quality time with my daughters as they help prepare some of the dishes. I really enjoyed listening to my younger daughter read the recipes out loud as we cooked. My children also enjoyed seeing familiar artwork from the movie sprinkled all over the book. Just for fun, we also listened to the Encanto soundtrack while in the kitchen.

The first recipe the kids and I tried was “Enchanting Scrambled Eggs (Huevos pericos),” which is served frequently in Colombian families. Why? Because they are easy, magical, and fantastical! The minced tomatoes really add flavor to the eggs and was a fun twist on how we normally cook them. The kids enjoyed it as it was quick to make (about 10 minutes or so), and was one of their favorite foods.

This cookbook is perfect for everyone, including young kids, and helps brings families together for a delicious meal. The authors welcomes the readers with open arms, captivating them with flavors from the unique regions. The love of offering food and spending time with family and guests, fully opening their guests hearts to giving, ties us to Columbia.

Sample Pages from the Encanto: The Official Cookbook

Here are some preview pages from the cookbook. Notice the beautiful and vibrant pages, easy-to-follow recipes, and full-color photos of the dishes.

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** A review copy of this book was provided to us.