Rating: 
Summary: Great food, you'll not likely find the ingredients though...
Review: After recently attending a cooking class by Susana Trilling, I can attest to the wonderful recipes in this book. Not only that, but Susana is a wonderful person with great knowledge of the culture. However impressive the recipes may be though, there is a huge problem with this book. Many of the recipes in the book call for ingredients that can't be found even in a speciality mexican store, and some are unique to Oaxaca itself. While this in itself is not a problem, Susan does not provide any help with suitable substitutions for those unique ingredients. For an advanced cook maybe this isn't a problem, but for a beginner or intermediate cook, this makes the book nearly unusable. In general, the recipes are quite involved and complex in comparison to other mexican cook books I have seen. I would not recommend this book to someone who is newer to cooking or does not live in an area where an ample supply of mexican cooking ingredients can be found. Perhaps Susana will make a second addition for us newbie cooks that provides us with better alternatives.
Rating: 
Summary: A very authentic book.
Review: Having visited Oaxaca after reading this book I can attest to its authenticity. A charming and informative book to read with wonderful recipes. A must have for anyone interested in Mexico and cooking!
Rating:
Summary: Much more than a cookbook!
Review: I just returned from a 5-day trip to Oaxaca which included a day-long cooking class with Susana ... both her book and the class are fantastic! Susana's knowledge of the region, combined with her talents as a chef, make this book an invaluable resource. I highly recommend it ... and if you ever have a chance to take one her classes, do so: it's an unforgettable day.
Rating:
Summary: Much more than a cookbook!
Review: I just returned from a 5-day trip to Oaxaca which included a day-long cooking class with Susana ... both her book and the class are fantastic! Susana's knowledge of the region, combined with her talents as a chef, make this book an invaluable resource. I highly recommend it ... and if you ever have a chance to take one her classes, do so: it's an unforgettable day.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I just want to concur with the other reviews and add that Susana Trilling is a brilliant chef, period -- in Mexican cooking or otherwise. I don't understand it, but she really knows how to balance flavors in a way that is unique, compared to similar recipes I've followed. What makes one chef good and another great? I don't know - but she's got it, whatever it is!
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Flavors but watch for editing mistakes
Review: I return to this book over and over again as the recipes have delicious flavor! However, I have found numerous mistakes that should have been caught during recipe testing before going to print. For example, the process for rehydrating masa harina in the recipes for tamales will produce unedible dough. (not enough water) Of course, the recipes were written for fresh masa, but this should have been caught in the testing process. Another recipe that flopped was for Alegrias (Mexican Amaranth Candy). In Mexico, amaranth is typically available in the pre-puffed state. However, in the US it is typically unpuffed. (found this out in another recipe disaster) The recipe worked perfectly when I used the pre-puffed Mexican amaranth. When the recipes work, they are spectacular! Just be watchful!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Flavors but watch for editing mistakes
Review: I return to this book over and over again as the recipes have delicious flavor! However, I have found numerous mistakes that should have been caught during recipe testing before going to print. For example, the process for rehydrating masa harina in the recipes for tamales will produce unedible dough. (not enough water) Of course, the recipes were written for fresh masa, but this should have been caught in the testing process. Another recipe that flopped was for Alegrias (Mexican Amaranth Candy). In Mexico, amaranth is typically available in the pre-puffed state. However, in the US it is typically unpuffed. (found this out in another recipe disaster) The recipe worked perfectly when I used the pre-puffed Mexican amaranth. When the recipes work, they are spectacular! Just be watchful!
Rating:
Summary: NURTURES MINDS AND BODIES
Review: Some twelve years ago chef Susan Trilling said goodbye to an alive New York City catering business to follow her heart to a remote and exotic region of Mexico - Oaxaca. Today, deep in the heart of this Mexican state is Rancho Aurora, home of the Seasons of My Heart cooking school and inn. A companion to the well received National Public Television Series, Seasons of My Heart is a tribute to the people, culture and cuisine of this far-off area which has remained virtually untouched. "Oaxaca invites a deep appreciation of Mexican culture," the author writes. "Here time has stood still in the small village where I went to visit my husband for the first time. I was enchanted with every burro laden with corn going to the mill, every horse-drawn cart filled with alfalfa for the cows and horses......" A veritable armchair travelogue, this colorfully illustrated volume takes readers to a tomato lunch in the field, to harvest time by dawn, to a traditional wedding feast, and to see a primitive altar laden with dishes for religious holidays. Trilling wisely not only shares these treasured recipes, but offers her personal alterations and advice for successfully preparing them in American kitchens. Imagine sitting down to a platter of "Tamales De Ragas" (Chile and Tomato Tamales) with its appetizing marriage of sweet tomatoes and onions or "Empanadas De Mole Amarillo (Baked Mole Amarillo Turnovers), which are often prepared to order on charcoal grills set up outside local churches. Seasons Of My Heart nurtures not only bodies, but minds and imaginations as well.
- Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: NURTURES MINDS AND BODIES
Review: Some twelve years ago chef Susan Trilling said goodbye to an alive New York City catering business to follow her heart to a remote and exotic region of Mexico - Oaxaca. Today, deep in the heart of this Mexican state is Rancho Aurora, home of the Seasons of My Heart cooking school and inn. A companion to the well received National Public Television Series, Seasons of My Heart is a tribute to the people, culture and cuisine of this far-off area which has remained virtually untouched. "Oaxaca invites a deep appreciation of Mexican culture," the author writes. "Here time has stood still in the small village where I went to visit my husband for the first time. I was enchanted with every burro laden with corn going to the mill, every horse-drawn cart filled with alfalfa for the cows and horses......" A veritable armchair travelogue, this colorfully illustrated volume takes readers to a tomato lunch in the field, to harvest time by dawn, to a traditional wedding feast, and to see a primitive altar laden with dishes for religious holidays. Trilling wisely not only shares these treasured recipes, but offers her personal alterations and advice for successfully preparing them in American kitchens. Imagine sitting down to a platter of "Tamales De Ragas" (Chile and Tomato Tamales) with its appetizing marriage of sweet tomatoes and onions or "Empanadas De Mole Amarillo (Baked Mole Amarillo Turnovers), which are often prepared to order on charcoal grills set up outside local churches. Seasons Of My Heart nurtures not only bodies, but minds and imaginations as well.
- Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Oaxacan Cuisine
Review: Susana Trilling has been able to very capably capture the richness of Oaxacan cuisine. Oaxacan cuisine is not limited to the typical Mexican food known in the States such as tacos, burritos, and the like. It is much more than this with a world of different colors, textures, smells, and attractive presentations based on its varied ingredients and methods of preparation. Furthermore, Oaxacan cuisine has a heritage which goes back to important pre-colonial civilizations such as the Zapotecs. My husband is from Oaxaca (from a town in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec). Since our marriage, I have fallen in love with Oaxaca, its colorful people and culture, and its cuisine. We often travel there and enjoy caldo de mariscos (an exquisite seafood soup), mole negro (black mole), tlayudas (big, crispy tortillas filled with, amongst other things, black beans and Oaxaca cheese), etc. Susana Trilling has captured these and other recipes very accurately to allow people to reproduce these recipes in the States and introduce them to family and friends who, without a doubt, will be delighted by this flavorful cuisine.
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