Intro -- I. At the Table, in the Kitchen -- Black and Blue: The Different Child -- Nopal Tamal -- Maria Tito's Pasta Puttanesca -- Anchovy: Kitchens -- Twice-Baked Winter Squash -- Anti-Appetite: Family Legends -- Sweet Potato Fries with Chipotle Barbeque Sauce -- Chile de Árbol!: Kitchen Scars -- Pepper Corn Bread -- "Smoked, hearty, spicy, sharp, earthy-": Reviews -- Papas Estilo Diablo -- Habanero: Hot Tricks -- Buen AppeTito Crab Cakes with Pineapple-Mango Salsa -- Infierno: Revenge Is Hell -- Habanero Pumpkin Pudding with Ancho Maple Sauce -- II. Leaving the Table -- Lo sabroso de la vida: Courtships -- Avocado-Gooseberry Pudding with Raspberry Sauce -- Stuffed Prunes of Buen AppeTito -- Potato and Green Chile Soup -- Green Sauce: Developing Tastes -- Wes Hingler's Green Salsa -- Stews and Moles: Past Feeds Present -- Conseca's Posole Stew -- Wes and Pablito's Poblano Mole -- Nuts: Filling Up -- Sweet Habanero Pumpkin Salsa -- Black Bean and Gooseberry Enchiladas -- Sweet Potato and Green Beans with Pineapple-Cashew Dressing -- Guava and Chocolate Dressing -- Puffballs: Finding the Inside -- Yucca Soup -- Pawpaws -- III. Returning to the Table -- The Available Tamal: Exotic Appetites -- Cranberry-Chile Pesto -- Roasted Corn: Secrets, Ingredients -- The Marinara Sauce of Buen AppeTito -- Roasted Corn Salsa -- Semillas: The Cook's Apprenticeship -- Wes Hingler's Sweet Quesadillas -- Jícama Salad -- Buen AppeTito / Tsil Salad -- Watercress and Black Bean Salad with Sunflower-Tomato Dressing -- Recipe: An Epilogue -- Boiled Zucchini -- Acknowledgments.

"Food is the talisman, the metaphor, and the basic aroma of this voluptuous novel . . . The tale is full of recipes, some on the very edge of bizarre but all bursting with flavor and history."--Booklist.

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