The 3 Guys from Miami

What happens when a Cuban marries the sister of another Cuban and the second Cuban marries the Irish sister of the Irish wife of an American Viking from Minnesota and they all like to cook.....?  They all become Cuban family and write cookbooks!

The first cookbook the "brothers-in-law" wrote together was available as an e-book to be downloaded from Amazon.  It was called Three Guys from Miami Cuban Food with Attitude! (c) 2001, 2002, 2003 by Musibay, Lindgren & Castillo. LLP.  I found it while doing a search and of course had to buy it and downloaded it by copying out all 215 plus pages, punching holes in them and stored them all in a navy blue 3 ring binder with a decal of the Cuban flag on the spine.....

I sent them an e-mail congratulating them and telling them how excited I was, only to receive a very nice note from Glenn who mentioned they had a cookbook in the works and I would be told about it when the time came!  Glenn forwarded my note to Raul and Jorge, who also replied and little by little a friendship developed.

Now...don't think that just because I consider them friends I am trying to plug their books....;-))  I'm here to tell you I own not only the first e-book but also the two books that followed, published through a publishing house - Gibbs Smith Publishers from Salt Lake City - and consider the books to reflect not only the true essence of Cuban cuisine, but also the added flavour imparted through the fusion of the South Florida scene.

Even though the cookbooks are beautifully illustrated with mouth watering photographs by Nancy  Bundt for the first one and by Mary Snorlum for the second, these are books to cook by! 

 Three Guys from Miami Cook Cuban

Beautiful book containing 100 recipes that have been tested and
perfected through the years by these three brothers-in-law who also happen to be great friends.

Easy on the eye, with well written and clean looking pages most containing beautiful color photographs of the food, the authors and Miami. In a congenial and chatty way, these three friends discuss each recipe in the book using short and sometimes funny "sound-bites".

All the traditional Cuban recipes are included, some with an updated twist. They have also included recipes for other Latino food that has been quickly assimilated into the Cuban recipe repertoire such as the very rich and sinfully wonderful Nicaraguan Tres Leches Cake and the Colombian Arepas, a cornmeal and cheese delicacy that has become quite a popular snack to munch on during the many Miami street festivals.  You can also find the delicious recipe for the Cuban Tamales in this cookbook.

ISBN 158685433X - $29.95

 Three Guys from Miami Celebrate Cuban

 Can there be anything wrong with a cookbook that starts with desserts up front.......? Definitely not in my opinion, especially when the first recipe is for Coconut Rice Pudding!

This is the second cookbook by this winsome trio and in my opinion also destined to join their first one on the best seller list!

In their own inimitable bantering style, Glenn Lindgreen, Raul Musibay and Jorge Castillo deal in serious business.....seriously good food business, I mean... Whether you are familiar with Cuban food or not, the book is a promise that 'if you read it, and, of course, cook from it, they will come...to your table', to paraphrase a well known movie's most famous line.

The format is easy to read and follow and none of the recipes are very complicated... You will find a few comments on the margins by Glenn, Raul and Jorge, sometimes explaining a recipe, a name, an ingredient, a cooking term or even making fun of themselves.

The beautiful color photos throughout the book make your mouth water in anticipation and you will find little bits of information scattered among the pages explaining certain customs, holiday traditions and everyday way of life in the Cuba we used to know.

I hope you enjoy this cookbook as much as I have.....and yes, the first recipe I made from this cookbook is the Coconut Rice Pudding!

ISBN 1423600630 - $$29.95

You can find their books at your favorite books store, through their website www.icuban.com , Amazon or through my blog site at www.soniatasteshawaii.com

You can read about my meeting with 2 of the 3 guys this past April here  when I was honored with one of their famous pig roasts!

 (c) Sonia R. Martinez is a Gather Food Correspondent and you can find other articles here and my food and garden blog here