Cook, Eat, Cha Cha Cha: Festive New World Recipes

Bellber, owner of a San Francisco restaurant called Cha Cha Cha!, enthusiastically advocates syncretic cuisine. He uses Cuban food as his baseline but is happy to draw from other parts of the Caribbean, Mexico, Asia, the Southwest and Northern California. This colorful collection is zippily illustrated with drawings and photographs of finished dishes and of the Santeria shrines that decorate the restaurant. Rubs, salsas and marinades abound, and there's a chapter devoted to Sauces and Spices. Roasted-Pepper Sauce covers the Allspice-Crusted Lamb Chops. Chicken Mole Chalupa calls for four kinds of chilies, not to mention coffee, cinnamon, chocolate, cumin and oregano. Bellber is a lover of bold flavors and peppers of all kinds, whether dried or fresh. And he loves to mix fire with fruit, as in Spicy Mango Chutney (which uses jalapenos, ginger and cumin), Sauteed Sea Scallops with Chipotle-Orange Sauce or Pan-Seared New York Steak with Guava-Chipotle Ketchup. Cooks willing to spend the fairly extensive prep time required by many of these recipes will be glad that Bellber includes a discography so that, chef's knife in hand, they can cha cha cha to Afro-Caribbean sounds as they chop chop chop those tomatoes, onions and cilantro leaves. (May)