Cuban Cookery. Gastronomic Secrets of the Tropics, with an Appendix on Cuban Drinks

Havana, 1931. Very good.. 150pp. Stiff black cloth covers, printed paper label on front board. Front cover vertically creased, light wear to boards; remnants of glassine stuck to covers. Contemporary inscription on front flyleaf. Internally clean. In a custom clamshell box. First edition of the first Cuban cook book published in English. Blanche Zacharie de Baralt (1865-1950) was born in New York; she married Luis Alejandro Baralt y Peoli in 1886, and the couple moved to his native Cuba in 1900. She earned a PhD in philosophy from the University of Havana in 1902, and went on to translate the poetry of Tagore and to write a book on Jose Marti. She also published this volume, which was clearly geared toward the tourist market, with the introduction emphasizing the idea of taking home the tastes of one's holiday abroad. Each chapter heading has an illustration, and these were drawn by Federico Edelmann and Conrad W. Massaguer (the one above the section for beans appears to show a cowboy riding along in a cloud of gas). Notably, this work contains several important Cuban cocktails including the first appearance of the mojito, referred to here as a Rum Cocktail or Cuban Mojo. Rare in the true first edition.