Guacamole that’s not too runny or chunky

Mexican cuisine is easygoing in style and generous in flavour. So it’s no surprise to learn that Guelaguetza, the name of the Mexican restaurant described in a new cookbook, means to give and receive.

Large, brilliantly coloured photographs of chilies and pomegranates, garlic and avocados, and big dishes of traditional recipes jump from the pages of Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico, by Bricia

Lopez with Javier Cabral (Abrams, $50).

Step-by-step technique photos help the reader learn how to make various dishes, such as tortillas, tamales, a “dry-toasted” egg (Huevos al Comal) and chilies rellenos.

Reading this big, beautiful book and cooking from are the next best things to dining at the restaurant, located in Los Angeles and still run by the Lopez family, which started it a quarter century ago.

Guacamole is tourist food, says Lopez. Her restaurant prefers to serve avocados cut in wedges.

To satisfy demand for guacamole, her family developed a blended version, which is somewhere between runny and chunky.

It has become so popular at Guelaguetza, most customers order it. In Oaxaca, the avocados are small and thin skinned. Any ripe avocado may be used in this recipe.