As you probably know by now, the fiery abuela of Mexican cuisine Diana Kennedy died earlier this week at the age of 99. Diana opened a window into the soul of Mexico and gave voice to many Mexican cooks, especially women. She was an amazing example of determination, creativity, and independence...leading the way for us all to understand the richness and complexity of Mexican cooking from across all the beautiful and diverse regions of the country.
In 2020, I was honored to be interviewed for the documentary, “Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy,” directed by Elizabeth Carroll, where we saw how much attention she paid to the smallest details of a recipe and to the Mexican culture that she loved as her own.
On a more personal note, Diana Kennedy has been so important to me and my cooking, particularly in helping to develop my Mexican restaurant, Oyamel…not just the menu, but the entire restaurant as a living, breathing tribute to Mexico's regional cooking and to Diana's culinary anthropology.
To me, Diana was the Indiana Jones of food, always searching for that diamond, that treasure, for the true soul and history of Mexican food, and she would not stop until she would find it. When she did, she would write pages and pages about it and share it with the rest of the world so no one would ever forget it.
Diana, you were my teacher, and I already miss you! We will cook together one day again!
If you have a memory of Diana to share with us, please add it to the discussion. Tell me about what you learned from her, which of her recipes you will cook to remember her, or what she meant to you.
Would someone you know like to read about Diana and share their memories with us? Send it to a friend.
I will miss her so much, all the Mexican cooking I do I learned from her books which are not only recipes but history of the many places she visited and where she got the recipes. I was born in Mexico but it was until I bought her first book that I started cooking Mexican food. I had a privilege to share the table with her when she came to Washington and was honored at the Mexican Cultural Institute at the time of Ambassador Sarukhan, a luncheon I will never forget.
ALL of her books are some of my most treasured possessions! Being married to a Mexican, as an ethnic Finn, I had a lot to learn, and she taught me! Such an inspiration, in all ways!!!
My husband recognized Diana Kennedy between flights in an American airport some years ago. He introduced himself and let her know he'd had been a devoted fan of her cookbooks for years and asked if he could take her picture. As the introvert in the family, all this would have been vastly outside my comfort zone, but my guy was on his own that time, and Ms. Kennedy not only humored him but insisted that he be part of the picture. It has a treasured place in the family archive.
I had the honor and privilege to study Mexican cooking with Diana Kennedy many, many years ago. She was funny, feisty, and an amazing teacher. In more than 50 years of serious cooking, this was one of my most memorable experiences.
I first tasted one of her recipes (Torta de Elotes) at a restaurant in Santa Fe in the 80s. I asked about it and was show their copy of Cuisines of Mexico. Found a used copy and have been making recipes from it since. I love her Carnitas! There are several recipes I keep going back to in The Art if Mexican Cooking as well. (Enjococadas II). It feels like a trip to Mexico when you open one of her books. Fabulous!!
My mother, Evelyn Childs Rattray, was a good friend of Diana Kennedy’s. You could say that they were cut from the same cloth: Born in 1923, expats in love with Mexican culture and cuisine, fearless explorers, and intense scholars, (although my mother’s language was not quite as colorful!) They would often take road-trips to visit one of the latest archaeological sites my mother was working at, or some interesting village one of them had discovered. On one occasion my mother had discovered a remote village in Southern Puebla where they used the same method to create pottery as their ancestors. The trip had to be done in the dry season because the only way to get up there was via a dry riverbed! I do not recall whether they used Diana’s pickup truck or my Mother’s jeep, but they stayed a few days. Diana wrote an article about the way the villagers made atole for the magazine “Mexico Desconocido” My mother wrote about the modern and ancient potters of southern Puebla for the University of Mexico (UNAM) magazine. Such were their collaborations! Of these there were many, and I was always delighted to happen to be home for a visit when Diana would stop by the house in Cuernavaca on her way to or from Puebla or Oaxaca. Sure, her language could be salty, but she was a wonderful storyteller about how certain dishes were made, or the odd adventure. I will miss trying to attack her latest cookbook/recipe, but I do have most of the existing ones (with many recipes I have not yet tried), so I will hear Diana instructing me as I venture forth.
I first met Diana when I had the good fortune to take a class at her home through my friend, Betsy McNair's My Mexico Tours. To have known Diana, and to appreciate her is to have seen all her sides, and we all got a good taste of that during those three magical days. A casual comment I made during this time led to a follow-up email from Diana, as I had suggested she come to St. Louis, and we would host at our shop her during her up-coming book release and tour. Her big wish for that visit was to meet Peter Raven from the Missouri Botanical Garden, which we were able to accomplish. During a delightful dinner party during which she secretly seasoned the host's soup prior to serving, she also met my younger son who was my date for the evening. The meeting with the Ravens led to a reciprocal visit of theirs to her home and a connection with UNAM and CONABIO to catalog her plants, and a deeper study of heirloom ingredients.
Several years passed during which we visited her at her home as I wanted my husband to see her place. His dominant memory of that visit was her shot gun, and the fact that she matter-of-factly told him it was hers for the nights she has home alone.
Later we had another opportunity to host her for her Oaxaca book. I organized a "Dinner with Diana" to celebrate her as well as an industry Q & A session along with the other requisite events. It was a gratifying success, and I was so happy for her to receive the gratitude of so many. There were also quieter moments when we talked about her legacy and her future as she was 89 at the time, so looking at 90 as a milestone. She was looking forward to a trip to Scandinavia with Gabriela Camara. I also remember during my first time with Diana she mentioned Chef Jose Andres and Oyamel as an example of a Mexican restaurant getting it right.
Fast forward again, and I received another "out of the blue" email from her regarding a reception/event in Brooklyn that was to be a fund raiser for her foundation that she was launching. She had remembered that my son, whom she had met years ago, was living in Brooklyn, and she wanted to be sure he was invited.
As prickly as she was, and she was prickly, she was also kind, funny, astute and an excellent observer. It is no wonder that her books were as successful as they were, and that she credited the cooks who had gifted her with the recipes, including the bus driver who taught her the best way to cook nopales. She was a gift to all of us, and she certainly left her mark on any of us who were fortunate enough to have met her. We had thought/hoped she would live forever, but in some ways she will through her life's work, which is a pretty swell way to go.
I found my copy of The Art of Mexican Cooking at a used book sale & bought it, not knowing who she was at the time. What an amazing woman, she put so much energy into getting into small communities and connecting with the grandmothers who were cooking their traditional foods, learning the flavor nuances of each area. Every recipe I tried turned out absolutely delicious!
I will miss her so much, all the Mexican cooking I do I learned from her books which are not only recipes but history of the many places she visited and where she got the recipes. I was born in Mexico but it was until I bought her first book that I started cooking Mexican food. I had a privilege to share the table with her when she came to Washington and was honored at the Mexican Cultural Institute at the time of Ambassador Sarukhan, a luncheon I will never forget.
ALL of her books are some of my most treasured possessions! Being married to a Mexican, as an ethnic Finn, I had a lot to learn, and she taught me! Such an inspiration, in all ways!!!
Her salsas!!!!!
My husband recognized Diana Kennedy between flights in an American airport some years ago. He introduced himself and let her know he'd had been a devoted fan of her cookbooks for years and asked if he could take her picture. As the introvert in the family, all this would have been vastly outside my comfort zone, but my guy was on his own that time, and Ms. Kennedy not only humored him but insisted that he be part of the picture. It has a treasured place in the family archive.
I had the honor and privilege to study Mexican cooking with Diana Kennedy many, many years ago. She was funny, feisty, and an amazing teacher. In more than 50 years of serious cooking, this was one of my most memorable experiences.
I first tasted one of her recipes (Torta de Elotes) at a restaurant in Santa Fe in the 80s. I asked about it and was show their copy of Cuisines of Mexico. Found a used copy and have been making recipes from it since. I love her Carnitas! There are several recipes I keep going back to in The Art if Mexican Cooking as well. (Enjococadas II). It feels like a trip to Mexico when you open one of her books. Fabulous!!
My mother, Evelyn Childs Rattray, was a good friend of Diana Kennedy’s. You could say that they were cut from the same cloth: Born in 1923, expats in love with Mexican culture and cuisine, fearless explorers, and intense scholars, (although my mother’s language was not quite as colorful!) They would often take road-trips to visit one of the latest archaeological sites my mother was working at, or some interesting village one of them had discovered. On one occasion my mother had discovered a remote village in Southern Puebla where they used the same method to create pottery as their ancestors. The trip had to be done in the dry season because the only way to get up there was via a dry riverbed! I do not recall whether they used Diana’s pickup truck or my Mother’s jeep, but they stayed a few days. Diana wrote an article about the way the villagers made atole for the magazine “Mexico Desconocido” My mother wrote about the modern and ancient potters of southern Puebla for the University of Mexico (UNAM) magazine. Such were their collaborations! Of these there were many, and I was always delighted to happen to be home for a visit when Diana would stop by the house in Cuernavaca on her way to or from Puebla or Oaxaca. Sure, her language could be salty, but she was a wonderful storyteller about how certain dishes were made, or the odd adventure. I will miss trying to attack her latest cookbook/recipe, but I do have most of the existing ones (with many recipes I have not yet tried), so I will hear Diana instructing me as I venture forth.
I first met Diana when I had the good fortune to take a class at her home through my friend, Betsy McNair's My Mexico Tours. To have known Diana, and to appreciate her is to have seen all her sides, and we all got a good taste of that during those three magical days. A casual comment I made during this time led to a follow-up email from Diana, as I had suggested she come to St. Louis, and we would host at our shop her during her up-coming book release and tour. Her big wish for that visit was to meet Peter Raven from the Missouri Botanical Garden, which we were able to accomplish. During a delightful dinner party during which she secretly seasoned the host's soup prior to serving, she also met my younger son who was my date for the evening. The meeting with the Ravens led to a reciprocal visit of theirs to her home and a connection with UNAM and CONABIO to catalog her plants, and a deeper study of heirloom ingredients.
Several years passed during which we visited her at her home as I wanted my husband to see her place. His dominant memory of that visit was her shot gun, and the fact that she matter-of-factly told him it was hers for the nights she has home alone.
Later we had another opportunity to host her for her Oaxaca book. I organized a "Dinner with Diana" to celebrate her as well as an industry Q & A session along with the other requisite events. It was a gratifying success, and I was so happy for her to receive the gratitude of so many. There were also quieter moments when we talked about her legacy and her future as she was 89 at the time, so looking at 90 as a milestone. She was looking forward to a trip to Scandinavia with Gabriela Camara. I also remember during my first time with Diana she mentioned Chef Jose Andres and Oyamel as an example of a Mexican restaurant getting it right.
Fast forward again, and I received another "out of the blue" email from her regarding a reception/event in Brooklyn that was to be a fund raiser for her foundation that she was launching. She had remembered that my son, whom she had met years ago, was living in Brooklyn, and she wanted to be sure he was invited.
As prickly as she was, and she was prickly, she was also kind, funny, astute and an excellent observer. It is no wonder that her books were as successful as they were, and that she credited the cooks who had gifted her with the recipes, including the bus driver who taught her the best way to cook nopales. She was a gift to all of us, and she certainly left her mark on any of us who were fortunate enough to have met her. We had thought/hoped she would live forever, but in some ways she will through her life's work, which is a pretty swell way to go.
Brava, Diana, I will miss you!
I found my copy of The Art of Mexican Cooking at a used book sale & bought it, not knowing who she was at the time. What an amazing woman, she put so much energy into getting into small communities and connecting with the grandmothers who were cooking their traditional foods, learning the flavor nuances of each area. Every recipe I tried turned out absolutely delicious!