Back in the 1950s people
didn’t appreciate other country’s foods … as they do now … but it’d take the
likes of pioneer cookery writers to set the standards … Julia Childs, Elizabeth
David, and of course Diana Kennedy – who has put Mexican cuisine on the map …
 |
| Diana Kennedy in 2016 |
We were due to see this
film last year … but in the circumstances had to wait … that did not deter … I
was so interested I bought her book – updated in 2016 from the 1984 earlier
version: ‘Nothing Fancy: Recipes and
Recollections of Soul-Satisfying Food’.
What an excellent read.
This no-nonsense English
lady, born in 1923 – yes she is 98 - learnt to cook from her grandmother and
mother … then went to work in Wales during the War as a timber girl – here she
appreciated the availability of fresh food off the land …
 |
| Her book: Nothing Fancy |
… it was after the War that
her gastronomic adventures started … at home, around Europe, before moving to
Canada in 1953 taking various positions, then on a whim visited Haiti in
1957. There she met her future husband
Paul P Kennedy (1905 – 1967), a correspondent for The New York Times in Mexico,
Central America and the Caribbean …
Later … Diana with her
friends and editors, particularly Fran McCullough, set out to promote authentic
Mexican recipes – cooking for the Book of
the Month Club – no doubt helped by her husband’s contacts in the
journalistic world exposed her ideas to a large audience.
Things advanced rather
rapidly … Diana’s knowledge of Mexican recipes, how they were cooked, then
served in authentic cazuelas (earthen
ware) … was immediately accepted.
 |
| Cazuelas |
Her energy is boundless
– now aged 98 … we see her exercising, walking around, tending the garden,
driving (fast!) to collect items for the house …
Frances McCullough in
her foreword to the book ‘Nothing Fancy’ states that Diana
Kennedy has documented and saved many of the dishes of the authentic regional
cuisines of Mexico with the eyes of a
botanist and an anthropologist as well as those of a fine cook.
 |
Benito Juarez Market
Oaxaca |
The first chapter – “Introduction”
– lets us know about her traditional British upbringing, then expanding out
into recipes and ideas found during her gastronomic adventures …
Her husband was very
supportive – I guess eating fascinating interesting food when he was home –
encouraged him to bring back recipes for her …
 |
In the hills above
Zitacuaro |
After her husband died
she decided to build an ecological adobe house in Zitacuaro, Michoacan – about
3 hours SE of Mexico city, but she moved into the incomplete shell in 1980 …
over time – we see the result in the film: “Quinta Diana” – as it became known
– The Diana Kennedy Centre – where her organic, ecological, true to Mexico teachings
continue.
The chapters in the book
make for a fascinating insight into how she thinks … and thus what she considers
a necessity for our future world in the culinary sense … the chapters I set out:
 |
| Freshly churned English butter |
‘The Making of a Palate’ …
she describes one of our early grocer’s (Sainsbury’s) layout, with its foods on
offer … it takes me back to my youth – though 20 years later … then goes on to
explain how her palate came about … she was always learning and experimenting
as her gastronomic adventures expanded.
 |
| Water Droplet |
“My Betes Noires” … where
she excoriates various items including cassia (the cinnamon imposter) … and
water is liquid gold – do not ever waste a drop …
 |
Escamoles:
Ant-egg caviar |
“Addictions” … she says her mother lived to 92, so I suppose it’s
no surprise she is still going strong at 98, happily surviving on lots of
starches, delicious fats … actually that was acceptable in the 1920s to ‘our
time’! She includes Escamoles – Mexican “caviar” … ant-egg caviar; and Seville orange
marmalade, Le croissant …
“Equipment I Simply Cannot Do
Without” … a Cuisinart
machine; coffee/spice grinders; lots of cazuelas
… a large selection of wooden spoons and stirrers, white rubber spatulas – no coloured
ones!
 |
The Mexican national dish -
Mole Sauce |
The “Ingredients” and “Cookbookese” … chapters include acerbic
comments.
“My Bêtes Noires Vertes” … first she says she’ll look in your garbage
can/rubbish bin …this should be sustainably kept – and she goes on to particularly
white chef items … the bleach to obtain these whites – kills the water … which
is liquid gold…
 |
| Buttery Crumpets |
Then we’re onto recipes …
Roast Pork with Sage and Onion Stuffing,
Crumpets, English Clotted Cream … but lots of traditional ones that I happily
remember being made by my mother, and family friends …
 |
| Seville orange marmalade |
I am totally caught up
in Diana Kennedy’s vision with that over-riding nostalgia of earlier days …
Christmas is coming – actually we still have a traditional family time –
everything fresh and home-made … happy memories too.
Oh Golly Gosh … as I
used to say to my Ma … so many memories of times gone by – but this was a
wonderful find.
 |
| Close up ... with her English tea |
Diana Kennedy’s British
upbringing rings out through her life – I can feel and see it … via the film
and the book … encouraging us to think ahead … do not waste … enjoy foods from
the land.
While during her time in
Mexico she has embraced authentic Mexican cooking and all that entails …
disseminating Mexican culture through its foods and ensuring that native ingredients
and traditional recipes found in villages are not lost.
 |
Scottish (of course) shortbread -
often the tea-time fare of
the English! |
Diana Kennedy is
recognised as the “grand dame of Mexican cuisine” – a true title if ever there
was one.
I hope you can get to
see the film … it is on YouTube … and perhaps read the book – which personally I
think is more interesting … perhaps it’s the nostalgia of my mother’s and my
life through Diana’s years …
Diana Kennedy ...
The Diana Kennedy Center - more details about her life and work ...
Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy - trailer ... I couldn't easily find which film would be best for each of your country's ... but from the trailer in YouTube I hope you can find it ...
PS - I know and I knew I'd be castigated for calling shortbread English ... I know it's Scottish ... but we're talking an English lady ... so my wrist is slapped!
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters
Inspirational Stories
