Mexican cooking authority Diana Kennedy, author of the groundbreaking 1972 cookbook The Cuisines of Mexico, has donated her personal archives to the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Kennedy, 96, traveled from her home in Michoácan, Mexico to deliver her personal archive to the school’s special collections library, according to the university.
Among the donated materials are 11 Mexican cookbooks from the 19th Century and eight linear feet of personal documents amassed during her life’s work. More material, including her working library and remaining research papers, will also transfer to the UTSA over time.
“I think it seems to be a natural bridge between Mexico and the U.S.,” Kennedy told UTSA. “San Antonio has always been a good crossing point, and I think it would be used here.”
Kennedy, born in Britain, spent five decades traveling Mexico to document its varied cuisines. She has published nine published cookbooks and was bestowed with the Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor awarded by the Mexican government to foreign nationals.
The acquisition further strengthens UTSA libraries’ 1,900-volume Mexican cookbook collection, one of the nation’s largest of its kind.
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This article appears in Apr 10-23, 2019.
