Diana Kennedy is an author and authority on Mexican cooking

Mexican cuisine

Mexican cuisine, a style of food that originates in Mexico, is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration and variety of spices and ingredients, most of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through thousands of years of blending indigenous cultures, with later...

. A native of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, she moved to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 in 1957 with her husband, Paul Kennedy, who was a correspondent for the New York Times. She has been called the "Julia Child of Mexican Cuisine" and has spent 45 years traveling through Mexico researching cooking techniques and the history of Mexican cuisine

Mexican cuisine

Mexican cuisine, a style of food that originates in Mexico, is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration and variety of spices and ingredients, most of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through thousands of years of blending indigenous cultures, with later...

. Her first cookbook was published in 1972. She currently resides in the state of Michoacán

Michoacán

Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...

.

Ms. Kennedy was awarded the Order Of The Aztec Eagle

Order of the Aztec Eagle

The Order of the Aztec Eagle is a Mexican order and is the highest decoration awarded to foreigners in the country.It was created by decree on December 29, 1933 by President Abelardo L. Rodríguez as a reward to services given to Mexico or humankind by foreigners...

, by the Government of the Republic of Mexico for her contributions to the documentation of regional Mexican cuisine

Mexican cuisine

Mexican cuisine, a style of food that originates in Mexico, is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration and variety of spices and ingredients, most of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through thousands of years of blending indigenous cultures, with later...

. The Aztec Eagle is the Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 equivalent of a knighthood

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 for non-Mexicans.

Books by Diana Kennedy

• The Cuisines of Mexico
• Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico (1978)
• The Tortilla Book
• Nothing Fancy (1984)
• Mexican Regional Cooking (1985)
• The Art of Mexican Cooking (1989)
• My Mexico (1998)
• The Essential Cuisines of Mexico (compilation from Kennedy's first three books, plus 30 new recipes) (2000)
• From My Kitchen, Techniques and Ingredients (2003)

Her next book will purportedly be on Oaxacan cuisine. Oaxaca al Gusto is scheduled for publication in fall 2010.

Diana Southwood Kennedy went to Mexico in 1957 to marry Paul P. Kennedy, the foreign correspondent for the New York Times. In 1969, at the suggestion of Craig Claiborne, she began teaching Mexican cooking classes and in 1972 published her first cookbook. She has been decorated with the Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor bestowed on foreigners by the Mexican government. She lives much of the year in her ecological adobe house in Michoacán, Mexico, which also serves as a research center for Mexican cuisine.

Biography

• 1957 Arrived in México to marry Paul P. Kennedy, foreign correspondent for the New York Times.
• Started to study and record Mexican recipes and ingredients informally.
• 1966 Moved to New York where Paul died in 1967.
• 1969 At Craig Claiborne's (Food Editor of New York Times) urging started to give Mexican Cooking Lessons in New York and spent more than half the next 7 years travelling intensively to do research for future books.
• 1972 Since the publication of the first book, The Cuisines of Mexico, until the present day, giving cooking lessons in classical Mexican cuisine, in practically all the principal cities of the United States and Mexico , including special programs in Atlanta, Aspen, Hawaii, Monterey, San Diego, Vail, Washington DC many of them for the Mexican Government. Has given classes and illustrated lectures on the foods and markets of Mexico in Hawaii, Canada, the UK. Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Illustrated talks on the Edible Plants of México to Economic Botany Society, and the Arcadia Arboretum

Books and Magazine articles published

Gastronome, Cooking, Clipper, Conde Nast Traveller, Sabor, Mexican Food Magazine, Amistad (American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico), Intercambio (British Chamber of Commerce in México), México Desconocido (a series of illustrated articles on little-known recipes), CIDAP, Artes de Mexico, Food & Wine, etc.
Books published

• The Cuisines of México, Harper & Row, 1972, revised HarperCollins, New York, 1986
• TheTortilla Book, Harper & Row 1975, revised Harper Collins, New York, 1991
• Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico, Harper & Row 1978, revised asMexican Regional Cooking, Harper Collins, New York, 1990
• Nothing Fancy (a book of personal recipes) Dial Press 1984, paperback North Point Press 1989, Ten-Speed Press, Berkeley, 1999
• The Art of Mexican Cooking, Bantam Books 1989/ to be re-issued by Clarkson Potter, probably 2008 (to be reissued Spring 2008)
• My Mexico, Clarkson Potter, New York 1998
• The Essential Cuisines of Mexico (a compilation of the first 3 books), ClarksonPotter, New York 2000
• My Mexican Kitchen—Techniques and Ingredients, Clarkson Potter, New York 2003
• Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy, University of Texas Press, Austin 2010

Translations

• La Cocinas de México, Harla, Mexico DF, 1991, (edition cancelled)
• El Arte de la Cocina Mexicana, Editorial Diana, México DF 1993
• México- Una Odisea Culinaria, Plaza y Janes, Mexico DF 2001
• Lo Essential de las cocinas Mexicanas, Plaza y Janés, México DF 2003
• Recetas del Alma (Nothing Fancy), Plaza y Janés, México DF 2006

Awards

• 1971 – Silver Medal from the Tourism Secretariat for the promotion of Mexican culture through its foods
• 1980 – Amando Farga Font special award from the Mexican Food Writers Association
• 1981 – Decorated with The Order of the Aztec Eagle
  Order of the Aztec Eagle
  The Order of the Aztec Eagle is a Mexican order and is the highest decoration awarded to foreigners in the country.It was created by decree on December 29, 1933 by President Abelardo L. Rodríguez as a reward to services given to Mexico or humankind by foreigners...
  
   by Mexican Government
• 1984 – Award of The Jade Molcajete from Tourism Secretariat and Holiday Inn hotel chain
• 1991 – Amando Farga Font special award from the Mexican Restaurant Association
• 1992 – Named Academic Researcher by the Mexican Society of Gastronomy
• 1995 – Recognition by the Domecq Cultural Institute
• 1999 – Recognition by the Mexican Restaurant Association
• 2000 – A special Gold Medal Award from the Mexican Restaurant Association
• 2001 – Special recognition in La Feria de Puebla by the Mexican Cultural Secretariat and the Tourism Secretariat.
• 2001 – A silver medal from CANIRAC –The Mexican Food and Beverage Industry
• 2002 – Awarded an MBE — Member of the Order of the British Empire — by British Government for furthering Cultural Relations between the UK and Mexico
• 2003 – Life Achievement Award from the International Association of Cooking Professionals
• Recognition for work in sustainable foods by the Monterey Bay Aquarium
• Recognition by Club de la Buena Mesa, Guadalajara, Jalisco

Audio reference

• DISAPPEARING DISHES: How Diana Kennedy is rescuing everyday food by Alma Guillermoprieto Publication: © 2005 The New Yorker