Las Hermanas de la Milpa: Comienza con la Calabaza / The Sisters of the Milpa: It Begins with the Squash by chef Natalia Mendez of La Morada restaurant
Las Hermanas de la Milpa: Comienza con la Calabaza / The Sisters of the Milpa: It Begins with the Squash by chef Natalia Mendez of La Morada restaurant
$25.00
Las hermanas de la milpa: comienza con la calabaza / The sisters of the milpa: it begins with the squash, a bilingual and indigenous (Mixteco) cookbook by chef Natalia Mendez of La Morada restaurant.
Like other initiatives devised by La Morada, this book
seeks to disseminate indigenous knowledges and practices, and at the
same time to conceptualize and expand the ways of doing mutual aid. Chef
Natalia shares eight Oaxacan recipes that use all the parts of the
squash plant, in different stages; teaches us, readers, how to take care
of the soil; and also gives tips to grow food at home!
The book is also, in and of itself, an art project: it includes illustrations by poet, artist and activistMarco Saavedra, photos by photographerCamila Falquez, and has been beautifully designed byLucky Risograph.
In the words of Professor Ángeles Donoso Macaya, who assisted with the transcription, edition, and translation of the texts, Las hermanas de la milpa / The sisters of the milpa
“is the embodied memory, in narrative form, of the chef of one of the
most important mutual aid hubs that emerged during the pandemic in NYC
(and perhaps the only one that still continues to operate as such), and
an eloquent document of the ongoing struggle for food sovereignty led by
migrant indigenous communities.”