From Distributaries

La añoranza del maíz / Longing for the Corn

Name: La añoranza del maíz / Longing for the Corn
SKU: 54965
Availability: InStock

$25.00

Las hermanas de la milpa: La añoranza del maíz / The sisters of the milpa: Longing for the Corn is the second volume of bilingual and indigenous (Mixteco) cookbooks “Sisters of the Milpa” by chef Natalia Mendez of La Morada restaurant.

In this second book, Chef Natalia goes back to the root, and that root is San Miguel de Ahuehuetitlán. Here, besides delicious recipes that center the corn (including tips to make nixtamal, the base of all tortillas), Chef Natalia shares memories of her childhood, growing up among the milpa crops, and of the lessons she learned from her mother, grandmothers and her aunts.

As with It Begins with the Squash, this second book is also an art project: it includes colorful illustrations by artist Marco Saavedra and photos by photographer Zahara Gómez. The second volume has again been beautifully designed by Lucky Risograph.

Authors and book’s concept: Natalia Méndez + Carolina Saavedra

Transcription, edition and translation: Ángeles Donoso Macaya

Copyedit: Alexandra Délano and Amanda Lotspike

Art: Marco Saavedra

Photography: Zahara Gómez

Design: lucky risograph / Amanda Chung

Printing: lucky risograph / Charlie Waltz-Rieber + Christopher Lucero

48 pp, Riso edition, printed in 100% post-consumer recycled paper
Dimensions: 5 inches by 8 inches

First edition: Summer / Fall 2023

View images from this book and its community:

Illustration by artist Marco Saavedra.

Specimens of corn and other preserved plants from the New York Botanical Garden’s Herbarium related to Mixteco heritage.

Cover of the Spanish edition.

Dedicatoria, Volume 2.

Sisters of the Milpa series, volumes 1 and 2.

Interior shot of the book.

The Sisters of the Milpa: Longing for the Corn is volume 2 of a 3-set series. We are using the proceeds to fundraise the production of an expanded single edition—with more photos, more art, and accompanying texts from the project’s collaborators.

To learn more about the other two books in the series and purchase them, please click on the following links: Volume 1, The Book of Squash + Volume 3, The Book of Beans.

Read about CUNY student cookbook projects that were inspired by The Sisters of the Milpa series here.
The Sisters of the Milpa is a project of the Archives in Common public seminar by Ángeles Donoso Macaya in collaboration with La Morada Restaurant.