Mamacita: Recipes Celebrating Life as a Mexican Immigrant in America

In her introduction, enhanced with family photos and documents, Pons recounts her story as a Mexican immigrant in the United States and the role that food played in reconciling her identity and reconnecting with her Mexican heritage. In this debut (previously self-published and now picked up by Princeton Architectural and enhanced with 35 more photos and 10 additional recipes), Pons adapts and simplifies her mother’s and grandmother’s dishes, presenting them for cooks of all levels to engage with the flavors of her childhood and homeland. The recipes are divided into sections dedicated to salsas, ensaladas y verduras (salads and greens), arroz (rice), harinas (grains), carnes (meats), mariscos (fish), and postres (desserts), as well as an explanation on the absence of tacos. Each recipe comes with a story and serves 4–6 or 6–8 people.