Andrea Pons is a Seattle-based production manager and food stylist. She has worked for restaurants and companies including Le Creuset and Starbucks. Born in Guanajuato, Mexico, and raised in the United States, Pons creates recipes that encourage readers to share a meal around the dinner table and that raise awareness about immigration. Sarah Tansley, chair of ALA's award committee which selects the best cookbooks of the year, asks Pons about making food and what is missing from cookbooks.

You first self-published your cookbook to fund your family’s immigration-related legal fees. How did you come up with the idea of fundraising with a cookbook?

I had been working on the cookbook for about two years by the time I received my citizenship. The book at first was an outlet for me to connect to my Mexican heritage and immortalize my grandmother’s recipes as her Alzheimer’s was advancing, and I didn’t want to lose a beautiful part of my upbringing, which was eating her dishes. I knew, since I started the immigration process first in my family, that I would be the key in helping my parents gain status. The same day of my citizenship test, sitting in the car next to my dad after hanging up the phone with my mom to tell her the news that I had passed, is when the idea of fundraising my parents’ immigration with the cookbook came up. I knew there was no way my parents could afford $20k in fees, and it became obvious to me at that moment that my grandmother had gifted me something bigger than just her love for cuisine—she gifted me a way to help my parents find safety.

Mamacita is filled with culinary memories and family traditions. Was it challenging to open up and share such personal stories?

Absolutely. Writing Mamacita and being vulnerable about my life was terrifying at first. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to share the parts of myself that held shame; first being ashamed to be an immigrant, then being ashamed for hiding behind a white-presenting self, shame for not being able to relate to other kids growing up and feeling different, shame from going through a divorce, etc. But, deep down I knew that I wasn’t the only person experiencing the above, and that if I wanted to create real change in this country and world, it was a must that I spoke my truth so that others could feel the confidence to do the same. Now, I feel incredibly proud of being able to share these stories and bring people into my life in an authentic way that feels true to who I am.

What is one piece of advice you would give someone cooking from your book for the first time?

My best advice for a home chef before they cook from Mamacita is to have patience with themselves, be open to new flavors, and be ready to have fun! I am a home cook myself, and I made a lot of mistakes in the process of recreating these recipes. The key is in not giving up!

What are your favorite cookbooks and why?

One of my new favorite cookbooks is Earth Medicines: Ancestral Wisdom, Healing Recipes, and Wellness Rituals from a Curandera by Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz. Curanderas (healers) are a big part of Mexican culture, even in modern medicine times. Growing up, I used to accompany my dad to pick up plant and food medicine from a curandero that lived in the hills near my grandfather’s property where we used to go camping. It sparked an early interest in me in traditional healing methods and an appreciation for how food is medicine. I love Felicia’s book because it’s a combination of ancestral lifestyle habits and healing recipes. I am also a huge fan of Gabriela Camara and her book My Mexico City Kitchen: Recipes and Convictions. There is something really relatable for me when it comes to Gabriela because like myself, she grew up wanting to fit-in in places where she for a long time felt like she didn’t belong. Her mom is Italian, just like my greatgrandmother, so her upbringing was somewhat similar to mine. And her recipes are easy to follow and just to die for. She was a big inspiration for why I wanted to write Mamacita.

What do you wish you saw more in cookbooks?

I love this question. For me, understanding the history and traditions behind the dishes I eat or cook makes them that much more delicious, because there is added value to the flavors. I wish to see more traditional ways of preparing food in cookbooks, with more historical references of where the food originated, how it originated, and acknowledgement of our ancestors and Indigenous peoples that brought a lot of these dishes to life in a way that has transcended time.