Mamacita: Recipes Celebrating Life as a Mexican Immigrant in America

A love letter to author Andrea Pons’s native Mexico, this beautiful cookbook weaves stories of her family’s immigration to the U.S. with 75 delicious recipes from three generations of women in her family.

Author and food stylist Andrea Pons started this Mamacita project in 2018 to document the recipes she grew up eating in Mexico, and she found it quickly became a way to reconnect with her family and Mexican heritage.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrea and her family found themselves navigating the U.S. immigration system in order to avoid deportation and to be able to stay in the country that had been their home for over twenty years, this book also became a rallying cry. Andrea sold self-published copies to fund her family’s significant legal fees.

More than a beautiful cookbook, this book is a love letter to Andrea’s home country of Mexico and an inspiring celebration of her adopted home in the U.S, highlighting three generations of women’s cooking in her family. Recipes include Elote Mexicano (Mexican Street Corn), Sopa de Fideo (Mexican Noodle Soup), Albondigas en Chipotle (Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce), the famous Rosca de Naranja (Orange Bundt Cake) from Andrea’s grandmother’s bakery in Mexico, and many more.