The Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana (School of Mexican Gastronomy) is the only school dedicated to the research, promotion and development of high Mexican cuisine. It was opened by Yuri de Gotari and Edmundo Escamilla who have studied and researched Mexican cuisine from anthropological, social, historical and cultural perspectives for over two decades. [1]
The school offers conferences, and courses in theory and practice, such as Mexican gastronomy and the cinema, and writing about food. The school also offers certificates and B.A.s in Mexican Gastronomy. Classes include those given by anthropologists, historians as well as more traditional classes about cooking techniques and ingredients. Teachers and students come from abroad to teach and learn with the goal of developing Mexican cuisine at an international level. It also cooperates with the Museo Nacional de Historia Castillo de Chapultepec (National Historical Museum at the Castle of Chapultepec and have given courses in Spain, Austria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Czech Republic, the United States, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela, [1] as well teaching at local schools such as Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México [2] Their work has been recognized by La Academia Española de Gastronomía, the Cofradía de la Buena Mesa de España and Asociacion Euro-Toques. [1]
It is located at Calle Coahuila 207, Colonia Roma in Mexico City.
Diana Kennedy was a British food writer. The preeminent English-language authority on Mexican cuisine, Kennedy was known for her nine books on the subject, including The Cuisines of Mexico, which changed how Americans view Mexican cuisine. Her cookbooks are based on her fifty years of travelling in Mexico, interviewing and learning from several types of cooks from virtually every region of the nation.
Miguel Hidalgo is a borough (alcaldía) in western Mexico City, it encompasses the historic areas of Tacuba, Chapultepec and Tacubaya along with a number of notable neighborhoods such as Polanco and Lomas de Chapultepec. With landmarks such as Chapultepec Park and the Museo Nacional de Antropología, it is the second most visited borough in Mexico City after Cuauhtémoc where the historic center of Mexico City is located. Tacubaya and Tacuba both have long histories as independent settlements and were designated as “Barrios Mágicos” by the city for tourism purposes.
Arturo García Bustos was a Mexican painter and print maker. He is known as one of “Los Fridos” students who studied under Frida Kahlo at her home in Coyoacán.
Fanny Rabel, born Fanny Rabinovich, was a Polish-born Mexican artist who is considered to be the first modern female muralist and one of the youngest associated with the Mexican muralism of the early to mid 20th century. She and her family arrived to Mexico in 1938 from Europe and she studied art at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda", where she met and became friends with Frida Kahlo. She became the only female member of “Los Fridos” a group of students under Kahlo’s tutelage. She also worked as an assistant and apprentice to Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, painting a number of murals of her own during her career. The most significant of these is "Ronda en el tiempo" at the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City. She also created canvases and other works, with children often featured in her work, and was one of the first of her generation to work with ecological themes in a series of works begun in 1979.
Alfonso Luis Herrera (1868–1942) was a Mexican biologist, author, educator and founder of several institutions in Mexico City. He conducted research into the origin of life in an attempt to develop a new, experimental science which he called plasmogeny.
Salón de la Plástica Mexicana is an institution dedicated to the promotion of Mexican contemporary art. It was established in 1949 to expand the Mexican art market. Its first location was in historic center of the city but today it mostly operates out of a building in Colonia Roma. The institution is run by a membership of almost four hundred recognized artists and holds multiple exhibitions each year. Although it operates autonomously, it is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura.
Luis Ortiz Monasterio was a Mexican sculptor noted for his monumental works such as the Monumento a la Madre and the Nezahualcoyotl Fountain in Chapultepec Park. His work was recognized in 1967 with the Premio Nacional de Artes and was a founding member of the Academia de Artes.
Abel Ramírez Águilar was a Mexican sculptor who won many prizes not only for traditional pieces in wood, stone and metal, but also for ice and snow sculptures in the United States, Canada, Japan and Europe. He was trained as a sculptor in Mexico and the Netherlands and has exhibited his work individually and collectively since the 1960s. He discovered snow and ice sculpting while visiting Quebec in the 1980s, first experiencing snow in his forties. The challenge intrigued him and he began sculpting this medium as an amateur. He began sculpting ice and snow professionally when he was entered in the competition associated with the 1992 Winter Olympic Games without his knowledge. Having practiced beforehand at an ice factory in Mexico City, he won the gold medal for this event, leading to invitations to other competitions for over twenty years. Ramírez lived in Mexico City.
The cuisine of Chiapas is a style of cooking centered on the Mexican state of the same name. Like the cuisine of rest of the country, it is based on corn with a mix of indigenous and European influences. It distinguishes itself by retaining most of its indigenous heritage, including the use of the chipilín herb in tamales and soups, used nowhere else in Mexico. However, while it does use some chili peppers, including the very hot simojovel, it does not use it as much as other Mexican regional cuisines, preferring slightly sweet seasoning to its main dishes. Large regions of the state are suitable for grazing and the cuisine reflects this with meat, especially beef and the production of cheese. The most important dish is the tamal, with many varieties created through the state as well as dishes such as chanfaina, similar to menudo and sopa de pan. Although it has been promoted by the state of Chiapas for tourism purposes as well as some chefs, it is not as well known as other Mexican cuisine, such as that of neighboring Oaxaca.
El Bajío is a group of eighteen restaurants in Mexico City which are run by Carmen Ramírez Degollado, noted for their colorful decoration and traditional cuisine from central Mexico which has received awards and praise from notable food experts. The restaurant business began in 1972 when Carmen's husband Raúl Ramírez Degollado bought a restaurant selling carnitas in the northwestern borough of Azcapotzalco. Four years later, Raúl died and Carmen took over the business, expanding the menu and adding waiters. The restaurant was so successful that she was able to send her five children to private university. In 2006, El Bajío opened a second location in the center of the city and since then has grown to eighteen locations which serve about 120,000 diners a month. Carmen has become a notable chef in her own right, giving classes and demonstrations in Mexico and abroad as well as writing about 20 books.
Antonio García Vega is a Mexican artist and member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. He began exhibiting his work while still in school in the early 1970s and continues to do so, often working with his brother Mauricio García Vega. He works in mixed media to paint various forms of expression. His early work was mostly fantastic, with elements of eroticism but his later work has been darker as a means of expressing his own feelings and moods. His work has mostly been exhibited in Mexico, often in conjunction with other artists including a 2010 exhibition with his brother at various venues.
The Mexican Red Cross is a non-governmental humanitarian assistance organization affiliated with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to help those in dangerous situations, such as natural disasters, as well as providing human health services. The organization finances its aid, assistance, and education programs through the work of thousands of volunteers and donation from individuals, institutions, organizations, associations and companies. It originated with a presidential decree in 1910 and was recognized internationally in 1912. Today it participates in national and international aid and disaster relief missions as well as various health services, training in first aid and for emergency medical technicians. Early in its history, it developed a program in nursing, which eventually became the Escuela Nacional de Enfermería y Obstetricia, today part of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Rina Lazo Wasem was a Guatemalan-Mexican painter. She began her career in mural painting with Diego Rivera as his assistant. She worked with him from 1947 until his death in 1957 on projects both in Mexico and Guatemala. Thereafter, she remained an active painter, better known for her mural works than canvases, although the latter have been exhibited in Mexico and other countries. This has made her one of Guatemala's best-known artists. She was a member of the Mexican muralism movement and criticized modern artists as too commercial and not committed to social causes. She believed muralism would revive in Mexico because of its historical value.
Herlinda Sánchez Laurel was a Mexican artist and art professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Her career has been recognized by membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, and awards from the state of Baja California, the Palacio de Bellas Artes and the International Coordination of Women in Art among others.
Sarah Jimenez Vernis was a Mexican artist known for her political graphic work in the mid 20th century, especially with the Taller de Gráfica Popular, earning her membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. After her time with the Taller, her career shifted to teaching, and her work became mostly forgotten. However, there have been efforts to revive interest in it.
The Basque Culinary Center, based in San Sebastián, in the Basque region of Spain, is a culinary foundation created in 2009 by Mondragon University and a group of prominent Basque chefs as a training, research and innovation project, aimed at developing the culinary sector, with the idea of relating cooking with management, science and other disciplines.
Rosa María Alfonseca Arredondo is a Mexican graphic artist whose work has been recognized with membership in Mexico's Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.
Josefina Velázquez de León was a Mexican cook, researcher, writer and teacher. Velázquez de León was a pioneer of Mexican gastronomy and an entrepreneur of Mexican cuisine.
Raquel Torres Cerdán, also Raquel Torres is a Mexican anthropologist and restaurateur, who has worked to record, preserve and showcase the cuisines of the indigenous peoples of Veracruz, through her restaurants and food writing.
Teresa Ocampo Oliart is a Peruvian chef and writer. She was a pioneer of Peruvian cuisine, and founder and first president of the Peruvian Gastronomic Association. In 2022, she was named by Forbes as one of the most powerful 50 women of Peru.