Foods of La Frontera is Here!

If you've been reading this newsletter, you know I've had a new cookbook on the way. Well, it's finally here! Today is Foods of La Frontera's publication day! A day that has been a decade and 1,954 miles in the making as I traveled back and forth across the border, from San Diego/Tijuana to Brownsville/Matamoros, and everywhere in between, sitting at kitchen tables eating wonderful food. A journey that unraveled all my preconceptions as a Mexican from Mexico City about food in the Mexican North and Southwestern U.S. 

Today is also the official start of my book tour! I'm headed to New York to cook on Good Morning America on Thursday (8 a.m. hour - tune in!) and then on to Richmond, San Antonio, Austin, Denver, Los Angeles, Tucson, Scottsdale, Reading, Albuquerque, Seattle... All the details are on my site. 

The tour is still growing. If you don't see your city on the list, email me at [email protected].  

Every kitchen, every person who fed me along the way, and every recipe I discovered that I couldn't wait to share with you is in the pages of this book. Green chile and potato burritos from Ciudad Juárez. New Mexican enchilada casserole. Wagyu beef fajitas from the Rio Grande Valley. Green spaghetti from Texas. Mexicali-style shrimp and pork spring rolls. Chipotle albóndigas soup from Chihuahua. It's a collection of 125 recipes that I meticulously tested until I was sure they would be fun and easy to make in your kitchen with flavors you want to dive into. 

Foods of La Frontera has already been picked as one of Bon Appétit’s "Best New Cookbooks," Publishers Weekly’s "Top 10 Cooking & Food Books Fall 2026," The Week’s “New Cookbooks to Add to Your Kitchen,” and Forbes’ “Best Cookbooks Of Fall 2026.”

Ni de aquí, ni de allá — not from here, not from there — but from La Frontera y para el mundo entero. Food that belongs everywhere and, hopefully, in your kitchen. I hope you’ll add it to your cookbook collection, and maybe even give it as a holiday gift, too. It would mean the world to me, and let me know the recipes you are making. 

And I hope to meet many of you on my book tour!  

Con un fuerte abrazo,

Every day I read messages you send me by email and on social media. I love hearing from you, and I'm sharing some of the great questions you ask.

Q: Hola Pati, I live in Texas and am so happy you found the food in the borderlands enticing enough to write a cookbook about. I’m definitely getting it. Is your offer to send signed bookplates still good? — Chris T.

A: Hi Chris, Yay! I’m beyond grateful you are getting a copy of Foods of La Frontera. I hope you try all my recipes from Texas, and I can’t wait for you to discover foods from other parts of La Frontera through the book. Yes, if you — or anyone else reading this — gets the book and wants a signed bookplate for your copy, send me an email to [email protected]. I will sign and dedicate as many bookplates as you want and send them to your doorstep. — Pati