Growing up in Mexico City as a Jewish girl in a mainly Catholic country, I was always living between worlds. Spring was no exception — Passover and Easter would arrive sometimes weeks apart, sometimes in the very same week.
At my paternal grandparents' Passover table, there was always matzo ball soup and gefilte fish a la veracruzana, tzimmes with dried fruits and beef, and potato kugel, too. And Semana Santa with my nana, and my friends from school always brought romeritos simmering in mole, ceviches, arroz con leche. Traditions that felt expressed so differently and yet, to me, always wanted to hold hands. The years they overlapped, those felt like a gift. Like the world was briefly making sense in a delicious way.
This year, Passover begins April 1st and Easter falls on April 5th. They are practically on top of each other! And I find myself standing at that same lucky intersection I stood at as a girl in Mexico City. Lamb on both tables. Wine on both tables. Eggs on both tables. And mole, showing up at Easter feasts across Central Mexico, just the way my Bobe's Veracruzana sauce showed up every Pesaj.
This month's recipes are for everyone at every table — wherever you're sitting. And they are, in many ways, a small window into a much longer story I have been cooking and writing toward for many years: my new cookbook, Foods of La Frontera: Recipes and New Taste Frontiers from Both Sides of the Border, available for pre-order now and out this September. It is about exactly this — what happens when worlds meet, and the extraordinary food that is born in that encounter.
And if you want to come with me to the neighborhood in Mexico City where my Polish paternal grandparents made their home — I go there with my sister in this piece…
Un fuerte abrazo,
This Month’s Recipes
Three recipes that work for Passover, Easter, or any spring gathering where good food is the common language.
Lamb Chops in Green Pipián
Lamb shows up on both the Passover and Easter table. This version in a bright, nutty green pipián is a classy celebratory meal. Especially good alongside the Blissful Corn Torte.
Mexican Gefilte Fish a la Veracruzana
My Bobe's gefilte fish, bathed in a Veracruzana sauce of tomatoes, capers, and olives. As Mexican as it is Jewish. The recipe I make every Pesaj.
Orange and Almond Flan
No flour, no milk — which makes it perfect for Passover and welcome at any table. Ground almonds, bright orange, and a caramel that does all the talking.
Complete the table: Flourless Almond Porto Cake is a treat for anyone for any occasion, Twice Spiced Deviled Eggs because it’s the time for eggs, and find more ideas in my recipe collections for Passover and Easter.
What I’m Into Right Now
Books📚: Some of you recommended The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver after last month's newsletter — thank you. I just started it and am already completely hooked. Before that, I finished El Gallo de Oro by Juan Rulfo. A classic of Mexican literature for very good reason.
Music🎵: I have been deep in the world of Jorge Drexler, an Uruguayan singer-songwriter born to a German-Jewish father who fled Europe and found his way to Latin America. That story of living between worlds, between identities, between faiths, runs through everything he makes. I find his TED Talk "Poetry, Music and Identity" fascinating, and it ends with a live performance of Milonga del Moro Judío, a song that stops me every single time.
Craving🍝: Pasta. I have no explanation for it, I just can't stop! If you're skipping meat, my Veggie Loaded Mexican Lasagna is a full production — but worth every minute. And if you're not, the Yucatecan Style Lasagna is a feast.
Hey Pati
Everyday I read messages you all send me — by email and on social media. I LOVE hearing from you! I'm sharing some of the great questions you ask.
Q: Dear Pati, I love your approach to cooking and how much you respect the techniques and history of each dish you present. I have been waiting for your next cookbook — when is it coming out and will it have images for the recipes? — Vicente M.
A: Vicente, yes and yes! My new cookbook, Foods of La Frontera: Recipes and New Taste Frontiers from Both Sides of the Border, comes out September 15th and is available for pre-order right now. Each dish has a gorgeous photograph, but there’s more, there are wonderful images of the landscapes, and the people of the borderlands.
If this newsletter resonates with you — this idea of living between worlds, of finding beauty and joy and something delicious right where two worlds meet — then this book was written for you. The borderlands are home to 31 million people who contribute to two countries at the same time, and the food that comes out of that place is unapologetically delicious, unpretentious, and completely accessible. Nachos. Burritos. The Caesar salad. The margarita. All born right there, at La Frontera. All carrying that same spirit of encounter and joy I have been chasing my whole life.
125 recipes. Stories. Living history. And a love letter to a place where I feel completely at home. — Pati