Join UTSA Libraries Special Collections and Fonda San Miguel for a fundraising event honoring Diana Kennedy in celebration of what would’ve been her 100th birthday. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Diana Kennedy Cookbook Collection at UTSA Special Collections to help ensure that her books and archives are preserved and available for future generations of students, researchers, and chefs.
The event takes place on March 5th, 2023, from 4:00-6:00 at Fonda San Miguel, 2330 W N Loop Blvd, Austin, TX 78756. Tickets are $45.00 and can be purchased here.
UTSA Special Collections invites applications for the Faculty Teaching in the Archives (FTIA) Grants for 2023-2024 academic year. The UTSA Special Collections Faculty Grant is aimed at instructors who would like to design or invigorate an undergraduate or graduate course with unique content from UTSA Special Collections and generate innovative primary source assignments and projects for students.
The FTIA Grants offer teaching faculty an opportunity to implement innovative archives-centered pedagogical approaches in their courses to introduce students to a variety of primary sources, engage students in in-depth archival research, build students’ critical thinking skills, and stress participation in collaborative projects and presentations. The aim of FTIA grants is to generate opportunities for building partnerships and collaborations with the Special Collections Librarian and help foster more interdisciplinary teaching curriculum.
UTSA’s manuscript and rare book collections are well suited for faculty wanting to engage with teaching evidence-based research methods, public history, book studies (broadly defined), or material culture in a variety of subject areas and topics.
UTSA Special Collections specializes in interdisciplinary subjects relating to San Antonio, Texas, Mexico, and the borderland areas spanning the Southwestern US and Northern Mexico. Our strengths include Western Americana and Native American history, Spanish Colonial and Latinx/Texas history and literature, Mexican culinary history, regional civil rights histories, as well as book arts, printing, architecture, and photography documenting the region. In addition, a wide range of materials from around the world enables research and instruction in a variety of disciplines from medieval art to creative writing. UTSA University Archives provides a rich source of faculty and staff papers, UTSA photograph collections, as well as UTSA institutional history.
Eligibility
The Faculty Grants are open to UTSA tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure track faculty teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at any level. Interdisciplinary approaches are strongly encouraged.
Involves close collaboration with an archivist or special collections librarian to define specific learning objectives for the visit to the archives, select materials or documents, design tailored small group activities, and model document analysis through directed prompts
Utilizes Special Collections materials and spaces throughout the semester
Provides opportunities for students to do at least one of the following:
scaffolded research and writing assignments using variety of primary sources
training in critical analysis and use of primary source materials through specific and tailored prompts
student engagement with scholarly communications, social media, blogs, or exhibit curation/creation
Award
Three grants will be awarded: two grants will be awarded for instruction using any Special Collections research materials and one grant will be awarded for instruction using our Chicano research collections. Each grant recipient will receive $1,000 for professional memberships, workshops, research, conferences, etc. Upon award, the money will be earmarked for the recipient’s use within one academic year.
Selection Criteria
Successful proposals will demonstrate how students will benefit from the opportunity to select, analyze, and use primary sources to learn and create new knowledge. Proposals will be evaluated for
Feasibility: Is the project realistic in terms of what can be accomplished? Does the proposal clearly communicate the project’s central goals, learning objectives, and approaches?
Depth of integration: To what extent will special collections materials be integrated throughout the course?
Innovative pedagogy: Does the project employ well designed practices or approaches that are either new to the instructor, course, or department or new to the application of those practices? If so, how do these novel approaches facilitate student learning?
Partnership building: Does the instructor-librarian/archivist collaboration help to build or strengthen connections between the academic program and the Libraries? What is the extent and the nature of the collaboration between the instructor and the librarian?
Schedule interruption plan: In case classes must go virtual for a few weeks, has the instructor included a contingency plan that has been approved by the Special Collections Librarian?
To Apply
Before applying, please contact the Special Collections Librarian, Steph Noell, at steph.noell@utsa.edu to identify materials relevant to course topics. Faculty must submit a 2-to-3-page proposal narrative for developing a new course or redesign of an existing course that makes significant use of the collections and resources of the UTSA Special Collections. The grant period during which the winning course proposal can be taught covers 3 semesters: Fall 2023, Spring 2024, and Summer 2024 of the 2023-2024 academic year.
Faculty applications should be submitted to steph.noell@utsa.edu. Proposals should be accompanied by an endorsement from the Department Chair. All applications and Department Chair endorsements are due by midnight on March 20, 2023. UTSA Special Collections will notify applicants of its decision by April 30, 2023.
The real Tejano conjunto accordion book title page, followed by an image of Eva Ybarra.
Back in August 2020, we reached out to book artist Peter Thomas about his The Actual Accordion Book to see if it covered the accordion’s history in Tejano music. The previous work was a general book about accordions and accordion books, but Peter offered to make a custom Tejano accordion book for UTSA Special Collections. For the accordion part of this accordion book, Peter chose a 1930s Hohner button accordion to repurpose. Peter printed the contents on handmade paper and his wife, Donna Thomas, then hand-colored each page. The text portion was completed with research assistance from Cathy Ragland from UNT.
UTSA Special Collections is proud to share “The real Tejano conjunto accordion book“, a one-of-a-kind artists’ book, with our community. To see this work in person, be sure to schedule a visit to the John Peace Library Reading Room on UTSA’s main campus.
Patsy Light recently donated her photographs of San Antonio structures. The images, dating mostly from 1997, document the built environment of the city from Spanish Colonial to modern times. Patsy served as an instructor and tour guide for an Elderhostel program sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin. For several months each year, intellectually curious seniors from around the country visited San Antonio for a week of sightseeing and lectures. Patsy used the slides for presentations on San Antonio’s architecture before taking the groups on bus tours.
These are a few of the more than 900 slides in the series.
Gargoyle on the 1926 Gothic-revival Emily Morgan Hotel (formerly Medical Arts Building). Photo 122-0080-08Medallion, by Tiffany & Co., on an elevator door in the Tower Life Building (formerly Smith-Young Tower). Photo 122-0113-16Terra-cotta ornament and a brass wall sconce on the 1929 Nix Professional Building. Photo 122-0081Sandra Cisneros House, King William Historic District, shortly after it was painted the vivid periwinkle purple that drew national attention following a ruling that it was not appropriate for the neighborhood. Photo 122-0066-05Mural of a 1955 Oldsmobile, by Andrew Perez, on a wall of the Gunn Building on Broadway. Photo 122-0088-01Liberty Bar in the Boehler Building on East Josephine Street. Photo 122-0165-05Late 18th century Zambrano-Rosengren House, River Road Neighborhood. Photo 122-0168-01Westside house with a capilla (yard shrine) next to the porch. Photo 122-0188-01Craftsman bungalow, Highland Park. Photo 122-01341996 Linda Pace House, Terrell Hills. Photo 122-0145
We are excited to introduce our new audiovisual archivist, Graeme Martin. Graeme was hired for our two year grant-funded project to catalog the Institute of Texan Cultures’ AV collection. The ITC audiovisual collection includes audio tapes, U-Matic and Betacam videocassettes, video reels, and 16mm and 35 mm motion picture films produced by the ITC from 1968 to the 2000s. With grant-funding we’ll also be able to send out 250 of the most at-risk audiovisual items to be digitized. As the grant project progresses we will share updates here on the Top Shelf.
Tell us a bit about your background
I recently graduated with my MLIS from UCLA with a specialization in media archival studies. I have previously gone to school for and worked as an audio engineer, but have always been interested in film and other older AV formats, so moving into archives/preservation spaces made sense to me.
What excites you about being the Audiovisual Archivist for this grant project?
I am excited about helping preserve a piece of Texas’ audiovisual heritage. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge on the variety of AV formats included in the collection and am interested in the unique challenges that this collection may exhibit. I hope that my work with the collection will help facilitate future digitization efforts and use of the materials.
What’s your favorite thing about working with obsolete audiovisual formats and equipment?
My favorite thing about working with obsolete audiovisual formats and equipment is the unique challenges and problems solving involved in the work. I am a big proponent of experiencing AV content on its original format, so preserving both the materials and playback equipment is very important to me.
How are you liking San Antonio so far?
So far San Antonio has been great. I’ve been able to take my bike out to some local trails which has been awesome. I’m definitely a foodie so being somewhere with a lot of interesting restaurants is great, and I’m looking forward to exploring more of the city.
Welcome Graeme!
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services
We are proud to announce that through the Texas Digital Library’s Aggregation Service our digitized content is now discoverable in the Digital Public Library of America! The Digital Public Library of America is a free online platform that brings together collections of digitized content from archives, libraries, and museums across the United States.
“The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) amplifies the value of libraries and cultural organizations as Americans’ most trusted sources of shared knowledge. We do this by collaborating with partners to accelerate innovative tools and ideas that empower and equip libraries to make information more accessible.”
DPLA not only provides a way to search millions of photographs, texts, videos, and audio from around the country, it provides curated exhibits and primary source sets drawn from materials in the DPLA. These exhibits and primary source sets showcase content in the collections around various themes and topics such as “Women in Science”, “Aviation”, “The Equal Rights Amendment”, “and Food.”
Participation in the DPLA is possible through our membership in the Texas Digital Library (TDL). TDL and the Portal to Texas History form the TXHub service hub. TDL works with members who take advantage of the service by gathering and standardizing the descriptive information for digitized content so that it can be submitted to DPLA. You can explore TDL members’ TxHub content in the DPLA here:
On Monday, September 19th, 2022, please join us for book signing of the newly released Masa: Techniques, Recipes, and Reflections on a Timeless Staple, by author Jorge Gaviria. Jorge is the founder of Masienda, a chef-trusted resource and supplier of high-quality masa products.
The event will include a panel discussion, Masa: Then and Now, with Jorge Gaviria, Rico Torres of Mixtli restaurant, and Jose Ralat, Texas Monthly taco editor. The panel discussion will be a conversation around corn, cookbooks, and the growing masa movement.
Special Collections will be on site with a pop-up exhibit of historic cookbooks from our collections featuring corn and masa, and light bites will be provided by Naco 210 Mexican Eatery and Patio.
Purchase tickets and a copy of the book here. The event is free for students with UTSA ID.
The YMCA San Antonio and Hill Country Records contain a treasure trove of photographs. Among this cache, there are thousands of images that capture idyllic summers spent at Camp Flaming Arrow in Hunt, Texas. Sadly, the Camp closed in 2021 after nearly a century of hosting thousands of children across the decades. I wanted to share some of these wonderful images with our readers.
The decade before the opening of Camp Flaming Arrow, boy campers boarded a special coach bound for Kerrville in 1914.
This image captures the pastoral landscape surrounding Camp Flaming Arrow in 1942.
Enjoy the slideshows below that capture life at Camp Flaming Arrow from the 1940s through the 1970s.
1966 Camp Flaming Arrow Summer Campers1973 CFA Summer Campers
By Isabella Briseño, UTSA Special Collections intern summer 2022
From June to July of 2022, I was lucky to fulfill my master’s program’s practicum requirement at UTSA Special Collections. The main project I worked on involved the physical processing of oversized architectural documents belonging to UTSA’s Office of Facilities Records, as well as the digitization of select items from the same collection.
These items were mostly blueprints of UTSA Main Campus buildings, but there were also many architectural documents pertaining to the Hemisfair Campus and the Institute of Texan Cultures. The existing finding aid did not have a clear space for the latter set of items to be organized under, so I also got the experience of adding a new series to the finding aid. The Main Campus items were simple to weave into the existing hierarchical structure but starting a section from scratch was a small challenge for me.
The physical items were at first overwhelming to handle while I inventoried them, as they were large and, in many cases, already torn or damaged, but once the roughly 600 items were accounted for and logically placed into folders, it became more digestible to me, an organizer at heart.
Floor plans for the Multidisciplinary Studies Building (previously, as the items are labelled, named “classroom-office”), in the process of being put into folders
As a UTSA alumnus, it was super interesting getting to look at blueprints and other documents that reveal a lot about the University’s history and early planning. It was also interesting to learn about, and to visit for the first time, the Institute of Texan Cultures (which I had become semi-familiar with by going through all its blueprints), where these items are now stored along with the rest of their collection. There, I was able to comb through all the collection’s materials, determining what items should be preserved digitally. Most of the regular-sized items were correspondence relating to the construction of buildings, or inconsequential things such as several letters and blueprints checking what size organ would fit on the Arts Building stage. Many items did not make the cut when determining what was worth digitally preserving.
A set of aerial photographs, site model pictures, and several enlightening planning guides pertaining to both main and downtown campus were selected. Getting to work with several different scanning machines made for a good learning experience and getting to work through the full process of uploading the materials to UTSA’s Digital Collections shed light for me on how much work, trial, and error go into digitizing even such a small assortment of items.
View of screen while using the overhead scanner to capture the aerial photographs
Getting hands-on practice with updating finding aids, using different archival programs, and processing items in a collection has been an amazing experience and I appreciate the support and knowledge that staff has shared. When I was getting my first degree here at UTSA, I had often enjoyed looking at the Special Collections display on the JPL fourth floor, and I am glad to have now gotten an in-depth and immersive look at how such items are organized and preserved for future scholars to enjoy and learn from.
On the evening of Friday, June 17, 2022, more than 100 diners gathered at Hotel Emma in San Antonio for Ven A Comer 2022. This was the first time UTSA Special Collections has been able to hold its annual fundraising dinner since 2019. Guest chef Roberto Solís traveled from Mérida, Yucatán to treat attendees to a Yucatecan-themed menu inspired by UTSA’s Mexican Cookbook Collection. Mezonte’s Curator of Agave Distilled Spirits, Pedro Jiménez Gurría, traveled from Guadalajara, Jalisco to provide patrons with a taste of Jalisco’s finest elixirs. The result was a night filled with love for Yucatán’s culinary delights and Jalisco’s A1 alcohols.
Nestled in Cellar J, away from the food and drinks, UTSA Special Collections staff presented materials from the Mexican Cookbook Collection. The chosen titles highlighted the last century of cuisine throughout the Yucatán Peninsula. Early examples include Hortensia Rendón de García’s 1926 Antiguo manual de cocina yucateca: fórmulas para condimentar los platos más usuales en la península, Manuel Ferrer Berrón’s 1925 Libro de cocina: estilo campechano, as well as a set of Dr. Narciso Novelo-Souza’s pamphlets describing Maya legends on various plants.
Overall, patrons and staff enjoyed the evening and many valuable connections were made. The night wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of our partners: the Historic Pearl Brewery, Hotel Emma, Mexican Consulate of San Antonio, and Mexican Cultural Institute; and signature sponsors HEB, Gambrinus Company, San Antonio Mexico Friendship Council, San Antonio World Heritage Office, and San Antonio Creative City of Gastronomy. Proceeds from the dinner will support the continued expansion and conservation of the Mexican Cookbook Collection. Readers interested in contributing to these efforts are welcome to donate via the UTSA Special Collections website. The complete list of books on display will be provided below.
Ferrer Berrón, Manuel. Libro de cocina: estilo campechano. Campeche, 1925.
The earliest Campeche cookbook in the Mexican Cookbook Collection, Libro de cocina was published in 1925 with the intent of teaching anyone how to cook. Recipes include sopa de camarones, mondongo en puchero, and cazón a la campechana.
Rendón de García, Hortensia. Antiguo manual de cocina yucateca: fórmulas para condimentar los platos más usuales en la península. Tomos I, II, y III, refundidos con numerosas adiciones y reformas. 6. ed. Mérida, Yucatán, México: Compañía Tipográfica Yucateca, 1926.
The earliest Yucatan book in the Mexican Cookbook Collection, Antiguo manual de cocina yucateca was published in 1926 in Mérida. UTSA’s copy is the 6th edition and combines all three original volumes into a single book. Recipes include arroz con ostiones, robalo en crema, and estofado Yucateca.
Sosa de Zapata, Adda. Libro práctico de gustadas recetas de cocina yucateca e internacional. México 15, D.F., 1935.
Sosa de Zapata’s Libro práctico de gustadas recetas de cocina yucateca e internacional was published in Mexico City in 1935. It presents Yucatecan recipes for soups, stews, sauces, salads, sweets, breads, as well as egg, meat, poultry, fish, and seafood dishes. The international recipes include syrups and Arab dishes.
Lavalle de Hernández M., Faustina. La exquisita cocina de Campeche: 400 recetas experimentadas. México: Imprenta “Londres,” 1939.
The second earliest Campeche title in the Mexican Cookbook Collection features a staggering 400 recipes, including pan de cazón, pulpo en su tinto, and tamales de pámpano.
México: tierra de antojitos. México, D. F.?: [publisher not identified], 1950.
This small booklet of recipes is arranged by regions: México, Guadalajara, Veracruz, Puebla, El Norte, Yucatán.
Novo, Salvador and Alberto Beltrán. Las senadoras suelen guisar. 1a. ed. [Mexico City?], México: Instituto Nacional de Protección a la Infancia, 1964.
Alberto Beltrán’s 1964 cookbook features more than 300 recipes from 28 states in Mexico as well as delightful illustrations by Alberto Beltrán.
Diana Kennedy Papers, MS 512, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.
The eight folders and four binders selected contain Diana Kennedy’s research on Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán. The research materials date from 1969-2003, but also includes many undated items.
León de Gutiérrez, Luz and José Díaz Bolio. El libro de los guisos de chaya. Segundo volumen, Chaya, planta maravillosa: alimenticia y medicinal. Mérida, Yucatán, Méjico: Area Mayan, 1974.
This book of stews also serves as an ethnobotanical chronicle of chaya, or tree spinach. Cooking this plant is essential as it contains a high content of hydrocyanic acid, which is toxic, and must be cooked out.
Díaz Bolio, José. El libro de los guisos de maíz: (cocina jach yucateca). Mérida, Yucatán, México: Editorial Area Maya, 1985.
José Díaz Bolio’s collection of Maya corn-based recipes.
Marks, Copeland. False Tongues and Sunday Bread: a Guatemalan and Mayan Cookbook. New York, N.Y: Donald I. Fine, 1985.
Copeland Marks’ cookbook collects 300 Maya recipes from Guatemala.
Gerlach, Nancy and Jeffrey Gerlach. Foods of the Maya: a Taste of the Yucatan. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1994.
This title represents years of travel and research on the part of its authors. In addition to recipes like pompano tamales, shrimp enchiladas, and candied sweet papaya, Foods of the Maya includes cooking tips and techniques as well as a glossary of terms.
Hamman, Cherry. Mayan Cooking: Recipes from the Sun Kingdoms of Mexico. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1998.
Within this title, Hamman includes 200 recipes, including piquant chili spice paste, empanadas de platano, joroches de chaya, pebre, and xka bi kuum. In addition to recipes, Mayan Cooking also describes the traditions in the remote Yucatecan village Acabchen, where the food is prepared with care and first presented to the gods.
Ferrer García, José C. Recetario maya de Quintana Roo. 1. ed. en la Colección Cocina indígena y popular. México, D.F: CONACULTA, 1999.
Ferrer Garcia’s CONACULTA-published book focuses on Maya food in Quintana Roo, specifically beverages, meals, as well as Holbox island foods. Recipes include buut negro de caracol, albóndiga de lisa, chilmole de bagre, and tzacol de langosta y empanadas de raya.
Maldonado Castro, Roberto. Recetario maya del estado de Yucatán. 1. ed. México: CONACULTA, 2000.
CONACULTA was founded in 1988 as an effort to coordinate cultural and artistic policies, organizations, and agencies in Mexico. Part of their efforts has been focused on preserving Mexico’s culinary heritage by publishing cookbooks on each region’s cuisine.
Hoyer, Daniel. Mayan Cuisine: Recipes from the Yucatan Region. 1st ed. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2008.
Hoyer’s book walks readers through the basics of Maya cuisine, such as recado as well as salpicón de venado, pavo en chilimole, and cochinita pibil.
Sánchez, Ivonne, Estrada Lugo, Erin Ingrid Jane, and Té Saida, Velasco. Alimentos de los mayas de Quintana Roo, México. 1a ed. San Cristóbal de Las Casas, México: El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, 2012.
This cookbook reflects the peninsular Maya gastronomic world.
Sterling, David. Yucatán: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition. First edition. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2014.
This gastronomic tour of the Yucatán peninsula features more than 275 unique recipes from major cities and small towns alike. In addition to recipes, Sterling’s book includes recommended pantry staples, advice on measurements, as well as basic preparation techniques.
The following set of pamphlets was published in Mérida, Yucatán between 1939-1949 by Dr. Narciso Souza Novelo and was donated by Michaele Haynes. Each pamphlet focuses on a specific Yucatán plant and describes local uses as well as Maya legends and traditions around its use.
Souza Novelo, Narciso. El zicilte. Merida, Yucatán, México: Compania Tipografica Yucateca, S.A., 1939.
El zicilte, Jatropha curcas, is a flowering, semi-evergreen shrub that can reach heights of 6 feet or more. Its oil is used as a lubricant, in soaps and candles, and medicinally as a purgative or to treat edema. The toxic elements in le zicilte oil can be cooked out.
Pochote, Ceiba aesculifolia, is a deciduous tree that can grow to up to 82 feet. The name pochote is derived from the Nahuatl work “pochotl”. This pamphlet describes the cultivation of pochote as well as uses for the hairs of its fruits and seeds and its bark and wood.
Aloe vera is known by many names, including sábila or zábila in Spanish; the Maya call this botanical Humpets’k’in-ki. Though originally from Africa, aloe vera has been cultivated across the world for its medicinal benefits.
Known to the Maya as matzab-citám, the Spanish needle, Bidens pilosa, is an annual species of herbaceous flowering plant. Matzab-citám is a member of the daisy family that can be found throughout the American tropics and is a favorite of butterflies. The Maya use this medicinal plant to treat an assortment of conditions, such as toothache and bronchitis, and as it is not poisonous, it is safe for consumption.
This pamphlet details the medicinal uses of k’anlol or tecoma stans. Tecoma stans are a flowering perennial shrub native to the southwest of North America as well as throughout Central and South America.
This pamphlet covers Itza Maya legends from the ancient city of Uxmal and describes some of the city’s animal inhabitants like frogs, turtles, and crickets.
The X-hail flower comes in a wide variety of sizes and corolla colors. This book focuses on the Maya legend of dt lk’il-Ik, high priest and doctor for the Maya town Uxmal, and his daughters Sauink’-ux and Suyá.
Souza Novelo, Narciso. Plantas utiles de Yucatan. Akits (campanilla amarilla). Mérida, Yuc: Talleres Gráficos y Editorial “Zamna,” 1946.
Akits is the Maya name for Thevetia, a flowering plant with poisonous seeds and secretions. The Maya used Akits to treat dental pain, fever, and ingested poison. The toxicity of Akits’ secretions can be neutralized with heat. The oils from the seeds are used as a lubricant and used in paint and soaps.
This pamphlet details legends such as the founding of the Yucatec Maya town Peto, the love story of NIK-CHUIL and AH KECH, as well as how the plant the Maya named CH’IT-KUUK fits into these tales.
Souza Novelo, Narciso. Plantas utiles de Yucatan. Akits (campanilla amarilla). Mérida, Yuc: Talleres Gráficos y Editorial “Zamna,” 1946.
Akits is the Maya name for Thevetia, a flowering plant with poisonous seeds and secretions. The Maya used Akits to treat dental pain, fever, and ingested poison. The toxicity of Akits’ secretions can be neutralized with heat. The oils from the seeds are used as a lubricant and used in paint and soaps.
Balché is a fermented beverage composed of bark from a lilac tree, Lonchocarpus violaceus, steeped in honey water and fermented. This pamphlet describes the Maya legend of the lovers WAY-KOL and SAK-NIKTE’ and how they came upon this beverage.
Souza Novelo, Narciso. La X-tabay: leyenda maya, inédita. Mérida, Yuc: [Tall. Gráficos y Editorial “Zamana”], 1949.
This pamphlet details the legend of the Maya princess Suluay and the sorceress. The sorceress is referred to as the X-pulyaah. X-tabay refers to an apparition of a young woman who appears in Yucatán who seduces young men.
The following cookbooks were written and published by TV chef, radio host, publisher, author, and teacher, Josefina Velázquez de León. Velázquez de León was one of the earliest writers researching regional Mexican cuisines. Throughout her career, Velázquez de León visited at least 16 states to teach classes and collect local recipes and she would even credit the recipe authors in the subsequent regional cookbooks.
Velázquez de León, Josefina. Platillos regionales de la República Mexicana. 1. ed. México, D.F: Ediciones J. Velázquez de León, 1946.
Platillos regionales de la República Mexicana features recipes from 29 states, many including indigenous ingredients like achiote, agave, cacahuazintle, chipilín, expelon, jocoqui, nopales, tequesquite, and xoconoxtles.
Velázquez de León, Josefina. Mexican Cook Book Devoted to the American Homes: Recipes of Mexican Cookery of Each Region of the Mexican Country, Adopting Its Ingredients, to the Elements That Can Be Substituted in the Northern Part of the United States, Central Republic and South America, Written in Two Languages: English and Spanish. Mexico City: [Escuela de Cocina “Velázquez de León”], 68 Abraham Gonzalez Street, 1947.
This is Velázquez de León’s sole bilingual cookbook, first published in 1947 followed by at least 11 later editions. Mexican Cook Book Devoted to the American Homes was translated by Concepción Silva Garcia and illustrated by Guadalupe Mutiozabal Velazquez de León. In addition to recipes, this book includes instructional sections on preparation methods as well as ingredients.
Velázquez de León, Josefina. Cocina de Campeche: selección de las principales recetas regionales, de cocina y repostería campechana, experimentadas y garantizadas por la Academia de Cocina Velázquez de León. 1. ed. México, D.F: Ediciones J. Velázquez de León, 1953.
Cocina de Campeche features a selection of regional recipes, including recipes containing expelon, ibes, pavo de monte, and pepita de calabaza.
Velázquez de León, Josefina. Cocina yucateca. 2. ed. México, D.F: [Academia de Cocina Velázquez de León], 1955.
Cocina yucateca features a selection of regional recipes, including recipes containing el cazón, epazote, and expelon.
Velázquez de León, Josefina. Cocina de América: selección de las principales recetas de cocina regionales de las 24 naciones de América ; recetas de los mejores platillos de cocina y repostería de los 30 estados de la República Mexicana. 1a. ed. México, D.F: Ediciones J. Velázquez de Léon, n.d.
Cocina de América features recipes of the best cooking and pastry dishes of the 24 countries in the Americas and the 30 states of the Mexican Republic. The recipes in this book were provided by Velázquez de León’s cooking class students. Also included are cakes decorated with the shield of each country.
The Top Shelf 