Diana Kennedy
Diana Kennedy MBE (née Southwood; 3 March 1923 – 24 July 2022) 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.
Diana Kennedy MBE | |
|---|---|
Kennedy in 2016 | |
| Born | Diana Southwood 3 March 1923 Loughton, Essex, England |
| Died | 24 July 2022 (aged 99) Zitácuaro, Michoacán, Mexico |
| Occupation | Author, researcher and cook |
| Genre | Cookbooks |
| Subject | Mexican cuisine |
| Years active | 1967–2022 |
| Notable awards | Order of the Aztec Eagle, Order of the British Empire |
| Spouse |
Paul P. Kennedy (died 1967) |
| Website | |
| dianakennedycenter | |
Her documentation of native edible plants has been digitized by National Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity. Due to her style of work, Kennedy was called a "culinary anthropologist" and self-identified as an "ethno-gastronomer". Kennedy received numerous awards for her work, including the Order of the Aztec Eagle from the Mexican government, and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire.