Josefina Velázquez de León promoted Mexico’s gastronomic culture like no other through her cookbooks.
There is no doubt about the importance of Mexican gastronomy worldwide. It is probably one of the country’s cultural expressions with the deepest impact. In recent years, various figures have been crucial in consolidating it. Among all of them, the great pioneer was Josefina Velázquez de León, who collected and disseminated Mexico’s extensive culinary knowledge through her cookbooks.
Origin and Education of Josefina Velázquez de León
Several biographers state that she was born in the state of Aguascalientes in 1899. Her family was well-off and moved to Mexico City around 1905. However, there remain some unclear details and inconsistencies regarding her birth and registration.
From what is known, Josefina only completed education up to secondary school. Her culinary education began with what her mother taught her in the family kitchen. Later, she was trained by teacher Virginia G. de Solís, who held a certificate from the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP).
The Great Promoter of Mexican Gastronomy
In 1921, Josefina’s father passed away, leaving the family in a precarious financial situation. When she was 30, she married a businessman who died suddenly months later. This forced her, in 1935, to convert her home at 68 Abraham González Street in Mexico City into the “Academy of Cooking, Pastry, and Decoration Velázquez de León.”
This marked the beginning of her work in Mexican gastronomy. Soon after, she started gathering a vast collection of regional recipes. This effort coincided with the post-revolutionary nationalism that celebrated indigenous customs. Velázquez de León demonstrated her talents in writing, research, and cultural dissemination, highlighting the history and pre-Hispanic roots of national cuisine.
Thanks to this work, in the 1930s she published her findings in Revista Mignon, edited in Puebla. Later, in 1946, she published her most important work, Regional Dishes of the Mexican Republic, which presented the culinary identity and food characteristics of each Mexican state.
The Importance of Josefina Velázquez de León
Between 1930 and 1968, Josefina published about 150 books on Mexican and international gastronomy. She also wrote guides on how to use electrical kitchen appliances. She traveled extensively across the country, teaching classes and encouraging women to share their family recipes. She frequently appeared on radio and television, sharing all kinds of national recipes.
The renowned Mexican passed away on September 21, 1968. She left behind a true legacy of knowledge and recipes from every corner of the Republic. This constitutes one of the most important contributions to the history of Mexican gastronomy. Much of her research can now be found at the Library of Mexican Gastronomy of the Herdez Foundation, located at 18 Seminario Street in the Historic Center of Mexico City.
