Recipes as Remembrances
For chef Bricia López of Guelaguetza restaurant, food can preserve the memories of a family—and an entire culture
Bricia López with chilhuacle negro chiles, a signature ingredient in traditional Oaxacan black mole.
Photo: Courtesy Bricia López
Body Content
Oaxacan food expert and Los Angeles-based chef Bricia López will never forget an encounter she had during a recent visit to her hometown of Mitla, Mexico.
López visited a local man’s home as part of the research for her upcoming cookbook about Día de los Muertos traditions. She noticed that instead of a photograph of a deceased loved one on the man’s altar (as is typical), there was only food.
The man explained that his family had never had access to a camera, but he knew what his loved ones liked to eat. So, he remembered them through food. For López, whose family opened the beloved LA restaurant Guelaguetza in 1994, that conversation confirmed something she had been observing for years: “Family recipes are almost like a photograph of your family, a picture of your traditions, your loved ones, and what life was like at that moment in time,” she says.
López will present a talk and tasting featuring mole, chocolate, mezcal, and more at Getty on November 15, to explore how food can be a living archive. Ahead of the event, we sat down with her for a Q&A about how food can preserve the memories of a person, a family, and even an entire culture.
Bricia López and her mom, María de Jesús Monterrubio de López, prepare family recipes from Oaxaca.
Photo: Courtesy Bricia López
How did this collaboration with Getty come about?
Getty reached out to me about collaborating, and I learned about the new photography exhibitions Instante/revelación: Moments in Mexican Photography and Every Minute Is History: Five Views of Los Angeles. My goal with this event was really to think about what photography means. I’m a chef and a restaurant owner. My family’s been here for decades, and we’ve been feeding LA for such a long time. After the talk, we’re going to gather at the Getty restaurant, share a meal, and recreate what it would be like coming into my family’s home during this season, eating some of the recipes we’ve had in my house for generations.
What role has food played in your life, from childhood to the present day?
Oaxacans have a special connection to food. We’re so connected to our land that we’re also connected to what we eat. I’ve been cooking for as long as I can remember, helping my abuelita make tortillas, beans, and salsa. Those are the basic Oaxacan dishes. My mouth waters when I think about roasted tomatoes, beans, and, of course, there’s nothing like a freshly made tortilla with a little bit of salt.
What led you to become a chef?
I’ve always worked with food. My parents started the restaurant. I took it over with my siblings about 15 years ago, and I’ve just always had a love for food. I just love feeding people.
What makes the mole in Oaxacan cuisine so special?
They all use different chiles, but they all have the same foundation, whether it’s chile chilhuacle, chile guajillo, chile ancho, nuts, spices, local herbs, onions, garlic, all the aromatics. For me, mole is a perfect combination of harmony when it comes to cooking. And there’s nothing more celebratory when it comes to food in Oaxaca than mole. Mole is at the center of it all, from weddings to Día de los Muertos. When you make something that takes so long to cook and has so many different ingredients, it’s amazing how everything comes together and creates this beautiful sauce.
Black mole, red mole, and segueza, three traditional dishes in the López family’s culinary tradition.
Photo: Courtesy Bricia López
Guelaguetza, the name of your restaurant, means “giving,” “receiving,” and “sharing.” How is that idea reflected in the restaurant and in its relationship with Los Angeles?
“Guelaguetza” is a tradition that has been celebrated in Oaxaca since its beginnings. And for us, Guelaguetza is our “guelaguetza” to Los Angeles. It’s our way of offering a little bit of who we are, of sharing, of giving, and of receiving. And I think that, for me, it has become the essence of my world and of who I am. It’s where I’ve met most of my closest friends. It’s the ultimate expression of community. At the restaurant, we serve the same dishes we’ve been serving for generations. These are the same recipes my mom and dad grew up eating. So, I think we’re serving a legacy. We’re part of the DNA of the city of Los Angeles. We can preserve an entire culture simply through recipes and by keeping our traditions alive. I think that’s beautiful.
What would you like people to understand about the diversity of Oaxacan cuisine, both in Oaxaca and in Los Angeles?
I would like people to know that in Mexican food, there’s so much regionality. Oaxacan cooking can be seen as almost like food from its own little country. Even though I cook food from the Valley of Oaxaca, there are so many different regions within Oaxaca. The food from Oaxaca is so vast and almost infinite. I just want people to know that I make up a small part of what Oaxaca is, but it’s just immense.
What would you recommend trying to get a better idea of Oaxacan cuisine, from its main dishes to its sweets?
Mole is one of the most delicious foods there is. But there’s also the tlayuda, which is the quintessential street food of Oaxaca. It’s a large corn tortilla topped with asiento [rendered pork fat], bean paste, cabbage, cheese, and different kinds of meat. As for desserts, nicuatole is delicious. It’s a type of corn-based gelatin dessert. Arroz con leche with candied garbanzos is another favorite. Roasted plantains with cream and sugar are another example. And we have so much more: gelatinas, many kinds of bread, and a whole variety of regional sweets, like menguanitos and turrones. There’s so much variety.
You have published two successful cookbooks and are currently working on a third. What can you tell us about them?
My first book is Oaxaca, which is about my family’s recipes and the entire story of my family. The second one was Asada, which is more about my experience living in Los Angeles and growing up here for the past 30 years. And now I’m working on my third cookbook, a Day of the Dead cookbook, which will be coming out in a couple of years.
What can family recipes preserve, and what relationship do they have to photography?
I think recipes are just pictures of our families at a moment in time. I want to encourage people to see them like that—to write down their family’s recipes and what’s going on around them and create that record of a moment in time and keep those traditions alive. A family recipe carries so much more than just the memory of the flavor. It carries the memory of what was happening around you when you first had that flavor.
Tickets are still available to Lopez's talk and tasting event on Sunday, November 15, at the Getty Center. Learn more about the event and sign up here.
