Northern Mexican
food in Buda.

It started with
Grandma Itaa.

Remembered by Patricia

I grew up in a neighborhood of teachers in Chihuahua, Mexico, and my grandma Itaa was its heart. She looked after the neighborhood children and made meals for their families. At the end of the day, parents would come to pick up their children and take home the meal she had prepared. She was known and loved for the warmth she shared with everyone around her.

Her kindness reached beyond our neighborhood. When migrants traveling from South America arrived in Mexico and got off the train, she would feed them. Without judgment or fear, she saw people who needed a meal, and her kind heart wanted to help.

I used to watch her cook while she explained each step. Even the little things that might seem unnecessary to someone else meant everything to her. She taught me that the care you put into cooking matters as much as the food itself.

She would tell me to cook when I felt happy, and to cook when I felt sad, too—with Pedro Infante, José Alfredo Jiménez, Javier Solís, and Sarita Montiel playing. Those songs still remind me of my grandma’s heart. That is why I put my heart into the food I cook. Itaa’s Street Kitchen carries her name and the love she taught me to share.