A deft mix of recipes, family history, and social history. . . Well-written and well-illustrated with period photographs. . . a book for both the kitchen and the study. 

-- Houston Chronicle

In the tradition of Like Water for Chocolate, Recipe of Memory uses food and delectable recipes to trace the migrations of one family as they zigzag across the border separating Mexico and California.  Alongside the family memoir, a parallel story unravels, one which offers an intriguing social history of late nineteenth-century Mexico.

Whether you're absorbed by mouthwatering recipes such as Squab on a Bed of Saffron Rice, Chiles Stuffed with Shrimp or Asado de Carnero con Mole (Roast Leg of Lamb with Mole), or by the mesmerizing energy that motivated several generations of the Vargas family, you'll find this sensual book to be, in the words of one of Mexico's preeminent novelists Elena Poniatowska, a "generous gift."

A native of Los Angeles, Victor Valle worked as a Los Angeles Times staff writer, during which time he won a Pulitzer Prize as a member of the reporting team that wrote the series "Southern California's Latino Community."  He currently teaches journalism at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, and writes extensively on politics and food for a variety of papers, including the Los Angeles Times.  Mary Valle holds a degree in home economics from California State University, Long Beach.  She, too, is a food journalist and has taught nineteenth-century Mexican cuisine at California Polytechnic State University and San Luis Obispo.