Where the Flavor Lives: A Mexican-American Home Cook’s Story

A story about my dad, my sazón, and why the food I cook is a mosaic of everything I’ve lived.

Jul 08, 2025

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Last week I shared my easy Coctel de Camarón — the quick fix for when you’re hungry now. Sometime this month I want to share with you the version that really lives in my heart: my dad’s recipe from Tampico. It takes more steps (and more love), but first, a little about the cook behind the keyboard.

I was born into flavor. My dad, who ran two beach-front restaurants in Tamaulipas, is still the palate I measure myself against. When my husband says, “This is delicious,” I smile — but inside I’m comparing it to Dad’s sazón (seasoning) and whispering, Not there yet. Food is how my family says I love you.

I thought every household cooked like this… until I moved to the United States and realized that, for many, cooking was more about speed and convenience than making things from scratch. And “Mexican food” often meant orange cheese and hard-shell tacos. Culture shock doesn’t begin to cover it.

Worse, I found myself in between worlds: too Mexican for some Americans, not Mexican enough for relatives back home. These days I see that hyphen — Mexican-American — as a bridge, not a fence. We absorb two sets of stories, two languages, two pantries. Each of us carries a different mix, so no single person can be an encyclopedia of “real” Mexican cuisine (sorry, Taco Bell).

American television fed my curiosity. Parts Unknown, Bizarre Foods, Martha, Ina — they all nudged me toward new spices and new questions. High-school lunch tables did the rest. I swapped tacos for kimchi, tamales for chicken tikka masala, and came home gushing to my dad about flavors we’d never tasted in Tampico. He grabbed his wok (yes, a wok!) and experimented right alongside me.

So the recipes you’ll find here are a mosaic:

summers in Mexico
winters in Texas
Dad’s restless creativity
Travel Channel marathons
countless dinners with friends from every corner of the globe

They aren’t 30-minute miracles. They’re dishes to linger over, to start conversations with, to remember. And yes, you control the heat level — I’m handing you the steering wheel.

What’s coming

Two full menus each month (one free, one for paid subscribers)
Garden updates as I turn my yard into a pollinator paradise
Home-renovation snapshots and the lessons they teach me about patience

I recently lost my job, and this newsletter is part passion project, part leap of faith. Paid posts will roll out slowly and thoughtfully; free readers will always have a seat at the table.

What’s next on the table? Peaches. We finally got our peaches from Georgia, and I couldn’t be more delighted to start experimenting.

A Note to My Fellow Mexicans
Our cuisine is personal and precious; I feel that, too. My versions may wander, but they always start with respeto (respect). My foundation is Mexican, but I am shaped by my environment, the people along the way, and the experiences I’ve had. I am a product of something new — a new wave of cooks who immigrated to another country and found inspiration in their surroundings. I hope you’ll taste with an open mind before you judge. After all, kitchens — like people — grow richer when borders blur.

Thank you for being here. Let’s cook.

Lily Oli Hawthorne