IN CONVERSATION Mothers & Daughters

Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz is known as a “kitchen curandera." Curanderas are traditional healers who have practiced throughout the Americas for more than 500 years. Following in the steps of her maternal great-grandmother, Ruiz brings to her practice a knowledge of indigenous foods and “earth medicines” (the title of her recent book). She lives with her husband and near her daughter in Phoenix, Arizona, where she offers workshops a...

“Let Daddy move the chopsticks first” and “Do not leave one piece of rice on your plate."

These maxims were part of the Chinese culture and tradition that Tina Yao imparted to her daughter, a first-generation Chinese-American. With a Yale degree (and wearing her mother’s suit), Nancy Yao Maasbach got a job at the Council on Foreign Relations, using her heritage and perspective to work on U.S. policy with China, as tha...

Internationally celebrated cake designer Sylvia Weinstock makes cakes that astonish the palate, dazzle the eye, and reward the spirit. She started baking at home while her husband and three daughters skied down Hunter Mountain. André Soltner, the renowned chef of Lutèce, recommended Sylvia as an apprentice to pastry chef George Kellner, who operated a guesthouse on the mountain. It wasn't long before her client list included O...

Zarela Martinez is an acclaimed restaurateur and cookbook author in New York City. Her books include Food from My Heart, The  Food and Life of Oaxaca, and Zarela’s Veracruz, the companion to her PBS series "Zarela!! La Cocina Veracruzana." Her personal papers are resident in The Schlesinger Library, one of the leading centers for scholarship on the history of women in the United States. She serves on the Board of Director...