After watching a new documentary, I realized that, of all the famous cookbook authors out there, there are three who also defined a movement. Alice Waters has brought slow-, whole-, farm-to-table- food to the forefront. Julia Child made French food accessible to Americans. And Diana Kennedy continues to show us, in depth, the heart of Mexican cuisine. Julia’s food will continue to be a personal challenge serious homecooks will take on for generations. Alice Waters’ philosophies have had a huge impact and just continue to grow as we, collectively, become more conscious about where our food is coming from. Diana Kennedy, now in her late 90’s, is still going strong, on a mission to continue to be the liaison between what we all think of as Mexican cuisine and what it really is. Her sense of urgency to make sure the connections between Mexico and the rest of the world are clear in the new documentary about her, Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy.

Diana Kennedy Documentary Serves Up Spice and Grit

I had certainly heard of Diana Kennedy but I wasn’t a devotee  – my bad. Over the years, I’ve seen her books in cooking stores and bookstores and would leaf through them. But I hadn’t bought any or put them to use. That’s going to change now that I’ve seen this documentary. She has authored nine cookbooks and is a two-time James Beard Award winner. While many call her the “Julia Child of Mexico,” she prefers “The Mick Jagger of Mexican Cuisine.” It  fits. With only a cursery knowledge of what she was all about, I was eager to watch, listen, and learn about Diana Kennedy. What I got was an awakening on many levels.

I’m not going to spoil it for you but I’ll just say Diana Kennedy has led a very interesting life, personally. Independent and adventurous, she has lived her life primarily on her terms. Her relationship with Mexico began when her husband, a journalist, was assigned there. To make the most of her time, Kennedy delved (a modest word for it) into the food of the country. She’d go on culinary expeditions to other areas in Mexico to learn about ingredients, methods, recipes, and people. In terms of RealFoodTraveler.com’s philosophy, she was an ultimate culinary traveler, experiencing places through the authentic foods. She is “our” people!

Kennedy planted what she did in her garden and greenhouse for the food sources they provide. Photo by Greenwich Entertainment.

In the documentary, Kennedy says she never left a place (destination, food cart, restaurant, market, or home) without getting a recipe, coaxing people into sharing secret family recipes. In return, she built a strong bond with people, honoring them, acknowledging them, being fiercely loyal to them and all that their cuisines meant to their families and culture. In one touching scene, a woman who has known Kennedy for years describes why she considers her a Mexican woman. Kennedy never took what she learned to exploit it for book or TV show material. She took what she learned to reach out to the rest of us all over the world. To me, it’s like she was saying, “This is amazing! You need to try this, know it, and really understand it because this IS Mexico.”

Throughout Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy, we get flashbacks to her life and her professional growth. We see how tough, defiant, crass, and wonderful she is and has been. The woman is true to herself and anyone who wanted/wants her to be something she isn’t –  be damned. We see the amazing home, built into the earth and rocks, that she designed and built. We see her doing exercises in bed before getting up and walking a favorite  path on her property. We see her cooking, although not nearly as much as I would have liked, and we see her setting people straight about everything from cooking methods to purses.

Diana Kennedy roasts coffee beans using an old device before grinding them for her morning coffee. You can practically smell the coffee in this scene provided by Greenwich Entertainment.

Besides just becoming more familiar with Kennedy’s life, work, and passion for the cuisine and people of Mexico, the biggest awakening for me from this documentary was the message about what to do with your life – especially as a woman. Kennedy has lived life fully, pursuing whatever interested her. She hasn’t let gender roles, expectations, or limitations stand in her way. She has led a life fueled by the things that excited her most. Making money wasn’t the goal. Making people like her wasn’t the goal. It is said that, as people get older, they get to a point where they just don’t care about pleasing anyone and want to say what they want and do what they want (or are able to). It may be abrasive to those on the receiving end of those comments and actions. But, it must also be so freeing! I’m kind of looking forward to that time, I gotta say.

Here’s where I need to bring up the negatives: The film is less than 2 hours but feels like it’s dragging on at times. For those looking for a typical movie format of a climax and resolution, you won’t find it here. Documentaries don’t usually follow that formula. But my movie-loving brain kept thinking, “Oh, they’re winding down to the end now.” But no, they were just having a moment of summation before rising back up again with another part to talk about. So it’s like a bumpy, undulating ride to watch the documentary – much like Kennedy’s drives to explore areas of Mexico. The palette is beautiful and the lighting couldn’t have been better if it was manufactured in a studio. Most of the film work was great but I really, really don’t like the in-and-out-of-focus, very close-in camera work that has been trendy within the past several years. Pan out! Focus! I want to see what she’s doing. I want to clearly see what spices she’s adding, how she’s treating the squash blossoms, how she’s doing this and that. Forget artsy – show me what she sees and what we’d see if we really were in the room with her. There, said it. Otherwise, it’s a fascinating way to slip into her world and into the richness of real Mexican food.

The film makes you hungry. Hungry for the food, of course. But more than that, it makes you hungry for living a life of purpose and intent that is joyful and full of following everything you feel passionate about that also happens to augment other people’s lives, like Kennedy’s books and interests have. See it and then cook up something wonderful.

Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy is available on iTunes (AppleTV), Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, FandangoNow, Microsoft Movies, and various cable platforms. You can also purchase the DVD on Amazon.com.

Hungry for more? Here’s another foodie (and bowling) movie about following dreams that has come out through streaming. And here’s our curated list of movies and books for food lovers.

Please note: I was provided with a screener link to this documentary to facilitate this article. And, RealFoodTraveler.com s a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn a small amount of advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com while providing convenience for the reader.