Featured Presentations

Patricia Merrill Márquez was born in San Miguel de Allende and grew up in a bi-cultural family. The influence of her Yankee father, a language teacher, and her Mexican mother, with a three generation history of cooking expertise initiated in the convents of San Miguel, resulted in the publication of The Buen Provecho Book, a delicious and humorous showcase of insight into Mexican cooking and culture through popular sayings and authentic recipes.

Although her formal training and professional practice has been — for over 47 years—in architecture, her current activities include running   MexicanCookingVacation.com, real estate brokering and illustrating a rich reflection of a then atypical and often amusing dual heritage upbringing through her writing. She also finds time for family enjoyment which includes spending time with her two beautiful granddaughters.

Kirsten West is an international chef and cooking instructor (She is the owner of Piña Azul Cooking School) who has studied regional Mexican cuisine for over 30 years. Her teachers have ranged from many Mexican cooks to Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless, both recipients of the Orden Mexicana del Águila Azteca (Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle), the highest recognition given to foreigners for promoting Mexican culture. She collaborated over 8 years with Rick Bayless and tested all recipes for three of his cookbooks.

Eva Eliscu is a Swedish born, Mexico -based culinary consultant and lecturer on the History and Customs of the Dining Table. She is a producer of the annual "Food in Film Festival" in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She was educated in Sweden, Switzerland and the US. She is fluent in Swedish, English, survival French and continues to learn Spanish.

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Through her lecture, she welcomes you to Napoleon and Josephine’s table as they made sweeping changes at the dining table of all of Europe. A significant chance in dining was taking place as aristocrats had lost
power around the banquet and dining table and the industrial revolution was in full swing. Our journey with Eva's lecture takes us from Napoleon's table, to dining with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, and on to Victorian England as invited diner guests of Charles and Catherine Dickens. Arriving at the Nobel Prize Banquet Dinner to dine with the Swedish Royal family and their 1,300 guests.