Friday, December 8, 2023

Portion of UTSA’s Mexican Cookbook Collection now available online

Portion of UTSA’s Mexican Cookbook Collection now available online

Title pages from “Libro de Varios Guisados 1808” (left) and “Recetas de Cocina Veracruz 1894,” courtesy of UTSA Libraries Special Collections.

FEBRUARY 14, 2020 — Unique, handwritten recipes of traditional Mexican dishes dating as far back as 1789 can be viewed online as part of the digitization efforts of the UTSA Libraries’ Mexican Cookbook Collection, one of the nation’s largest of its kind.

The books provide an intimate view of domestic life and culinary culture in Mexico and include a number of recipes such as pollo en agua dulce (chicken in sweet water), panque de mantequilla (buttered sponge cake) and guisado de chile (chili stew).

“Digitization of our materials is an important piece of what we do,” said Amy Rushing, assistant dean of UTSA Libraries Special Collections. “We aim to remove as many barriers as possible to accessing our collections, and digitizing materials allows us to put them online, make them discoverable and share them with the widest possible audience.”


“We aim to remove as many barriers as possible to accessing our collections, and digitizing materials allows us to...make them discoverable.”

AMY RUSHING, Assistant Dean of UTSA Libraries Special Collections



Special Collections has scanned more than 50 books to make the contents accessible online. It features a selection of the most rare and fragile pieces of manuscript cookbooks, preserving the one-of-a-kind source material.

“Our Mexican Cookbook Collection is one of our most used collections,” Rushing said. “We are proud to be able to share a piece of it with those who are unable to travel to San Antonio, and we will continue to add more online in the future.”

Digitization of the manuscript cookbooks is an ongoing effort, and most recently, Special Collections has begun transcribing portions of it, making the content more discoverable.

The Mexican Cookbook Collection includes more than 2,000 texts in both English and Spanish from 1789 to present, with most dating from 1940 to 2000.


View the digital collection and learn more about UTSA Libraries.
Learn more about how to support the continuing digitization efforts of the Mexican Cookbook Collection and to help document the diverse histories of San Antonio and South Texas.

In addition to broad general coverage the collection includes concentrations in the areas of regional cooking, healthy and vegetarian recipes, corporate advertising cookbooks and more than 100 manuscript recipe books.

The UTSA Libraries Special Collections preserves and provides access to the legacies of UTSA, San Antonio and South Texas through a rich array of rare books, photographs and primary sources. Strengths of the collections include UTSA’s institutional history, women and women’s history, activists/activism, Mexican Americans, San Antonio authors and artists, Mexican and Tex-Mex culinary history, and urban development and growth.

Joaquin Herrera


Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.



UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.


Events


Spotlight

Spotlight

dtc-utsa-sign_680.png
University of Texas at San Antonio receives ‘transformational’ $40M gift

UTSA’s Mission

The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.

UTSA’s Vision

To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.

UTSA’s Core Values

We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.

UTSA’S Destinations

UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .

Our Commitment to Inclusivity

The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.