NOTHING FANCY: DIANA KENNEDY

Master chef, teacher, writer, and activist Diana Kennedy was recognised one of the most celebrated culinary legends of Mexican cuisine but also fought unapologetically for change in the environment to produce and sustain fresh food for future generations.

Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy is a feature-length documentary offering a candid look into the world of British chef and cookbook author Diana Kennedy who passed away in July 2022 at the end of 99, widely regarded as the world’s authority on Mexican cuisine. Standing barely five feet tall with a still-thick English accent, Diana was a formidable critic of any individual who doesn’t agree with her subjective views of Mexican culinary traditions, or, God forbid, doesn’t recycle.

Diana was a force of nature, living entirely in harmony with it. She designed and built her ecologically sustainable property outside Zitácuaro, Michoacán in 1974, where she cooked, recycled rainwater, used solar power, and grew her own vegetables, coffee, and corn. She was a staunch environmentalist, maintaining a collection of plastic bags she’s reused for a decade.

The author of eight cookbooks; Diana was decorated with an Order of the Aztec Eagle from the Mexican government in 1982; received a Member of the Order of the British Empire for strengthening cultural ties between Mexico and the UK in 2002; and is a 2014 inductee into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame.