She was born and raised in the center of San Mateo Yucutindoó, a community that belongs to the district of Sola de Vega in the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca, since she was 7 years old has been involved in all the chores of a family kitchen. Thalía proudly carries the ancestral knowledge of traditional cooking, mainly from her grandmother Catalina and her mother.

She is the youngest of 7 siblings and the only one who, since she was little, had a great interest in cooking and continued learning about local ingredients, traditional techniques and recipes; affinities that some years later led her to study gastronomy.

Since she was little, she has been in contact with the harvest fields, planting, the cornfield and its seasons.

“I always remember my grandmother Catalina’s backyard, she had a cornfield with beans, chilies, wild greens quelites, wild greens quintoniles, pumpkins, green beans, and there was always coriander of different sizes.”

For chef Thalía, it is impossible to leave farming occupations behind in her town, so visiting the community has become an important part of her agenda.

In her community, preparing the land, weeding the field, planting and harvesting are activities with the same importance in their daily tasks and they usually do so respecting the cycles of the moon.