The Kitchen That Fed an Icon: Frida Kahlo’s World Comes Alive in Washington, D.C.
- Tyzza Macias
- May 22
- 3 min read
Frida Kahlo has been painted a thousand times on murals, mugs, memes, and museum walls. But this June, a different portrait of the Mexican icon will emerge, not on canvas, but in ceramic pots, handwritten recipes, and the faint, fragrant memory of chile and lime.
From June 12 to June 21, 2025, Los Sabores de Mi México, a cultural project dedicated to preserving Mexican heritage, will bring a rare and intimate exhibition to the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. Far from the clichés that have commercialized her image, this event restores Frida to the space that grounded her: the kitchen.
“We combine the magic of Mexico's incredible flavors with recipes from the iconic artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954), presenting a world where cuisine meets art.”
Presented by Jarritos, a brand beloved across generations of Mexican families, the event is less about celebrity than about cultural memory. Visitors will step into a life-sized replica of the Kahlo family kitchen. A space filled with the everyday artifacts of domestic life: clay cookware, family photographs, and the unmistakable spirit of resilience that defined Frida’s world.
This edition of the exhibition is more than immersive, it’s restorative. It offers the public something that art museums often overlook: the rituals of nourishment and care that sustained one of the 20th century’s most formidable women.
“This book connects us to the woman, to the family,” said Chef Mónica Patiño. She adds, “To that, everyday life—what was eaten in Frida's home, her handwritten recipes… Frida in Coyoacán was always deeply connected to traditional Mexican cooking, which is still alive today.”
At the heart of the event is the launch of a new culinary art book, featuring previously unpublished recipes from the Kahlo family, some penned in Frida’s own hand. These recipes, passed from generation to generation, tell a story not just of meals, but of matriarchy, memory, and resistance.
“It is a great honor to share a part of our heritage, of our family's story, with the world,” said Mara Romeo Kahlo, Frida Kahlo's great-niece. “We believe that the kitchen is the heart of a home, and we are bringing a gastronomic art book and period pieces to share Frida in a very simple, everyday, and fun way…”
The exhibition also features never-before-seen photographs of the Kahlo family images that peel back the mythology to reveal something far more powerful: a woman shaped by intimacy, pain, humor, and ritual.
But this tribute is not only inward-looking. Ten towering “Fridas,” each one a monumental sculpture reimagined by contemporary Mexican artists, will stand throughout the venue, interpreting her legacy through lenses as diverse as the country she came from. It’s a bold reminder that Frida Kahlo is not just remembered, she is continually reinterpreted.
Children and families will be invited to take part in “Paint Your Frida” workshops, where they can express their own relationship to the artist through miniature sculptures, reinforcing the idea that heritage is not inherited passively; it’s made, shared, and remade by each generation.
Los Sabores de Mi México not only celebrates the rich cultural and culinary heritage of Mexico, but also, in this edition, pays an unprecedented tribute to one of the country's most important artists and her legacy.
Food will not be an afterthought. Culinary tastings across Washington, D.C. will honor Kahlo’s recipes with the guidance of three acclaimed chefs: Marcelino Zamudio of Chicatana Restaurant, Alam Méndez of Apapacho, and Chabela Coss, Executive Chef of Grupo Pascual. Their menus won’t merely reinterpret tradition, they’ll translate ancestral recipes into modern expressions of pride, creativity, and identity.
In attendance will be Kahlo’s great-niece Mara Romeo Kahlo, her great-great-niece Mara De Anda, and Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, Mexico’s Ambassador to the United States. Their presence reminds us that this event is not only a cultural showcase but a diplomatic gesture reaffirming the global significance of Mexican heritage.
Adding to the artistry is Marisela Rumberg, a self-taught Mexican-American artist whose work in textiles and printmaking has spanned continents. During the exhibition, Rumberg will create a live piece called “LitoFrida”, paying homage not just to Frida the symbol, but Frida the woman, who cooked, who ached, who danced in her kitchen despite pain.
Frida Kahlo once said, “I am my own muse.” At Los Sabores de Mi México, visitors will discover how that muse was fed, not only by grief and color, but by corn, mole, laughter, and love. This is more than an exhibition. It’s a reclamation of story, soul, and sustenance.
