Episode #127: María Álvarez and Isaac Martínez

María Álvarez and Isaac Martínez are the co-founders of the Mexican culinary book publisher Novo. We had María on a couple of years ago when they had just started out. They’ve put a few more books out and have some exciting projects in development, so we wanted to talk to her again alongside Isaac. Somehow, they are the first culinary book publisher in Mexico and they have already put out some beautiful books about that go into depth around Mexican culinary elements like mushrooms, pulque, pork, and now fish. This last one is especially intriguing as its being written by Jorge Leon, who has the restaurant Alfonsina in Oaxaca, which I have written about quite a bit. Jorge started a sustainable fish company a couple of years ago, just because he wanted to get fish from the coast of Oaxaca on his menu in Oaxaca City, but it was easier to get fish flown in from Baja at the quality he needed. So, he started working with a few local fishing families to buy whatever they caught and work with them to install practices like ikejime to make sure it gets to him in the best possible condition. It started off as something small but it is snowballing into a much bigger idea about sustainable fishing in Mexico and I’m excited to see the book, called Bitácora de Pesca Salvaje when it comes out in December. To never miss an episode and show your support for independent media, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Novo’s slogan has been, Sembremos una milpa, which of their way of saying lets create an ecosystem of ideas around food, sort of like a milpa is. But now they have actually planted a milpa in Huehuecalco, in the state of Mexico. They are working with a local farming family, with the help of organizations like Tamoa and Tierra de Monte, and they are going to be documenting what is happening for the next five years there. We talk to them about what exactly a publishing company starting a milpa means and what the documenting of that is going to look like. Host: Nicholas GillCo-host: Juliana DuqueProduced by Nicholas Gill & Juliana DuqueRecording & Editing by New Worlder Listen to the New Worlder podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and most other podcast sites. Or subscribe to our YouTube Channel to watch video clips & full episodes. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newworlder.substack.com/subscribe