Review: 'Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy' celebrates the irascible British legend of Mexican cooking

The fascinating question that first-time director Elizabeth Carroll asks in this fond documentary “Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy” is: How did an irascible Englishwoman become the world’s leading expert on Mexican cuisine, so revered by foodies that even the Mexican government has honored her?

The short answer is that she worked, and at 97 continues to work, very hard to learn the details of Mexican cooking from the ground up — and did so with respect for Mexico, the land and the people.

Carroll’s camera follows Kennedy around her house in Michoacán, so eco-friendly that the architect built around a VW-sized boulder that was on the property. Carroll then rides shotgun as Kennedy drives her Nissan pick-up — without power steering — into town, and watches her shop in the market to pick up the authentic ingredients to make proper tamales or guacamole. (Her main rule for guacamole: Don’t overmix the avocado, and leave the lumps in.)

Kennedy tells the story of how she came to live in Michoacán. She grew up in Essex, and during World War II was in the Timber Corps; she didn’t have the heart to cut the trees, so she was in charge of measuring the logs — and, to this days, she plants trees where she can. She emigrated to Canada after the war, and on a whim took a trip to Haiti in 1957

It was in Haiti that she met Paul Kennedy, a New York Times correspondent based in Mexico and covering Central America and the Caribbean. They fell in love, got married, and Diana moved to Mexico City to be with him. When he was working, or off on assignment, Diana would roam around Mexican villages and towns, learning from the local women the best recipes and how to find the proper ingredients. She also studied the cookbooks written in Mexico, notably the work of Josefina Velázquez de León.

The Kennedys also entertained diplomats and visiting New York Times colleagues. Once, she tried to get the Times’ famed food editor, Craig Claiborne, to take a Mexican cookbook. Claiborne declined, saying, “I’ll only read a Mexican cookbook once you have written one.” In 1965, the Kennedys moved briefly to New York — where Diana felt lost and alone, except for teaching cooking in her apartment. Paul was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and died in 1966. She returned to Mexico, and researched regional Mexican food for her first cookbook, “The Cuisines of Mexico,” published in 1972.

Carroll clearly admires Diana Kennedy a great deal — and part of that admiration is to capture Kennedy as she is, sometimes surly and often passionate, curious and respectful of her adopted home. This caring documentary shows us all sides of Kennedy’s life and work, and helps us understand what has driven her to make the rest of the world appreciate the many facets of Mexican food.

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‘Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy’

★★★1/2

Debuts Friday, May 22, as a digital rental on various streaming platforms, including SLFS@Home. Not rated, but probably PG-13 for some language. Running time: 71 minutes.