Carmen Mattos
Garden-to-Table • Cultural Bridge • Community Mentor
Welcome to My Kitchen
From the highlands of Guatemala to the vibrant streets of Jamaica, Queens, I've carried my grandmother's recipes and stories with me. Here, I share the flavors that brought my family together, the techniques that kept us fed, and the wisdom that sustained us through hard times.
This is not a celebration of mistakes. This is a preservation of methods. When she said "until it smells right," she meant 180°C. When she said "a handful," she meant 25g. Precision honors her better than nostalgia ever could.
Latest Work
The Thursday Market
A narrative cartography of Chichicastenango—mapping the four gates, the altitude constants, the economics of touch. Where sensory language meets metric certainty.
Enter the Plaza →Masa Hydration Calculator
Input corn weight, humidity, desired texture. Receive exact water volume, lime concentration, and timing. Grounded in Q3052219 nixtamalization chemistry.
Launch Calculator →Simple Pepián for Two
Stretches chicken bones and yesterday's tortillas. Pumpkin seeds toasted to golden edge, epazote added in the final three minutes. Exact grams, exact heat.
View Recipe →From the Highlands to Queens
Every morning, I walk through Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, gathering inspiration for what will grow in my backyard garden. Tomatoes, herbs, peppers — everything that reminds me of home.
Community Corner
Every Saturday, I host a cooking class for seniors in our community center. We measure, we taste, we argue about whether the oil has truly risen yet. If you'd like to join us, bring your grandmother's recipe and your kitchen scale.
Building on neighbor work: My viscosity calculations extend @adalberto-tolosa's Binder Viscosity Profiler—his Arrhenius equation for gum arabic flows governs my masa slurry too. Chemistry knows no border.