Hola familia,
Happy October, and welcome to the new Matriarca website.
We have been working tirelessly behind the scenes on everything you see here: the website, the photographs, and the beautiful products we’ve gathered to bring to your home and table this fall.
From our organic fideo, our first product made in California, to our hand-carved calavera candle holder, making its way from Oaxaca to our distribution center in McAllen, Texas, every piece has a journey. There are conversations with makers, samples to review, details to refine, labels to design, photographs to take, boxes to pack, and miles to travel before anything reaches your doorstep.
I may choose what becomes part of Matriarca, but bringing it all to life takes many hands. And this team shares one goal: to show you the beauty, magic, and resplandor of Mexico through its objects, traditions, and, of course, its food.
There is so much of my heart in this work. In the recipes, the packaging, the conversations with our artisan partners, and every little detail my team probably wishes I would stop adjusting. Especially this time of year.
You know October is my favorite season. I get to build my annual altar de muertos for my mother, and now my father. I’ve been putting up an altar since my mother died almost two decades ago, and each year it holds a little more of our family’s story.
It is also the time of year when I like to remind you that, in my heart of hearts, I believe this tradition is meant to be shared with anyone who wishes to respect it, understand its symbols, and embrace what it represents. When you take the time to do that, the altar comes alive in your home.
You’re not decorating your altar. You’re displaying your collection: pieces you’ve gathered over the years, each with a story, brought out to honor the people you love. Pieces that may someday belong to your children, along with the memories of how you placed them and whose photographs stood beside them.
I hope you love the photographs of the altar in our home in Chula Vista. I hope you find something to treasure in our Día de Muertos shop, among the objects made by artisans and their extraordinary hands across Mexico.
And I hope you enjoy exploring this new website. My team has heard me say, endlessly, “I want to make this perfect for our familia.” I think you’ll see how much care they’ve put into making that happen.
Your feedback is everything to me. Keep sending your DMs, suggestions, and recommendations. Just like you, I am learning and growing. It’s exciting, nerve-wracking, and sometimes exhausting. But more than anything, it brings me joy.
Feliz octubre, familia. Take a wander around the new site.
Y como decimos en México, aquí andamos, cualquier cosa.
Con cariño,
Marcela
