Carmen 'Titita' Ramírez Degollado
Matriarch of Mexico's El Bajío group, who took over the restaurant in 1981 and grew it to some 19 locations, including one in Madrid.
- Restaurants
- 1
- Born
- 1940 · Xalapa
Carmen "Titita" Ramírez Degollado was born Carmen Hernández Oropeza in 1940 in Xalapa, Veracruz. Her husband Raúl Ramírez Degollado and his partner Alfonso Hurtado Morellón founded El Bajío in Mexico City's Azcapotzalco borough in 1972; when Raúl died in 1981, Ramírez Degollado took over and expanded the menu with dishes from her native Veracruz and other Mexican regions. El Bajío has since grown to around 19 locations, including a branch in Madrid's Almagro neighbourhood.
Biography
Early years
Carmen Ramírez Degollado was born Carmen Hernández Oropeza in 1940 in Xalapa, Veracruz. Her father died when she was five, and she was raised by her mother, an aunt and the family's nanny, who taught her the traditional cooking of the household. She married Raúl Ramírez Degollado in 1957 and moved with him to Mexico City.
Career
Ramírez Degollado didn't cook professionally until after she married. Her husband Raúl retired from the pharmaceutical business in 1972 and, with partner Alfonso Hurtado Morellón, opened El Bajío in the then-industrial Azcapotzalco district of Mexico City, a location she initially opposed for being so far from their home in San Ángel. When Raúl died in 1981, Ramírez Degollado took over the business. She expanded the menu with dishes from her native Veracruz and other Mexican regions, and grew the restaurant into a group of about 19 locations, branching out from a single site starting in 2006. The group's first European location opened in Madrid in December 2023, in Chamberí, and moved in 2025 to Juan Bravo in the Salamanca district.
Philosophy
Ramírez Degollado cooks the way she learned at home: sauces made from tomatoes and chiles that are roasted and peeled first, and dishes built slowly over a low flame rather than rushed. She's spent decades presenting that home style of Mexican cooking abroad, teaching for three years at the Culinary Institute of America's Napa Valley campus and giving demonstrations at the James Beard Foundation in New York, as well as in Spain at Andalucía Sabor in Seville (2009) and San Sebastián Gastronomika (2011). Rick Bayless invited her to cook a Mexican tasting dinner in Chicago after visiting El Bajío himself.
Carmen 'Titita' Ramírez Degollado in our guides
Editorial guides featuring Carmen 'Titita' Ramírez Degollado’s restaurants.
Accolades
- ·Five Star Diamond Award, American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (1998)
- ·Gourmand World Cookbook Award, honorable mention for Alquimias y atmósferas del sabor (2002)
- ·La Llave Empresarial award (2006 and 2008)
- ·CANIRAC entrepreneur prize (2009)
Frequently asked
Who is behind El Bajío in Madrid?
El Bajío is part of the Mexican restaurant group led by Carmen "Titita" Ramírez Degollado, who took over the original restaurant after her husband's death in 1981.
What cuisine does El Bajío serve?
El Bajío serves traditional Mexican home cooking, including dishes from Ramírez Degollado's native Veracruz and other Mexican regions.
Where is El Bajío Madrid located?
El Bajío Madrid is at Castelló 82, corner of Juan Bravo, in the Almagro neighbourhood.
Where is Carmen "Titita" Ramírez Degollado from?
She was born Carmen Hernández Oropeza in 1940 in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
How did Carmen "Titita" Ramírez Degollado take over El Bajío?
Her husband Raúl Ramírez Degollado and his partner Alfonso Hurtado Morellón founded El Bajío in 1972; she took over the business when Raúl died in 1981.
How many El Bajío locations are there?
Around 19, mostly in Mexico City, after Ramírez Degollado began branching out from the original Azcapotzalco site in 2006. Madrid's Almagro branch is the group's first in Europe.
Has Carmen "Titita" Ramírez Degollado won any awards?
Yes, including the Five Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (1998) and a Gourmand World Cookbook Award honorable mention (2002) for her book Alquimias y atmósferas del sabor.