From KCRW, I'm Evan Kleiman, and this is good food.

I'm going to Yuccas, the little hut on Hillhurst, near Los Felis, since they opened in 1976.

Known to many as Mama, or Mama Yucas, Socorro Herrera defined Mexican food for nearly 50 years in Los Angeles, perched on a chair at the counter,

taking orders and writing customers' names on paper bags or plates, she passed away in late

December after a brief illness. Her daughter, Dora Herrera, operates the Pasadena location of

Yuccas and joins us with remembrances of her mom and the legacy

she leaves behind. My name is Dora Herrera. I am the daughter of Mama Yucas, also known as

Maria del Carmen Socorro Herrera, Sosa Suarez.

It's a mouthful and so is my mom.

And my official title is president of the Yucas restaurant group.

But what I really am is a mini-me, sharing love and good food

and creating good vibes, just like my mom taught me.

Mom was the firstborn to a father who wanted nothing more than a little boy.

And so he decided since he got a little girl,

he would just continue her education as a little boy.

And so mom grew up in Merida, Yucatan, doing all sorts of crazy things.

He would take her to bullfights, and she'd be the first one to get a drink of the blood of the bull,

which, you know, in retrospect, we all go, ew!

But, you know, that was then.

My grandfather would stop at all the bars along the way,

and eventually my mom had her own little table with a little beer glass and a little plate and she would sit outside because, you know, she wasn't allowed in there.

And so that was her life.

...