>> Pati Narrates: I've spent my career as a chef exploring the food of my homeland, Mexico.

South of the border, meeting cooks, chefs and families.

Learning the history and stories behind the recipes.

But I've done it all while living here in the U.S.

Throughout my Mexican travels I've felt this nagging question: what happens to Mexican food when it travels North of the border?

What is Mexican food in America?

I don't think there's one answer to that question, but I do know it'll be a lot of fun tasting my way through the research.

They call Tucson, Arizona the best 23 miles of Mexican food in the U.S.

Sounds to me like a great place to start.

This plate is making me so happy right now.

(Pati laughs) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> Pati Narrates: Tucson, Arizona.

This is one of those places you hear about, where the weather's always perfect, the scenery's gorgeous, quality of life is good, but of late there's been a lot of buzz around its culinary scene.

Tucson is becoming a must-stop destination for food lovers, and a big part of that is the thriving Mexican food scene.

Located just 60 miles North of the border with Mexico, Tucson has a long history of Mexican influence.

Well, in fact, Tucson was actually a part of Mexico until the mid-1800s which may explain why they say that Mexican food here is so good.

So I'm here to eat it.

I've heard stories of a burrito so delicious wrapped in tortillas so fresh, so soft, so perfect, that to eat them is to be transported back to the Mexican state of Sonora just across the border.

How can I resist, right?

>> Grace: Hi, how are you?

>> Pati: Mucho gusto!

>> Grace: Good or bad?

(laughs) >> Pati: No, all good!

Pati Narrates: Grace is the owner here at Anita Street Market.

When she and her husband bought it in 1991, it was just a little grocery store selling beer and snacks.

Where do you come from?

>> Grace: From Mexico - Sonora.

(Grace and Pati laugh) >> Grace: I came in 1959, I got married here in Tucson, and I have 5 kids.

>> Pati: So this used to be a small market that sold beer, cigarettes - >> Grace: I don't like when you sell beer, and I tell my husband I don't want to sell beer no more.

He said "What do you want to do?"

and I said "I wanna start tortillas" and I start making tortillas this size.

>> Pati Narrates: Luckily Grace's husband agreed and her giant Sonoran style tortillas have been feeding Tucson ever since.

Tell our friends - I'm a Mexican from Mexico City, and I didn't know about tortillas sobaqueras until I came to Tucson and started meeting Mexicans from Sonora, that's how rich and diverse Mexico is, Mexicans - we don't even know everything we have!

So sobaqueras translates to "underarm" >> Grace: Uh-huh (laughs) >> Pati: Why is it called "sobaqueras"?

>> Grace: I don't know (laughs) >> Pati: Because people used to just use their arm like that to make the tortillas.

Ah, yeah, that's why it's called - so I get it, cause it reaches - I see.

Are they making them?

Can they show us?

>> Grace: Uh-huh.

>> Pati Narrates: Here in the market kitchen the fresh dough is flattened on the conveyor belt and tossed over to the next station, and it's so much fun to watch.

And they still use a touch of the old fashioned technique too.

So Gloria, you make the dough for the tortillas, and what goes in the dough?

>> Gloria: Flour, shortening and salt.

>> Pati: Can I touch the dough?

This is so soft!

No matter how perfect the dough, it's all about that arm technique.

The most popular burrito here according to Grace is the machaca.

>> Grace: My grandson did this, he put it there, meat in there, and left it two days.

>> Pati: With salt?

>> Grace: Uh-huh.

>> Pati: You shred it?

>> Gloria: You put it in a machine and it shreds it.

>> Pati: This is the fresh machaca, which is an iconic ingredient of Mexico's North, especially Sonora.

turning beef into machaca, you're stretching the life of an ingredient by preserving it, and you can make scrambled eggs, tacos, burritos, tamales.

So we're gonna make a machaca burrito.

Green onion, tomato.

Okay, so the meat.

Is this the most requested burrito?

>> Grace: Oh yes, the machaca.

>> Pati: With potatoes!

>> Pati: Okay, and what do I do if I'm ready to eat it?

>> Grace: Well - (laughs) >> Pati: I'm so excited.

>> Grace: (laughs) uh-huh.

>> Pati: Mmm.

Mmm!

>> Grace: Good?

(laughs) >> Pati: The machaca is so juicy and meaty.

>> Grace: And the tortilla?

>> Pati: The tortilla, mmm!

This is so good.

Pati Narrates: The Mexican state of Sonora is a big influence on the food in Tucson, just across the border from Arizona.

But their shared roots connect deeper than that.

So when a food craze takes off there, it quickly makes a splash here.

I'm talking about the Sonoran hot dog!

>> El Guero: That was 20 years ago.

>> Pati: 20 years ago!

>> El Guero: Yeah.

How do you like me more, here or there?

>> Pati: No, there!

>> El Guero: Okay.

>> Pati: That's so more worldly.

>> El Guero: You like my long hair better?

>> Pati: Yeah!

What do people call you?

>> El Guero: El Guero Canelo.

>> Pati: What's the "canelo" for?

>> El Guero: Canelo is for my hair.

>> Pati: Oh, cinnamon!

And you know they call me Guera.

>> El Guero: Guera?

Uh-huh.

>> Pati: You are legendary.

>> El Guero: That's what they say.

>> Pati: So how did you get here?

>> El Guero: Years ago I wanted to have something fresh in my mouth, something very fresh, so I started selling very fresh high quality fast food.

>> Pati: Where do you come from?

>> El Guero: I came from Sonora, Mexico.

>> Pati: And what makes a Sonoran dog is?

>> El Guero: The hot dog bun.

For me it's more tasty, it's more - >> Pati: Is it more savory?

>> El Guero: No, I put salt and sugar on the bread.

>> Pati: Whatever the secret is, the Sonoran hot dog has made its mark on the culinary landscape of Tucson.

>> El Guero: This is how we steam the buns.

>> Pati: Oh!

>> El Guero: Look how soft it is.

Taste it.

>> Pati: Mhmm.

Mmm.

Mmm!

>> El Guero: Just the bread.

Only the bread.

>> Pati: Very different from a normal hot dog bun because it's soft but it's not as fluffy mushy soft, it's crisp on the bottom.

>> El Guero: Love is in the bread.

Now let me make you a hot dog.

The sausage with the bacon.

>> Pati: Wrapped in bacon.

>> El Guero: Pinto beans.

>> Pati: Pinto beans that you cook in house?

>> El Guero: Mhmm, everyday.

>> Pati: And are they seasoned with something?

>> El Guero: Butter.

>> Pati: Butter?

>> El Guero: Butter.

>> Pati: Never seen pinto beans cooked with butter.

>> El Guero: Oh yeah.

And then you put the cooked onions.

And this is the famous "Guerito".

>> Pati: Okay.

>> El Guero: Ahh!

>> Pati Narrates: Then he tops the hot dog with raw onions, tomato, a jalapeno sauce, mustard and mayo.

>> El Guero: So this is for you.

>> Pati: Oh, gracias Guero!

>> El Guero: Know what you're missing now?

>> Pati: What?

>> El Guero: A big bite.

>> Pati: A big bite!

>> El Guero: Ah, yes!

You did a perfect bite.

You're making me hungry.

>> Pati: The bread is crusty, so it tastes toasted, like nutty.

>> El Guero: It's yummy.

>> Pati: Yummy.

And then the sausage is delicious, but I think what I love the most is chasing it with the guero which you just charred, so take a look guys, take a look.

>> El Guero: One more bite.

>> Pati: Okay.

>> El Guero: One more big bite.

Ay-ay-ay, mmm.

>> Pati Narrates: Tucson is a city that knows how to express itself.

In their murals, in their art, on their skin, and yes, in their food.

Now that we know what happened to the hot dog when it travelled South of the border, let's see what happens when one of Tucson's most expressive chefs does tacos her way.

At Boca Tacos, Maria Mazon is exploring a new approach to Mexico's favorite handheld bite.

Maria, what are you gonna feed me?

>> Maria: Well first of all, welcome to "T-town".

>> Pati: I love it that you say "welcome to T-town" because for the life of me I cannot pronounce Tucson - >> Maria: For the Mexicans it's "Tuc-son".

>> Pati: Tucson!

>> Maria: Tucson.

>> Pati: "Tucson" if you're from Mexico City, okay.

>> Maria: So I was born here, I'm from Navojora, Sonora, Mexico, that's the last city of the state of Sonora.

I decided to torture myself and open my own restaurant and actually represent Mexican cuisine the right way.

>> Pati: And you decided to focus on tacos.

>> Maria: On tacos.

>> Pati: So the taco that we're gonna make is called what?

>> Maria: "Macho".

>> Pati: Why macho?

>> Maria: For the chili.

>> Pati: Okay!

Maria tops roasted anaheim chilis with Monterey Jack cheese that she gets all melty and toasty in the broiler.

Then thinly sliced chuck steak goes on a flaming hot grill.

>> Maria: And then I'll surprise you with a twist of a cauliflower curry taco.

>> Pati: Awesome!

It's raw cauliflower, and what's in the sauce?

>> Maria: Curry orange.

>> Pati: Mmm!

>> Pati: That's brilliant.

>> Maria: I'm not all there.

>> Pati: Oh my gosh, curry and chipotle!

That's brilliant!

>> Maria: What I try to build with Boca is to kind of elevate the taco, like put a tuxedo on the taco, and make it elegant.

>> Pati Narrates: And speaking of elegance, Maria has created several beautiful, innovative and delicious salsas to dress up her tacos.

This makes me so happy!

Cucumber with rosemary and jalapeno.

Mmm!

Chile morita, chile negro, and balsamic vinegar.

The flavors are somehow traditional, yet exciting and new all at once.

>> Pati: This is so good!

But by far my favorite is the banana and habanero.

I've never had a banana in a salsa ever!

It's delicious.

>> Maria: Thank you, that's my baby!

>> Pati: How delicious!

Chile, cheese, carne asada.

>> Pati: Okay!

Mmm.

Mmm, mmm!

>> Maria: I love what I do, so I hope it shows.

>> Pati: It's incredible!

I mean, it's Mexico.

>> Maria: Yes.

>> Pati: But it's Mexico here, you know?

Like I totally get what you're doing.

It's like true Mexico, but it's fresh, it's updated.

I kind of need a beer right now.

But first, the cauliflower taco.

>> Maria: Cabbage in here, a little bit.

>> Pati: Okay.

Guacamole.

Oh my gosh.

>> Maria: There you go.

And that's all she wrote my friends.

>> Pati: Mmm.

Mhmm.

You show such respect for the ingredients.

>> Maria: Thank you.

>> Pati: The cauliflower is perfect cause it has the char but it's incredibly crunchy!

>> Maria: Thank you.

Coming from you, because in this career, especially here in the United States, Tucson, it's a boys club.

>> Pati: It is!

>> Maria: It's a boys club, so for me, the high that I get, for making one customer happy, is worth it.

>> Pati: Ah bueno!

Pati Narrates: Boca tacos seems to be at the heart of the Mexican food revolution in Tucson.

And Chef Maria, with her modern day Mexican classics has her fingers on the pulse of the community.

Mmm.

Mmm!

So how do you walk the fine line of both sharing the true Mexican food that you know is the true Mexican food, and playing with Mexican food and creating your own dishes?

>> Maria: This is me paying an homage to Mexican cuisine my own way, the chef way, to make them mine, because that's the whole part of being a chef.

>> Pati: Que rico, Maria!

Oh my gosh, I am so set for life right now.

Mmm!

Pati: So much good food here in Tucson, but for the best burrito I've ever had, it's worth a quick detour South to Tubac, Arizona.

Pati: Hola!

>> Pati: This is Soto's PK Outpost, where the Soto Family have transported their kitchen traditions from Sonora to Southern Arizona.

Oh there you are - the Soto Family is my family and they're your family.

So you've made burritos 30 years, and you've made them in Sonora, in Arizona, is that a family recipe?

>> Pati: Carne con chile.

Just hearing those words makes me insanely hungry.

Oh, that sauce - I remember when I tasted it for the first time.

Mmm!

I'm amazed that I'm eating a Mexican burrito on the North side of the border that's so intensely Mexican.

It's to learn how to make that sauce that brought me back to the Soto's kitchen.

Is this what goes in the sauce?

>> Lourdes: These are all the ingredients.

>> Pati: You know what they are.

Chiles, chiles and more chiles!

Guajillo, ancho, chiltipin, cascabel, chile de arbol.

She's saying that Americans like it spicy.

You all think you don't like it spicy, but we know you do!

You do, you do, you do!

Each variety lending its own character to create such a magnificent sauce.

So we have not 4 but 5 kinds of chiles.

The chiles are then set to boil along with 6 garlic cloves, 10 bay leaves, 2 onions and 4 tomatoes.

So once all that has been pureed, she melts fresh lard, she adds a little flour, and with that Mexican base, she cooks the chile sauce.

Okay, so first of all, you get the tiny little puddles of fat that rise to the top with color, so that means everything is where it needs to be.

>> Lourdes: Thank you.

>> Pati: Mmm.

I can eat it like a soup, it's that good!

That amazing salsa is then added to a pot of simmered beef to complete the carne con chile.

All that's left to do is heat up a giant flour tortilla.

>> Woman: We're not doing a wrap.

We're doing a burrito.

It has to be warm and very cooked, and then the layers of it helps for it not to rip.

>> Lourdes: Listo.

>> Pati: Listo.

Mmm.

Come look, come look.

Mmm.

Mmm, mmm!

>> Pati: Mmm, mmm!

I think we'll take 5 to go for everybody.

>> Woman: Yes!

>> Pati: You guys, it's messy, but that's the way it's supposed to be.

Okay, ooh!

Just go for it.

Mmm.

Mmm!

>> Crew: That's a good burrito.

Like... that's really good.

>> James: It has good flavor.

>> Pati: Mmm.

>> James: It's just very messy.

I would like this in a soup.

>> Pati: I love messy!

>> James: This is too messy for me, Pati.

>> Pati: Mmm.

I'm loving it James.

>> James: We're gonna have to go get a car wash!

(Pati laughs) >> Pati Narrates: Eating my way through Southern Arizona, I am filled with the flavors I know from Mexico.

Hot dogs served with a chile.

Machaca.

Delicious tortillas everywhere.

Here in the United States those flavors are evolving, with chefs playing with new ideas and a diverse public eager to devour them.

But before there was a Mexico or a United States, Native people have thrived living off this land, cooking food that's at the heart of so many of these recipes.

The last time I was in Tucson I met Chef Steve at the Cafe Santa Rosa, a restaurant that showcases the cuisine of the local Native American communities.

On this visit, Steve wants to show me his Tucson, which begins at the Mission San Xavier del Bac.

>> Steve: Hi!

>> Pati: Hey!

Steve himself is half O'odham and half Yaqui.

So your wife?

>> Steve: Yeah, Lynette >> Pati: Lynette, hi!

Steve and Lynette have a big family, and I get to meet all their kids!

>> Steve: Lilliana.

>> Pati: Lilliana, hi!

This feels like my family in Mexico!

(laughs) Hi!

The mission is located on the San Javier reservation, just Southwest of Tucson.

It attracts thousands of visitors seeking spiritual fulfillment, as well as one of a more earthly nature.

Have these food stands been here for a long time?

>> Steve: For a long time, ever since I was young, yes.

My grandmother used to have one right at the end.

>> Pati: Really?

What did she make?

>> Steve: Popovers, as a lot of Natives call them, popovers.

>> Pati: What are popovers?

>> Steve: It's the same thing, fry bread, just a different word.

>> Pati: Oh okay.

Fry bread is essentially a large disc of dough similar to a flour tortilla that is fried, becoming a chewy, puffy bed for savory or sweet toppings.

To say that the history of fry bread in American Native communities is complicated is an utter understatement.

However, it's ties to local food culture is undeniable.

And did you grow up eating it with powdered sugar?

>> Steve: Yeah, when I was a kid, yeah, this was one of my favorites - it was my favorite!

>> Pati Narrates: The mission was founded by a Jesuit priest named Father Kino who established the first European connection with the Tohono O'odham tribe.

>> Steve: 1692.

>> Pati: Oh, 1692.

>> Steve: Some use it to get married, they have funerals here, baptisms.

>> Pati: This is your church?

This is your community.

>> Steve: Yeah.

>> Pati: So this feels like home.

>> Steve: Yeah, it's home, yes.

>> Pati: After centuries of use, the Mission San Xavier del Bac has undergone renovations.

The results are beautiful.

>> Steve: Like the colors you see now, the reds, you couldn't see them before, they just blended in with the white, you couldn't see a lot of the artwork.

>> Pati: I feel like it could be Mexico, you know?

>> Steve: Yes.

>> Pati Narrates: After the church, Steve invites me to a carne asada cookout with his family.

While Steve gets cooking at the grill, my dear friend and longtime Tucsonan Philippe Garcia wants to introduce me to a majestic icon of the Sonoran dessert, the Saguaro cactus.

I've never seen cacti this gigantic and gorgeous.

It's like architecturally so impressive!

>> Philippe: They're amazing, they're a protector.

>> Pati: So they start little like those?

>> Philippe: They'll start little like those, and they'll start growing.

>> Pati: So how old can they get to be?

>> Philippe: 200 years.

These would be 120, 130 years old.

The Saguaros only grow in the state of Arizona and Sonora.

Nowhere else in the world.

>> Pati: Nowhere else in the world.

>> Philippe: We're very proud of where we are, we're very proud of our region, proud of what we have.

Where we're standing right now and looking is just amazing.

>> Pati: So you have your family, this is your mom.

>> Steve: Yeah, my mom, my mother-in-law, all my kids, and then my cousin.

>> Pati: And then do you usually cook for everybody and then everybody eats cause you're the best cook in the family?

(laughs) >> Steve: Yeah.

>> Pati: So yeah, it's like Arizona and Sonora used to be one territory?

>> Steve: Growing up my grandfather and grandmother would tell me they were kind of nomadic.

>> Pati: Yeah?

>> Steve: The tribe, and they would go all the way from here to Sonora, all the way to Mexico, to the sea, and trade.

>> Pati: Oh!

How would you describe the food of Cafe Santa Rosa?

>> Steve: I'll say it's Native but it's still a mixture of Mexican food and native.

>> Pati: That's kind of the food that you eat.

>> Steve: Yes.

>> Philippe: But don't you think that we have assimilated that food, I mean, people don't - >> Pati: It's become part of the mainstream.

>> Philippe: It's mainstream food.

So the Tucson food scene, you would celebrate the diversity, but we appreciate what we have, what the desert provides, what the region provides.

>> Pati: Do you feel that's crucial?

Like the continuous interaction between cultures and state?

>> Steve: Yes, for the whole region, just cause how this was Mexico before, it just - and the Natives were here, and they just - to me, that's what makes it unique.

I think everybody brings a little to the pot, like little - their own uniqueness, so.

>> Pati: The food is ready.

Grilled beef and chicken, rice, fire-roasted salsa, pinto beans, and of course a warm flour tortilla.

This is a plate that brings families and friends together on any side of the border.

>> Pati: This plate of food is making me really happy right now.

>> Philippe: It's such a simple plate, I mean, chicken, some salsa, rice, beef, so simple, but cooked with a lot of passion, a lot of love, with history of food, and great people as well.

>> Pati: You know what I'm loving?

It's Mexican food in Tucson, it has its own personality, and I think that's one of the things that's so complex to understand about Mexican food, but you do feel it's Mexican food.

>> Steve: Yeah.

Well it's Native food, I'm Native, so I made it, so it's Native food.

No I'm kidding.

(Philippe and Steve laugh) >> Philippe: But Native is Mexican as well.

I mean, I'm from Mexico, I was born in Mexico, so you were born - >> Steve: Here, yeah.

>> Philippe: From a tribe, but we're both Tucsonans.

>> Pati: Cheers to that.

>> Philippe: And even better, look at this sunset - >> Pati: I know!

(laughs) >> Philippe: Salud!

>> Steve: Salud.

>> Pati Narrates: For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit PatiJinich.com, and connect!

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest @PatiJinich.