♪ ♪ >> Pati Narrates: How can I describe Oaxaca?

Not an easy question to answer.

Vibrant.

Complicated.

Rich.

Words just don't do it justice.

Oaxaca is an experience.

>> I love this!

>> Pati: The first day of any trip is the most exciting.

I always try to see, and eat, as much as I possibly can.

This trip to Oaxaca is no exception.

[pounds meat] >> Oh yeah.

>> Pati: In my kitchen, grilled tasajo torta with smoky guacamole.

Crunchy nopalito salad with pickled chipotle.

Creamy natilla with fresh berries.

Recipes inspired by my food fuelled day, and one hungry boy to help me eat them.

>> Oh yeah, that's really good.

>> Pati: This is one day in Oaxaca.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> Pati's Mexican Table is made possible by: >> Some things are always there for you.

Like your alarm clock, right on time.

Your parking space.

Seriously?

Girl's night, always there.

And avocados from Mexico.

They're always there because they're fresh all year round.

>> ♪ Avocados from Mexico ♪ ♪ ♪ >> La Costeña, por sabor!

Taste that transcends.

More information at mexicorico.com Over 40 years, bringing authentic Latin American flavors to your table.

Tropical Cheese.

>> The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, Mexbest, and The National Agricultural Council.

♪ ♪ ♪ epic music plays ♪ ♪♪♪ >> Mexicans love a good piece of meat, and my boys are big meat eaters, so I'm always looking for new ways to cook meat at home.

In Oaxaca, I tried this meat that's just incredibly delicious, and it's called tasajo.

I'm gonna make it at home, and I'm gonna use it to make a gigantic, overstuffed torta.

Tasajo is salted, air-dried beef that's pounded really, really thin.

I have a two pound piece of the most beautiful flank steak.

So you always have to make sure when you buy meat that it looks plump and colorful, and when you touch it, it should spring back up.

I'm going to cut slices of about a quarter inch.

I'm cutting against the grain because that is going to make the piece of meat that you're cutting be very tender.

This is really an amazing recipe.

After I made it the first time at home, and realized it was so easy, I was just making it, you know, one day after the other.

One day for tacos, one day for tortas, one day over rice.

So I'm gonna grab a slice of the flank, and I'm gonna put it in between the parchment paper, and as you pound it, the meat is gonna tenderize.

[pounds meat] >> Oh yeah!

You want it really as thin as prosciutto.

Alright.

Oh, this is perfect!

I mean it's almost breaking.

So you want to air-dry the meat, and so you want to put it on a drying rack so that there is air flowing under and over the meat.

♪ ♪ >> And I'm adding salt so it's gonna be 1.5 teaspoons on one side, and then 1.5 teaspoons on the other side.

♪ ♪ >> Now we're gonna let it sit here for at least three hours.

You're gonna see how the meat really transforms.

>> Pati Narrates: The inspiration for the recipe?

>> (Pati coughs) >> Pati (cont.

): We'll get to that in a second.

First, walk with me!

>> I love Oaxaca.

Food is amazing, people are so charming, resourceful, creative, so full of stories, every corner has something to share.

>> Pati: Oaxaca is a state right in the middle of the country.

The capital is a colonial city founded by the Spanish in 1526.

>> When you get to Oaxaca, you are entering the land of magical realism.

Things that you think you know suddenly take a new dimension, new colors, new flavors.

It's one of the most diverse places in the world.

>> Pati Narrates: Oaxaca is so complex, and there's so much to see and do.

Whenever I travel, I try to experience as much of that destination as I can in the first 24 hours.

>> Look at the colors of the walls, and the stones in the buildings, and even the color in the sky.

So rich, makes you want to move here.

In fact, I've told Danny that if we were to move to Mexico, I would want to settle in Oaxaca.

>> Pati: With just one day in a city this interesting, here's a tip: make a local friend.

Mika is a tour guide and proud Oaxacaño.

He agreed to be my friend for the day.

>> What is it about Oaxaca that makes it so magical?

>> Let me show you.

>> Pati Narrates: If you're only in Oaxaca for 24 hours, you have to see the truly impressive Templo de Santo Domingo.

>> And it's made of the cantera?

>> Yes, this is the cantera.

>> This is the cantera and I know that it has that greenish hue that when it rains, it glitters, right?

>> Yes.

>> Pati: Building of the Santo Domingo began in the late 1500s, but it took over 200 years to complete.

Today, it's the most recognizable symbol of the city of Oaxaca.

>> The colors look different in Oaxaca.

>> Oaxaca has a song and the letters say The sky is amazing only here.

♪ ♪ >> Many people talk Zapoteca, it's very traditional in the towns.

>> Pati Narrates: Amazingly, many people still speak the language of the Zapotecs, the pre-Columbian civilization of Oaxaca, and right outside the city stands Monte Alban, the original Native settlement of the Zapotecs.

♪ ♪ >> This incredibly preserved ancient city was the centre of social and political life of the Zapotecs for centuries.

When the Spanish arrived they built the city of Oaxaca just a few miles away.

Today, you can still walk the ancient city, and imagine life in Oaxaca centuries ago.

♪ ♪ >> Pati: If you know me, you know it doesn't take long before my appetite starts to take over my explorations.

In Mexico, when you're with a local like Mika, and you tell him you're hungry, there is a good chance he'll take you to the market, and when you're with a local, always do as the locals do.

>> If you're in Oaxaca for one day, you need to eat grasshoppers.

>> Pati Narrates: Grasshoppers, called chapulines are popular all over Oaxaca, and not just like delicacy popular, I mean Oaxacans eat grasshoppers like Americans eat potato chips.

>> There's different sizes.

>> And flavors!

Garlic, chile and lemon.

>> I've never had grasshoppers.

>> Pati Narrates: Look at the size of those things!

It looks like they were just jumping around this morning.

>> I'm starting with a smaller and I'm building up.

Mmm...

It's very garlic-y.

Oh it's addicting.

Oh yum.

Mmm.

Let's try to find the biggest chapulines.

Okay.

>> That is nice.

Bati, bati, bati, bati - >> (Pati laughs) Mmm.

Mmm!

>> Que rico.

>> Que rico!

>> See?

>> You know, it's crunchier than that one.

>> Yes!

>> I like the tiny ones better because they feel like a condiment, they feel like an ingredient.

The large grasshopper feels like a large grasshopper (laughs) ♪ ♪ >> Pati Narrates: Another local favourite, el passaje del humo.

Translation?

Smoky hallway, but you can also call it "Meat Lovers Paradise".

>> I love to be able to interact.

You go, you walk, you decide which stand you want to buy your meat from, and I love having the choice because when you go to the restaurant, the cook is choosing your meat.

Here, you are choosing your meat.

So we have the tasajo, or the salted beef.

We have, this is cecina, which is marinated pork.

Chorizo.

[Pati speaks Spanish to chef] ♪ ♪ >> We need tortillas.

You - >> To clap three times... >> Yes.

>> And tortillas will appear.

>> Yes!

[Pati claps three times] >> That's it.

And now.

>> Oh wow (Pati laughs) Really!

These are enormous!

♪ ♪ >> Right when you're assembling your tacos, the lady with the salsas and the garnishes comes.

>> Radish, guacamole.

>> I love this!

>> Taco time.

>> I'm gonna follow your lead.

It is like Simon Says.

>> Haha, okay.

>> On my bed of cecina and chorizo, I of course dress it with those tiny chapulines, fresh avocado, and a delicious salsa.

Mmm.

So intensely packed with flavor.

>> Yes.

>> Que delicia.

[Pati and Mika high-five] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> So we're gonna make a nopalitos salad with pickled chipotle and it's gonna be the perfect compliment to that torta.

♪ ♪ >> Now what I'm gonna start with is that pickled chipotle pickle.

We start over medium heat, and I'm going to add 3/4 cups of olive oil.

As it heats, I'm gonna slice an onion.

Now, the cut that I'm gonna do, in Mexico, we call it a "pluma", which translates to "feather" 'cause you really want to try to slice it thin.

♪ ♪ [onions sizzle] >> And then I'm gonna add 5 cloves of garlic.

We're just making a very light pickle.

Simple pickle, but it's full of flavor and texture, and I'm just cooking the onions until they start to wilt, and then I'm gonna add two teaspoons of Oaxacan oregano, two teaspoons of salt, and then I'm adding the dried chipotle chilis.

The chipotle chilis are jalapeños, and then they dry them and they smoke them.

All of the flavors from the chile super intensify.

What we're doing now is bringing them back to life, and all of that flavor is inside of that chile.

The last step is I'm going to add 1.5 cups of apple cider vinegar, but I'm gonna raise the heat to medium-high.

What we want now is for this to bubble for a couple of minutes.

So we're gonna do the carrots.

You can cut them in any shape or size that you want, but I like to go for bite size.

♪ ♪ >> Okay, so we have the carrots, and now we're gonna do the zucchini... cut into three... pieces like that.

♪ ♪ >> And you can see how the chile is already rehydrated.

You want to turn this off now.

So we have the carrots and the zucchini, and now we're going to prepare the nopales.

Now the only thing standing between the immense and immeasurable benefits from nopales and you and the world are it's little thorns because it's sort of a pain to clean them, but I'm going to show you how to do it.

Now, you don't want to peel all the skin from the nopal, you just want to go like that and remove the thorns.

You cut a piece in the bottom, and then you cut around the nopal.

It has such a delicious crunch, see?

Gonna cook the vegetables, and I'm gonna add some salt.

2 teaspoons into boiling water, and then the vegetables are gonna take turns.

The carrots are gonna go in here for about 2 minutes.

♪ ♪ >> You can see how the color intensified, and they are still crunchy.

Mhmm.

The zucchini's gonna go in here, really, for 30 seconds.

♪ ♪ >> I'm putting them in the same bowl.

And the nopales are gonna cook for 10 minutes.

So after 10 minutes the nopalito's cooked, but they still have a crunch and you can see how the color changed to a darker green, and then you must super rinse the nopales because as they cook a glutinous liquid comes out similar to okra.

[water runs] >> Now toss our crispy veggies with this pickle that has been sitting there, and then that pickle just dresses everything.

This is gonna be a memorable salad, this is not going to be like, "oh, one of those salads", this is going to be a great salad.

You can eat this hot, or you can chill it and eat it later.

Mmm!

♪ ♪ >> Pati Narrates: Oaxaca is one of Mexico's best culinary destinations.

Chocolates, chapulines, tamales, tejates, tlayudas, and more moles than you could ever count!

I'm getting the most out of this one day, and I want to try it all, starting at Origen with Mexico top chef winner Rodolfo Castellanos.

>> Rodolfo is one of the new modern Oaxacan chefs, and he tries to use Oaxacan ingredients in new ways >> I wanted to have a restaurant to enjoy what we have here, and this is a combination between local ingredients and inspiration of Oaxaca.

>> Pati: Rodolfo's going to make a tuna tostada that mixes what he sees as a combination of the best of Oaxaca and the best of the techniques that he's learned.

>> So we're gonna open watermelon.

>> You compress the watermelon?

>> Yes.

>> You like watermelon on steroids.

>> Yes basically (Rodolfo laughs) >> Pati: On a blue corn tortilla, Rodolfo builds his tostada with avocado, tuna, that watermelon, and then the "special sauce".

>> So this is a chilaque vinaigrette.

>> So the vinaigrette has the dried chilaques?

>> Yes.

>> Pati: Normally used in moles, chilaque vinaigrette is a new twist to that iconic Oaxacan flavor.

>> It's a refreshing dish, it's very layered.

Mmm!

That vinaigrette is so smoky!

>> Yes, that's - >> So you're playing, and I'm liking it.

>> Yeah (Rodolfo laughs) Thank you.

>> This is really fantastic.

>> Pati: Modern food?

Check.

Market food?

Check.

Luckily, I save just enough room for a quintessential Oaxacan experience.

I told you I wanted to try it all, right?

>> Martina, I'm so happy to be here.

>> Muchas gracias por venir.

>> Pati: Martina opened Cathedral over 40 years ago, and she's been serving traditional recipes from her region ever since.

>> Where did you come from?

>> So the food you grew up with, and you've just updated the presentation.

>> Pati: The first dish is molotes, which are plantain fritters stuffed with seasoned pork, and served with crema.

>> It is muy lina.

>> Mmm.

The plantain is so sweet, you can feel the chunks of meat, and I taste olives, almond.

>> Pati Narrates: Remember when I said I wanted to try it all?

Here it comes.

The process for cooking the suckling pig at Cathedral is like a dance.

>> So there are celebration dishes.

>> Pati: In and out of the oven, it marinates in moles until it falls off the bone, right onto my plate.

♪ >> It's succulent and moist, and the juices are kind of sweet.

If you're gonna be in Oaxaca city for one day, wake up early and then just eat as much as you possibly can because there is so much amazing food.

One day is a gift, but if you can manage more days, then you'll be doing yourself a favor.

>> Natilla is a very popular Mexican dessert.

It's like a very light, puffy and creamy pudding.

This is how you make it.

You pour 4 cups of milk into a saucepan.

Add a little bit of vanilla, I go for a teaspoon, and set it over medium heat until you see a thin film cover the milk, that's actually called "nata", where the name "natilla" comes from.

Then you turn it off, you don't want the milk to boil.

In a separate bowl, whisk 5 egg yolks, add half a cup of granulated sugar, and mix that up, and then you're gonna add 1 can of evaporated milk, two tablespoons of corn starch, and then whisk that just making sure that there are no bubbles or lumps.

Little by little, ladle that hot milk into the egg yolks.

What that does is help you not to scramble the eggs.

Then you're gonna pour it back into the saucepan, cook it over low-medium heat for another 5 to 8 minutes, don't let it boil, and you have to whisk constantly.

Once it thickens, gently ladle into ramekins and sprinkle canela on top.

Let cool, and serve at room temperature, or refrigerate them for later.

>> We're making the tasajo tortas, and I'm gonna make some smoky guacamole to go with that.

We're going to use a roasted slice of onion, two roasted garlic cloves, and a roasted serrano chile.

This is not your average guacamole at all.

I'm gonna mash with some salt, the juice of one lime.

I like guacamole to stay chunky, so it's okay if the paste is not, like, completely smooth.

I'm gonna chop some cilantro.

Gonna see that mixture in there, and then I'm gonna add 3 ripe avocados.

♪ ♪ >> I'm just gonna coarsely dice it in here.

♪ ♪ >> It is definitely an Oaxacan inspired guacamole.

Simple, but so delicious.

Mmm.

Mmm!

So good.

It's like the roasted ingredients, they really make it shine, like, they bring it to the top of that guacamole bowl, it's so good.

♪ ♪ >> This is the final tasajo.

You can see how the marbling of the meat got so accentuated, and the color of the meat also turned into this beautiful, beautiful red.

Brush some oil, and this is going to cook in a second.

I'm gonna blink, and it's gonna be ready because the meat is so thin.

[meat sizzles] So it's gonna be crunchy a little around the edges, so you can see, I mean, how quickly it cooks, and this is ready!

♪ ♪ >> Come, come!

>> Hi Ma.

>> [In Spanish] My love, look what I'm making.

>> Tasajo.

>> Ci!

[Pati speaks Spanish] We'll make a gigantic torta.

>> Awesome.

>> Awesome?

>> Yeah, it looks good.

>> You wanna taste to see if it's as good as last time?

>> Yeah, should I just - >> Yeah!

>> With my fingers.

>> Mmm, mmm, mmm!

>> Mmm, pretty good, it's like jerky.

>> It does taste a little like jerky!

Here, you can assemble yours.

Refried beans.

>> Everything together.

>> It's so thin that you can pack it up.

>> Yeah.

>> Do you wanna put some pickled jalapeños?

>> Yeah.

>> Cheese?

Since the moment that I was slicing it, I was dreaming of this moment.

What a beauty!

♪ ♪ >> Mmm.

>> Mmm.

Mmm!

>> That's good.

>> [Pati sounds motioning to salad] >> [He mimics her sounds] ♪ ♪ >> When you have something like this, you don't need words.

>> (Pati laughs) no.

So you have this outrageous torta.

Next to that, you have this light, beautiful vegetable salad.

It's vinegar-y, but it has that nice crunch.

>> Mhmm.

>> See, I can hear you crunch.

>> Yeah.

That's really crunchy.

Perfect combo.

That's, uh... Natilla.

>> Whenever I have natilla I think of that first trip to Oaxaca.

>> Mmm.

Oh yeah, that's really good.

>> When you spoon it into your mouth, it feels like you ate a piece of a cloud and it turned into milk, no?

>> It is kind of like what you would imagine a cloud to taste like, yeah.

>> This is so light, would you go for another torta?

>> I could definitely go for another torta right now.

[they laugh] >> Cheers to that.

[ramekins clink] ♪ ♪ >> 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 >> Pati's Mexican Table is made possible by: ♪ epic music plays ♪ >> The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, Mexbest, and The National Agricultural council.

A tradition of authentic Latin flavors and family recipes.

Tropical Cheese.

>> La Costeña, por sabor!

Taste that transcends.

More information at: mexicorico.com >> Some things are always there for you.

Like your alarm clock, right on time.

Your parking space.

Seriously?

Girl's night, always there.

And avocados from Mexico.

They're always there because they're fresh all year round.

>> ♪ Avocados from Mexico ♪ >> Proud to support Pati's Mexican Table on public television.