In Ciudad Juárez, Pati joins in with a group of Pachuco dancers, who are passionately preserving this distinctive Prohibition-era culture’s traditions. Together they head to the iconic Kentucky Bar, rumored to be the birthplace of the margarita. Later, she savors an icon of Juárez’s food scene, the burrito, at Burritos El Compa where the Olivares are keeping their family legacy alive.
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For the indigenous Rarámuri people, long-distance running through Chihuahua’s majestic Copper Canyon is a way of life. Pati meets the Moreno brothers, who are famous for winning ultramarathons. In Huetosachi, community leader María Monarca teaches Pati about the art of cooking with corn in Rarámuri cuisine, from nixtamalization to a traditional dish known as “chacales.”
In Chihuahua’s capital, Chihuahua City, Pati meets the first member of the Rarámuri people to become a world-famous pianist, Romeyno Gutiérrez, who teaches her the basics of Rarámuri music before taking her to his favorite barbacoa spot. Pati’s also invited into the home of Chef Ana Rosa Beltrán del Río to cook a few ancient Chihuahuan recipes and learn the art of drying chiles.
Pati is in the magic town of Maní to learn about something sacred to the Mayans – bees and honey. A cooperative of women who protect the endangered Melipona, a stingless bee native to Yucatán, invites her to join in a Mayan energy cleansing ritual involving buñuelos made with Melipona honey. Then she visits a family living by the traditional “Solar Maya,” meaning they grow everything they eat.
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In Tekit, or “The Capital of the Guayabera,” Pati encounters a tale of sons going against their father’s wishes to follow their own path. Pati meets Eliodoro Xicum, a farmer’s son who went against his father to build a family business making the iconic Guayabera shirts. Then she meets his son, Elio, who chose to become a chef and created a dish that resembles a Guayabera in honor of his father.
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Pati explores the vibrant streets of Yucatán’s capital, Mérida, in search of its flavors. She tries “the best tacos in Mérida” at Wayan’e. The aroma of freshly made cookies lures her to Dondé Fabric, where their globitos and bizcochitos are an important part of Mérida’s mornings. She has sorbet at a shop run by the same family for generations and tastes a unique Yucatecan liqueur at Casa D’Aristi.
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Pati visits Chef Wilson Alonzo in his hometown of Halachó to prepare a traditional Cochinita Pibil in an underground pit. They begin at the local market to source ingredients. Then Pati helps Wilson prepare the achiote marinade, along with his grandmother who taught him traditional cooking and isn’t shy to correct him. The final product is a meal that captures Yucatán’s history in every bite.
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Pati arrives in Motul, a town in the history books for Yucatán’s once thriving henequén industry and for the egg dish Huevos Motuleños. Pati meets Doña Evelia, who put Motul back on the map with her world-famous recipe. She also experiences the legacy of henequén at Hacienda Tamchén and encounters another egg dish in the kitchen, where chef Julio Ku Dominguez makes Abuela’s Buttoned Eggs.
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Temozón is the birthplace of Yucatán’s signature smoked meat Carne Ahumada and everyone in town claims to have a relative who invented it. Pati strolls around town to try different versions of Carne Ahumada. She also returns to Hacienda Tamchén for another traditional dish prepared by chef Julio Ku Dominguez called Huidzi Bii Wai, which means “united tortilla.”
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Pati returns to Mérida to meet sisters, Delfina and Maria Elide, who love to cook and laugh and are famous for recados – pastes of spices and aromatic herbs that season Yucatecan foods. In Uxmal, she learns about ingredients only found in Yucatán that make recados unique, touring citrus, habanero, and chaya fields at an hacienda. Then traditional cook Rosa makes a Relleno Negro using a recado negro.
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Today no trip to Yucatán is complete without seeing a beautiful cenote, natural freshwater pools in caves. But Mayans saw them as the gateway to the underworld. To learn more about Mayan communities, Pati visits Cenote Xocempich with activist and lawyer Zoila Cen, who has dedicated her career to helping Mayan people. The next day, Zoila invites Pati to her niece’s birthday celebration.
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