La Frontera with Pati Jinich

[Horns honking] [Indistinct chatter] Pati: Who liked the tacos?

Anybody?

[Cheering] Yay!

Pati, voice-over: There is a region in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands so interwoven it goes by one name--CaliBaja, where California and Baja California collide, home to the two closest major cities in the border, making it the busiest land border crossing in the world.

San Diego and Tijuana are so interconnected, they actually share a power grid.

Woman: You know what's the best thing about San Diego?

Tijuana.

What's the best thing about Tijuana?

San Diego.

Pati, voice-over: This is where I continue my journey, a land of unprecedented creativity and opportunity for artists navigating their cultural identities... Woman: Good Job.

Yay!

Pati, voice-over: fighters brawling for equality... Pati: Ah viene con botella!

Pati, voice-over: winemakers exploring new frontiers, singers bridging cultural divides... Man: We want to welcome Coro Gay TJ to our family.

Pati, voice-over: and migrants creating new homes underground.

These are the fronterizos of the Golden Coast.

Una, dos, tres!

Pati, voice-over: I'm Pati Jinich.

I'm a chef, a writer, an immigrant.

On this season, I'm traveling the border from California and Baja to New Mexico and Chihuahua to uncover the stories beneath the headlines and celebrate the beauty of the people who call themselves fronterizos.

Really?

Mexico is my heart, the United States is now my home, and in the space between is La Frontera.

[Wind blowing] Pati, voice-over: When Joni Mitchell's heart cried out for California, it's easy to see why.

It's always sunny, and the Golden Coast is endless.

I'm at the very southwest corner of the U.S., Border Field State Park, where the line on the map disappears into the Pacific Ocean.

Tijuana is just over the fence.

As a Mexican American, it's surreal to visualize the stark differences between both countries in one location.

On the U.S. side is a beautiful but empty and heavily patrolled state park.

On the other is bustling Tijuana, full of color, light, and sound, where the smell of esquites and tacos fills the air.

It's even more surreal on horseback.

Woman: Hi!

Pati: Hey!

Such beautiful horses.

Thank you for bringing them here.

Woman: Of course.

Pati, voice-over: Cowgirl Caroline Sullivan helps me mount up for a ride with award-winning journalist Jean Guerrero, who covers the border for the "L.A. Times" and grew up riding horses on these beaches with her dad.

Jean: I started taking lessons when I was 14 because I just wanted to connect with that part of my family and with that part of my history.

My dad used to always talk about how when he lived in the rural outskirts of Tijuana he would find these wild horses and he would ride them when he was a little boy, and... Pati: What do you feel like when you're riding a horse?

Like, where does that connect to?

There's something about the border that is captured to me when I'm horseback riding because you're in this, like, liminal space, especially when I'm galloping on a horseback.

I'm not in one place or another.

I'm sort of in multiple places at once, and there's something about the border that that captures for me.

Pati: You've lived the border all your life with your family and all the different generations, but you now also cover the issues in the borderlands.

Does the border wall and fence have any different significance to you as a journalist and as a just normal person with your family?

Jean: I mean, when I look at the border wall, what I see is division.

I see something that's caused a lot of people a lot of pain, which I've witnessed as a reporter but also as somebody who grew up crossing the border and knows what it's like to suddenly be separated from a part of myself that is just as much a part of myself as this--this country.

Pati, voice-over: This is where the first 14 miles of border wall was built in the early nineties.

Pati: So somehow, the narrative gets just trapped in one dimension, in one theme... Jean: Exactly.

Pati: which is illegal border crossing.

Jean: Yeah.

Pati: There's so much that happens at the border crossing that is regular people just... Jean: Just living their lives.

Pati: studying, living their lives.

Jean: When this wall was built, it cut off this zig-zag circular migration pattern where a lot of people were coming here with the intent of just working for a little while and saving some money to build a home and go back to Mexico, but a lot of people ended up getting stuck here and staying here and establishing roots in a way that they wouldn't have otherwise.

Pati, voice-over: That's what happened to Jean's paternal grandparents.

They were born in Tijuana but in the 1940s crossed every day to work in the U.S.

They eventually settled in San Diego, starting a business that's now a local institution, The Butcher Block.

For 40 years, The Butcher Block has supplied meat to some of the best Mexican restaurants in the city, including Rolando's Taco Shop in historic Barrio Logan.

Jean: This is Barrio Logan.

So my dad spent, like, 10 years working here, um, at the shipyard.

A lot of working-class people from Mexico came and settled down here, and this is home to Chicano Park, which has, like, this very long, um, and powerful history of using art and murals as political resistance, as empowerment.

Pati, voice-over: In 1970, Barrio Logan residents challenged the city by occupying land beneath the Coronado Bridge to stop construction of a California Highway Patrol station and keep the land underneath as a neighborhood park.

They were successful, and ever since, the park has been memorialized by muralists and has become a symbol of peaceful resistance.

[Food sizzling] At Rolando's, Raul is making us a saucy, juicy, irresistible Angus beef burrito and some overloaded carne asada fries.

Pati: Oh, wow.

Oh!

That's beautiful!

This weighs, like, 10 pounds!

Como dos libras.

Como dos libras?

O una libra y media.

I'm about to eat two pounds of a burrito.

I'm so hungry.

Raul: Provecho.

Gracias.

Creo que si, le voy a echar un poquito.

Mmm!

You like it?

Ha ha!

Mmm!

Jean: I'll tell my grandma.

Ha ha ha!

Pati: And I had never tasted carne asada fries either.

Tell me about it.

Jean: Carne asada fries actually originated in San Diego.

I can't say that my family has any credit in creating them...

Right.

but it's something that just represents the fusion of cultures that I think is so unique to the border region.

Eating this kind of food has helped me to find and navigate my own identity as somebody who was born in the United States, is considered American, but also comes from a Mexican immigrant family, a Puerto Rican family, and so many people who have similar stories to me, we exist in this, like, in-between space where we're not quite one thing and not quite the other.

I mean, I went to a school here where speaking Spanish was against the rules, um, and it was my first language, so I sort of had to teach myself to reject it, and so I feel like for many years I did sort of run away from who I was and from my roots, and becoming a journalist and focusing on Mexico and Latin America has--has provided me with a pathway for finding my way back.

And so you and your sister grew up here, and you went into journalism, and she went to be a muralist.

A muralist.

Yeah.

Her art looks so beautiful.

I love it.

No, but yeah, that's just one example.

It's peeling off.

She is a part of the legacy of this neighborhood.

Pati, voice-over: Jean's sister Michelle also navigates her identity through storytelling, but her stories require at least two stories and a lot of spray paint.

Michelle: Spray paint is my favorite tool.

It's so freeing.

Like, I feel like it's almost like a dance, like, when you're working so large-scale.

Pati, voice-over: Mr B Baby, as she's known on the street, has gone from unknown artist to one of the most recognizable muralists in the city in only a few years.

Her work centers around a whimsical wolf piata named Chucho.

Pati: How did you come up with Chucho?

Michelle: My sister and I were actually talking about doing a children's book, and we decided that we wanted to do, like, all the Aesop fables, like, all the popular children's books, but with a Latin twist... Pati: Yeah.

and so I started with "Red Riding Hood," and I didn't know how to make, like, a Latino-looking wolf, and so I just created this, like, piata-looking guy, and it was Chucho.

Pati, voice-over: If you pay close attention, you will start to see Chucho on walls all over Southern California and sometimes even walking around.

Pati: And so what does he mean to you?

Michelle: Piatas were originally filled with seeds, and they were held over the garden and broken so the seeds would grow, and I always really connected with that idea that, like, through brokenness comes growth.

Pati: So this look like a love story between you and Chucho.

Mm-hmm.

Tell me about that love story.

So a lot of my work touches on just, like, self-love and, like, mental health, a lot of different struggles that I've been through, and so for me, Chucho is also me, and so I always like to create these little stories where we're in love as a representation of how important self-love is.

Pati: So how do you navigate your Puerto Rican, American, Mexican identities?

I feel like art helps me, um, just being able to create and kind of explore those worlds through my art.

Pati: And so you're kind of claiming space as a Mexican, as a Puerto Rican, but you're also claiming space as a woman.

Absolutely.

Yeah, and so, like, with this mural particularly, the reason why I chose to do a self-portrait is because I feel like as Latina women we're made to feel small, and, like, we're not-- we shouldn't be taking up space, and so this is kind of my-- me voicing to other Latina women that we should take up space and that, like, don't be afraid to.

Pati, voice-over: Jean and Michelle once wrestled with their mix of cultural identities but now use it as their strength to magnify a message of unity and love that reverberates far beyond the borderlands.

Pati: I love you, Chucho!

Michelle: Ha ha ha!

Nice!

Ha ha ha!

Good job.

Yay!

Pati, voice-over: Another group in San Diego is also sharing a message of unity and love... [Singers humming] but a few octaves lower.

In the city's vibrant Hillcrest neighborhood, the mission of music is changing lives one voice at a time... [Humming] and leading the charge is the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus... Bring it down.

Pati, voice-over: one of the 10 largest gay choruses in the U.S., who is making a statement from the moment you walk through the doors of their rehearsal space.

Man: I start from the premise that all singing is about connection.

It's all about human beings, so if I'm--one of the things I say to the chorus all the time is it's hard to hate someone that you just sang a song with.

Yeah.

And at a time of division and fragmentation and when there are all these troubles in the world, it seems to me that bringing people together through singing is quite a radical act.

It's an act of activism.

I feel like there is such a connection between what you do and the food world because it is also a safe space where people that can't see eye to eye suddenly can connect and maybe are surprised by it.

My Bonnie lies... Pati, voice-over: Charlie Beale is the new director of San Diego's 40-year old chorus, and his top priority is bringing together singers from across the border.

My Bonnie to me Charles: This evening, we are gonna teach our singers two songs, one of which is chosen by the Tijuana choir, one of which is chosen by our choir, and we're going to learn them separately, and then on Sunday, we come together for the first time ever... For the first time ever!

and, uh, sing together.

And I'm gonna be there!

And you're going to be there.

I'm so excited!

But this is, like, the first step.

I mean, it's amazing that they are so close to us, like, 15 miles away, but, you know, different worlds in so many ways.

Pati, voice-over: Mexico legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, a short time before the U.S.

But socially, the LGBTQ movement is just getting started.

The Tijuana Gay Men's Chorus was started in 2020 and was only one of two in all of Mexico.

Charles: They're springing up in Mexico right now as if it were the early eighties in the U.S. Really?

It's very interesting.

Something is going on in Mexico at the moment.

I also want to introduce you to Pati, who I only met about 45 minutes ago.

Hello, Pati.

Come and join us.

Pati, voice-over: I've always wished my superpower was singing, but it's not.

However, I made the mistake of telling this to Charles.

Charles: So I thought that if I just put that chair there, it's-- Oh, yeah!

You don't need to go there.

It's your choice, but if that chair's there, I thought maybe you could just join us in the warmup.

Yeah.

Charles: Let's go as high as you can this time.

[Chorus humming] Hold it.

Let it fall.

[Note descending] So it's gonna be... [Humming] Charles: Keep it there.

Charles, voice-over: The song that San Diego are gonna do is about community.

So it goes... A-ma i-bu oh ee ay You just try that.

2, 3.

A-ma i-bu oh ee ay That's half the song learnt already.

Charles, voice-over: The song is originally from Central Africa, and the concept is that every member of the choir starts from very far away.

My name's Pati.

So nice to meet you.

Charles: It's a song about coming together as a group for the first time.

OK.

I'll sing when you sing.

Man: OK. No, yo los sigo.

A-ma i-bu oh ee ay Both: A-ma i Charles: And we all sing the same part from different parts of the space.

We keep singing until everyone feels they're comfortable in the group, and then we end on a single note.

[All singing note] And so we come together as a community for the first time, and that will be a lovely-- Oh, and they're learning the song.

And they're learning the song at the same time.

[Plays notes] [Snaps fingers] Mmm, mmm.

[Chorus singing] Pati, voice-over: A few miles south in Tijuana, Edgar Gheno's chorus nervously prepares for the arrival of the San Diego guys.

Vamos a hacer nada ms esa parte con los dos tenores y el bajo, sale?

[Singing] Pati voice-over: An increase in LGBTQ violence and low public support has made it difficult for the community to gain traction.

In a 2017 government survey, about 1/3 of Mexicans said they would not rent out a room to a gay or trans individual... Qudate a mi lado aunque pasen mil aos ...which is why this visit by Charlie and the members of the San Diego Choir will not only lift voices.

It will also raise support.

[Indistinct chatter] Eddie?

Nice to meet you, Eddie.

How's it going?

Ryan.

How are you?

Nice to meet you.

Pati: You would think that because we're at the border there would be more openness to create a space like this for, you know, the LGBT community...

Yes.

Pati: but he was telling me that there's people that come from different parts of Mexico that are very closed-minded, like, in their families or communities, and that it's harder.

Cmo ayuda el coro?

Pues, primero, les das seguridad de... Como la msica te da esa seguridad, no?

Te da partes.

Tiene algo muy muy profundo en el alma, y ms, por ejemplo, que empiezan a ver que somos visibilizada la comunidad, ms que nada, por medio de la msica.

Charles: It is so great that two groups that are so close together in distance can now sing together.

That's just the right thing, and so we want to welcome the Coro Gay TJ to our family.

[Applause] So one person will start somewhere in the room, and then you join in when you want in your own time.

A-ma i-bu oh ee ay A-ma i-bu oh ee ay A-ma i-bu oh ee ay A-ma i-bu oh ee ay Pati, voice-over: I feel honored to be here in this moment, to be included in this space of coming together.

[All singing same note] [Singing stops] Charles: So the idea--yeah.

[Cheering] One word in either English or Spanish that says how you felt while you were singing.

Man: Empowering.

Man two: Togetherness.

Togetherness?

What was yours?

Family.

Pati: Included because I'm so grateful.

Thank you for including me.

I'm a horrible singer... [Laughter] and I'm not from San Diego or from Tijuana or a gay man, and-- [Laughter] Man: Today, you are.

You are now an honorary gay man.

Come, come.

Give me.

Give me.

Man: Just to hear what we can do in a few days.

Can you imagine if we had a few weeks or a few months?

I think we'd be amazing together, so I'm really looking forward to continuing this and to singing together again.

Man two: We could take over the world.

[Laughter] [Applause] [Indistinct chatter] Pati, voice-over: As Charlie said, you can't hate someone you just sang a song with.

I think the same can be said for sharing a taco.

We love to overcomplicate things, but a safe space, music, and good food can go a long way to achieving harmony no matter which side of the border you call home.

Pati: Who liked the tacos?

Anybody?

[Cheering] Yay!

Pati, voice-over: Achieving harmony within your palate is the mission of one man in Mexico's wine country.

40 miles south of Tijuana lies the Guadalupe Valley, home to more than 100 wineries along the famed Ruta del Vino.

Pati: Entonces, aqu estamos en Casa de Piedra?

Casa de Piedra, as es.

Pati, voice-over: Hugo D'Acosta opened the boutique Casa de Piedra in 1997... and is known as the godfather of Mexican wine.

Pati: Alguien que no conoce Mxico, cmo le describiras el sabor de un vino mexicano?

Yo creo que tiene esta parte frontal, formal, robusta, no?

Que nos ves como nuestros rasgos, no?

O sea, son fuertes, son claros, no?

Contrastados.

Yo creo que no se pierden con otros.

Es mucho ms fcil decir: "Este seguramente no es europeo".

Vamos a ponerlo as.

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Pati, voice-over: Next door is another of Hugo's 4 wineries.

Aborigen is his more experimental brand that is managed by his son Lucas.

Lucas: Este, pues, es un proyecto hermano de Casa de Piedra que nace con la necesidad de encontrar una personalidad del vino mexicano a travs de la experimentacin.

O sea, aqu dijiste: "Para que mi hijo juegue".

Exactamente.

Y yo dije: "Por qu juegas as?".

Ha ha ha!

[Indistinct chatter] Pati, voice-over: Experimentation is not only to discover unique flavors... Tiene todos los sedimentos y... ...but is a way to prepare for the future.

The valley's water table is running dangerously low, and Aborigen focuses on techniques and grapes that require less water.

Hugo: Pues, definitivamente, hay una lucha por la poca agua que hay.

Es decir, independientemente de concesiones y permisos formales, pues siempre hay... Todo mundo quiere el litro extra, no?

Te moveras a otro lugar a hacer vino?

Nosotros todo lo que tenemos se lo debemos al vino.

Si bien estamos perdidamente enamorados de Baja California, le debemos todo a Baja California, al final el vino nos llama, y seguramente, si nos tuviramos que mover, nos moveramos.

[Gulls squawking] Pati, voice-over: But water definitely isn't the issue for Hugo's latest experiment, arguably his most ambitious yet.

Hugo: Vamos a visitar un proyecto que empezamos hace unos aos.

Que le pusimos nombre de "Anfibio" a la idea de aejar vinos bajo el agua.

Pati, voice-over: Yep, that's right, aging wines in the ocean.

Several miles into the Bay of Ensenada is home to one of the oldest mussel farming operations in Mexico.

[Indistinct chatter] Hugo has partnered with the farm to create a unique underwater pairing.

The blue barrels mark the area of the mussel farm.

Beneath the barrels are 20-foot lines called socks.

Each sock holds a bottle of wine wrapped in mesh for the mussels to grow on.

Winemakers got the idea after divers found wine bottles covered in mussels in the wreck of the Titanic.

In some ways, the ocean is a winemaker's dream-- low temperature and no light like a cave.

Pati: Aging the wine and waiting for the mussels to grow to be at the right time to eat...

Exactly.

They don't necessarily match.

Hugo: We are working with the different dates... Pati: Uh-huh.

Hugo: to put the bottles, different seasons to find out which one is the best for the wine and which one is the best for the mussels.

Man: For the camera.

Ha ha ha!

Hey.

Let's go.

Bueno.

Pati, voice-over: It's Alberto's job to retrieve the bottles that have aged underwater anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.

Pati: Ah viene con botella!

Wow!

Esta es de las ms viejas.

Ah, cmo sabes?

Por el color de... El color de la cera que le pusimos.

Ah, OK.

Le pusimos una cera en el corcho.

Esta es roja.

It's been aging for, like, two years.

Oh.

OK. OK. Pati, voice-over: An experiment like this requires a lot of trial and error to find the perfect balance of wine and mussel.

Pati: Look at that one over there.

Ay, mira, esta tiene muchsimas!

Esa de all.

Hay algunas que empiezan a tener almejas, no?

O sea, realmente es infinito.

Pati, voice-over: Villa Torel is a popular spot in Guadalupe Valley and was recently named a top 50 Latin American restaurant.

Chef Alfredo Villanueva has the honor of turning these mussels into a meal.

Y ahora qu vamos a hacer con esto?

What's your plan?

Alfredo: Cook with garlic and--and, uh--and wine.

Pati: How long was this in the ocean?

Do you remember?

Lucas: This one was, like, probably, like, 8 to 10 months probably.

Pati, voice-over: Think about your favorite dry white wine, crisp, airy, yet brushed with a briny taste of an ocean wave.

Qu rico!

Gracias.

Pati: Cava?

Ajo, aceite Pati, voice-over: A recurring theme I've encountered throughout the borderlands is a culture of creativity and the bravery to explore.

For Hugo, that means turning water into wine.

Es atreverte, no?

S.

Si te atreves, aqu tenemos el vino que se atrevi a estar en un espacio distinto para tener una vida distinta en una frontera entre el agua y la tierra, no?

Y vemos que s puede pasar, no?

Pati: Oye, pues, salud.

Alfredo: Salud, no?

Pati, voice-over: Culinary invention is a hallmark of Baja California.

Gracias por compartir.

Pati, voice-over: In fact... there's a dish I bet you've heard of that was invented here almost 100 years ago.

During Prohibition, Americans poured over the border to the boomtown of Tijuana.

Some famous... Al Capone.

Pati: Al Capone.

...and others who would soon be famous like Italian immigrant Caesar Cardini.

This was his restaurant, the birthplace of arguably the most famous dish on the planet.

That Caesar salad was actually...

Created in Tijuana.

created in Tijuana.

Yes.

Did you know that?

I did know that.

Proudly Mexican.

Yes.

Pati, voice-over: Caesar's is now owned by the family of the chef credited with creating Baja cuisine Javier Plascencia, but his family was there from the start.

Javier: My grandpa, my father's father, he used to be a cantinero, a bartender at Caesar's... Ah!

and my grandma, uh, used-- from my mom's used to work at a perfume shop next door to Caesar's, so we have a lot of history.

Pati, voice-over: Named after the owner, the dish is often wrongly credited to Cardini.

Pati: That's the man, the myth, the legend, but he didn't come up with the salad.

It was... Livio Santini.

Livio.

His cook.

Like, this is Livio Santini.

This is his original picture from 1924.

That's when he came here.

He was a cook, and he was the guy who actually invented the Caesar salad.

Pati, voice-over: As legend has it, Caesar asked Livio for a salad, who threw together a little something with the ingredients he had lying around.

Because they were very poor back in Italy, so they had stale bread for the croutons.

They had, of course Parmesan cheese, olive oil, so that's what their mom used to make for them when they were kids.

OK.

So he was... for the cook that was in the kitchen.

For the cook that was in the kitchen.

Pati, voice-over: Caesar was eating in his usual spot spot at the front of the house when a customer saw it and asked for a taste.

Overwhelmed, she immediately asked him to make her one, too.

Caesar, a bit of a showman, knew what to do next.

And he was a tall, handsome Italian guy.

He started making it tableside.

Pati, voice-over: And every Caesar salad has been made tableside since, but no man has made more salads at Caesar's than Efrain, a salad-making hero.

Ensaladas?

Veintinueve aos preparando ensaladas.

Estuvo 29.

Salad maker for 29 years.

De verdad?

That's his profession.

Whoa!

Pati Jinich, un gusto.

Efran, de aqu, de Tijuana?

No, de Sinaloa.

So you're gonna... me vas a ensear a hacer la ensalada Csar?

As es.

Yo te voy copiando.

Pati, voice-over: The ingredients are simple.

Anchoa, mostaza, ajo.

Javier: Now the hard part.

The tricky part--not hard.

It's just tricky.

The egg.

Heh heh heh.

Ha ha ha!

You're laughing already, right?

I'm making fun of you.

Ha ha ha!

I'm gonna get it just to prove you wrong, OK?

This egg has been coddled already for a couple of minutes just to get any bacteria out.

Efran: De esta manera, y le va a hacer... Javier: So we want to use the egg yolk.

I know you're not gonna-- He's already laughing!

He knows I'm a messy cook.

OK. Entonces le pegaste aqu en la puntita... En la puntita, pero levantndolos un poquito hacia arriba para que no caiga la yema.

Otro poquito.

Javier: There you go.

Ah, para que no se caiga... Le quito la cscara?

Javier: You can't use your hands at the table, Pati.

Oh!

Oh!

Ha ha ha!

Oh.

Here.

Javier: He did it like--like that.

Beautiful.

And that's it.

That's good.

Good job, Pati.

Pati: OK.

I like this lime squeezer.

Javier: There you go.

So the juice will go over the egg yolk.

Ahora vamos a agregar lo que es... Worcestershire-shire-shire.

Javier: Worcestershire-shire-shire.

I can never pronounce it.

Pati: Me either.

Ha ha ha!

Beautiful.

It smells nice.

Pati: It smells really nice.

Ha ha ha!

So we never wash these bowls.

We only clean them because they have that flavor.

They're probably more than 20-something years old.

Guau, como un molcajete, que est curado.

S, exacto.

Mmm!

Ya huele a Csar!

Javier: OK.

So you just go very gently and make sure all the salad is covered.

One of the things that you probably didn't know is that the original way to eat the salad is with your hands.

Aha.

OK?

I love eating with my hands.

Javier: I like my croutons to be covered in the same dressing.

Sauce.

It is my first time eating a Caesar's in the place where the Caesar's originated.

And now we give it another shower of the cheese.

Pati: S.

Shower, shower.

Oh, beautiful.

And this is the original Tijuana style Caesar salad.

Pati: Wow!

I'll try--Efrain's.

You can try his.

I'm going to try yours first.

Y ahora yo pruebo esta.

Mmm!

Mmm!

Mmm!

Javier: Wow.

Mmm!

The most revealing thing is his face of pride.

He knows it's good.

Verdad?

T ya sabes que est buensima.

I've had many salads, and I think, like, yours is--it's a top.

It's because we added more anchovies, I think.

Mmm!

It's amazing.

I really like mine, but I like yours better.

Javier: Ha ha ha!

Pati: I do.

So this is a perfect dish.

You see it all over the world, all the hotels, but I've never had a Caesar salad like you have it here because-- I don't know what it is.

It's something in the air, something about the restaurant, the history, these bowls, his hands.

It's just very special.

Pati, voice-over: Tijuana might hold the title of world's most famous salad, but it's also home to another world title holder.

Jackie Nava is a lot like most moms... Ha ha ha!

making flapjacks and going to work, but when she gets to her day job, staying on top of her punch list is a dogfight.

[Bell rings] Pati voiceover: Jackie is Tijuana's explosive featherweight warrior inside and outside the ring.

She is a former world champion in two weight classes, has served as a representative for the state of Baja California, and is a mother of two beautiful girls.

Jackie: Esto es para principiantes.

Pati: Lo estoy empezando bien as?

As es, aj.

Pati, voice-over: Today, Jackie is showing me the ropes... Ests en guardia, y el golpe bsico de los boxeadores es el jab.

De este lado vas a girar este y vas a... Pati, voice-over: and I'm liking this maybe a little too much.

Jackie: Que, por lo regular, esta es la que nadie se espera.

Both: Recto.

Gancho.

I already really feel, like, so empowered, and I want to stay here in Tijuana and become a boxer.

[Crowd cheering] [Bell rings] Ha ha ha!

Until I get that first punch in my face probably.

Pati, voice-over: Women's boxing dates back to at least the early 18th century when Elizabeth Wilkinson fought men and women in London and proclaimed herself champion of Europe, but even with a rich history, on average, women are paid about 70% less than their male counterparts... but that didn't stop Jackie.

At 16, Jackie's kickboxing coach saw her talent and put her in the ring for the first time.

Jackie: Yo estaba estudiando Arquitectura en ese tiempo, con una situacin econmica bastante difcil.

Mi pap acababa de fallecer.

Y fue como una oportunidad que se me present y decir: "Bueno, vamos a probar".

Me encontr con una... una muchachita marcadsima, marcadsima.

Me acuerdo de su rostro, su semblante, tan fuerte, tan duro.

Yo llegu con mi carita ac toda de... Triste y as como de buena gente y todo.

Pero, a pesar de esto, el entrenamiento nos sirvi bastante porque ganamos la pelea.

Entonces, t, al tener esa posibilidad de brincar a foros nacionales e internacionales... Yo me enfocaba en lo positivo.

Y ests llevando el nombre de Tijuana, cmo sientes ese rol que has tenido?

Bueno, yo estoy as de admirada.

Ah, gracias.

Mira, es que s, es un compromiso contigo... Primero con una misma, no?

Por qu?

Porque a m me toc una... Un deporte, o sea, un trabajo donde estaba visto por hombres.

Cuando yo empec a boxear, la verdad es que fue muy curioso, pero poco a poco empec a ver familias.

Empec a ver nios, empec a ver nias, seoras... No haba muchas mujeres?

No haba, antes no.

[Sizzling] Man: Yo cuando me llam la atencin fue el carisma y cmo la quera la gente.

Es que la gente te adora.

Yo camin con ella una cuadra y le pidieron 25 fotos.

Pati, voice over: Fernando Beltran is Jackie's promoter and has represented some of the biggest names in boxing like Julio Csar Chavez and Erik "Terrible" Morales.

Mariscos El ngel is his favorite food spot in Tijuana, and it's in the neighborhood where he got his start in the eighties.

Pati: Aqu tenemos, a ver, platcame qu tenemos.

Ceviche especial?

Fernando: Ceviche especial.

Creo que esta es la marca de la casa, no?

El que los hizo muy famosos.

[Crunching] Mmm.

Mmm!

Pati: Platcanos un poquito de cmo entraste t a esto del boxeo y de ser promotor.

A m el boxeo me llam la atencin desde Julio Csar Chvez en el 84, yo estaba en secundaria.

Comenc de promotor.

Jackie: Te toc irte desde abajo, no?

Desde abajo.

De ir a poner el ring y... De todo.

Pati, voice-over: Fernando says that boxers at the border carry unique traits found nowhere else in the world.

La bravura, primero que nada, muy echados para adelante.

Lo necios que somos.

Norteos y cumplidores.

Aj.

No, y tienen tambin una cosa muy buena y que es la lealtad.

La lealtad de un bajacaliforniano no se la puedes comparar con nadie.

Con nada.

Tijuana es una frontera muy particular, es la ms transitada del mundo, primero.

Aj.

Aj.

Tenemos a la sptima potencia econmica mundial, que es California, al lado.

Y entonces tienes que, cuando naces aqu, tienes que buscar superarte para sobrevivir, que es muy importante, no?

Pues, no es fcil, pero... Te empuja.

La verdad te empuja, y te empuja a ser mejor.

Cul es el rol de un promotor?

El promotor tiene una funcin muy importante dentro de un boxeador.

Es el organizador para generar el recurso para pagar la contraprestacin del boxeador.

Ah.

O sea, es el organizador de todo tipo, no?

Desde taquilla, televisin, tiene muchas cosas, no?

Patrocinio.

Pati, voice-over: Viewership is the key to paying women more, and although Jackie retired in 2022, her legendary career and persistence through adversity has brought a spotlight to the sport that is opening doors for the next generation of female boxers.

Jackie: No iba a cambiar de la noche a la maana, y lo tena, yo lo tena por entendido, pero finalmente, pues, es algo que a lo mejor ya les va a tocar a las que vienen, nosotros fuimos abriendo paso.

Y qu sigue?

Ahora Jackie s que acaba de tener su ltima pelea.

La estamos invitando a que se integre, que sea la primera mujer que se integre al equipo de comentaristas de la televisora nacional, que nos ha sacado adelante y que sbado a sbado transmite boxeo.

Entonces, sus fanticos y todos... Qu divertido.

Va a ser la primera... Me gusta ser la primera.

Debo ser la primera en todo.

Pati, voice over: The world sees a champion.

Her kids just see Mom.

Las ves como que le quieren entrar tambin?

No, no.

Te gustara que le entren?

Claro que no me gustara.

A qu mam le gusta que golpeen a sus hijos?

Pero si yo veo que a ellas les gusta y que le echan ganas y no me dejan de estudiar, yo s las apoyara.

Pati, voice over: From one powerful mother in Tijuana, who fights with her fists, to another in San Diego, who fights with her heart.

Los tomates... Olivia Romero hasn't won medals or invented something new.

She is simply a fronteriza who has taken the best of both worlds to raise an incredible family.

She went from being an assistant in Tijuana to running the accounting department of a multinational company in San Diego... Pati: S.

Olivia: Some avocados here.

Pati, voice-over: while commuting across the border every day and single parenting 5 kids after being abandoned by her husband... Tienes cinco hijos.

S.

Que se llaman Olivia... Olivia: Lizelda, Romina, Melina y Enrique.

Pati, voice over: who include a chef turned entrepreneur, a PR executive, and 3 scientists.

We're shopping for dinner tonight, where I get to meet her family of true fronterizos, who've managed to thrive in this in-between space we call La Frontera.

A usted le gustaba mucho la ciencia?

Le gustaba mucho el estudio?

Pues yo creo que al verme leer.

Aj.

Pati, voice over: I don't think it's that simple, but at her home, I'm going to do a little more digging if I can keep everybody straight.

Pati: So, Oli, then... Lizzie.

Lizzie.

Where's Lizzie?

Pati, voice-over: Lizelda is a camera-shy PR executive.

And then?

Melina.

Pati, voice-over: Melina is a former chef turned entrepreneur.

Esa es Romina.

Pati, voice over: Romina is an environmental scientist with San Diego County.

So what I do is I monitor the beaches in San Diego for contamination, and if they're contaminated, I notify the public so they don't swim in it.

Pati: That seems very important.

What do you deal with?

Pati, voice-over: Enrique's job is confidential, but he's, like, super good with space thingies.

I send satellites into space and then use them for communication.

Wow!

So it has to do with what you do because you're testing materials to be used in space maybe.

Sure, sure.

Yeah.

Sure.

Ha ha ha!

Pati, voice-over: And lastly, Olivia Greave, who is making our dinner tonight, also works with space materials.

In fact, she's so good, she was named by "Forbes Mexico" as one of the 100 most powerful women in Mexico, but how's her picadillo?

Oli: We're gonna add about 5 cups of kind of coarsely ground tomatoes.

Yes.

Pati, voice-over: On the menu is Olivia's green bean casserole, cheese soup, and picadillo sopes.

Psennos para ac, para que se los pases a Frank por ac, de este lado.

Pati: Pero es que Luisa nos tiene que ayudar con los sopes.

Oli: Pero todava no.

Pati: Est buensima!

Olivia: Todo muy sabroso.

Pati: This is so good!

Y los sopes dnde estn?

Los sopes aqu estn, pero ah vienen ms.

Hola.

Hola.

Pati: I really feel at home.

It feels, like, so Mexican in America, like, in every possible way.

All: Salud.

Cheers!

Pati: And, Oli, you were telling me so much about how your family has this story of back and forth.

Your dad is from San Diego, and your mom is rom Tijuana, and you have so, so much family from so many generations in the region.

In both sides of the border.

Yes.

Pati, voice-over: Olivia's family members have been fronterizos or borderlanders straddling both sides for multiple generations.

What does fronterizo mean to you?

Romina: It means that we're always straddling that border.

We're not 100% Mexican.

We're not 100%--sorry.

I'm holding a baby, so I need... Pati: It's good.

It's rocking me.

It's rocking me.

It's nice, it's nice.

Romina: I need to rock.

I need to rock.

We're taking the best from both cultures and merging it into our own, and I think that's what fronterizo means.

We're a little bit of both.

You know, what's the best thing about San Diego?

Tijuana?

What's the best thing about Tijuana?

San Diego.

Oh, that is amazing!

Pati, voice-over: Utilizing the best of both worlds is what allowed Olivia Romero to climb the corporate ladder in the U.S. while living with her family in Tijuana.

Romina: She was raised in a time where you got married, you had kids, you had a--you were a housewife, and that was your role, right?

But then she did that, and then she got divorced, and she looked around and said, "Well, this didn't work for me.

Let's make it work."

So she turned around and became an executive.

She went back to work, and at the end, she was managing a company with, like, 3,000 employees.

So that model that she was raised in, in a box, she blew it open, so we wouldn't be where we were if she would have stayed within that box.

Like, "OK, well, if she did it, I can do it."

Pati: Quique, What do you think pushed you, like, propelled you to do--to do science and to study so much and to be in the field that you are?

I think the reason, um, that I was able to achieve what I've achieved so far is, um, a collection of moments.

Gangs, drugs--I was surrounded by it every day, and a lot of my friends fell to that, but I didn't, and the things that make you make the right choices are your strong family values and, um, that foundation, but it all started with my mom.

Everybody in my family will tell you that my mom did almost the impossible to raise 5 kids by herself, and I'm very proud to have the mom that I have.

Man: Cheers.

No te pongas a llorar, mam, eh?

Cheers to mom.

Pati: You're so blessed.

Olivia: Yes, I'm blessed.

I don't know how this happened, but I'm so happy.

Thank you for opening your home and your stories.

Thank you.

No, thank you.

Thank you.

All: Salud.

Pati, voice-over: Olivia and her family are a good reminder that family doesn't have to be as perfect as this little guy.

Oh, my gosh!

He's talking to me.

S, te platica mucho.

Pati, voice-over: It just needs love and hard work.

Really?

Pati, voice-over: Fronterizos like Olivia have the best of both worlds, but what about the best of 3?

That is the experience of those who have migrated to the borderlands from a country that is neither the U.S. or Mexico.

Mexicali has the largest Chinatown in Mexico, known as La Chinesca.

On the surface are pagodas, shops, and more than 200 Chinese restaurants, but below the surface, there's a series of tunnels connecting basements that hold the secrets of the people who for decades lived in an underground world.

Cmo ests?

Cmo ests?

Bienvenida a Mexicali.

Bienvenida al barrio chino La Chinesca.

Gracias, gracias.

Pati, voice-over: My guide is Rubn Hernandez Chin, a local merchant of Chinese Mexican descent who owns some of these basements and is helping to revitalize La Chinesca to bring the stories to life.

S, estamos dentro del callejn de La Chinesca.

Es un callejn muy antiguo de la ciudad de Mexicali.

Es un callejn que se remodel hace un par de aos.

Dentro del callejn estn murales pintados que cuentan la historia de la comunidad china, cmo llegan a la ciudad de Mexicali, en qu condiciones llegan, bajo qu circunstancias, cmo se integran a trabajar en los primeros aos del nacimiento de la ciudad en el Valle Agrcola de Mexicali, y cmo forman parte del desarrollo e impulso de la ciudad.

Mira, Pati, quiero presentarte a un amigo, el artista plstico Marco Miranda.

Mucho gusto.

Qu hay, Marco?

Pati, voice over: Marco Miranda is one of the artists who helped transform this alley in 2020 into what is now the heart of La Chinesca.

Platcanos un poquito de estos murales, y de este.

Este en especial, que es donde me toc colaborar con la artista Gloria Muriel, en ese contamos... Si te fijas, existen las dos...

Lo ms representativo, no?

Del lado izquierdo pusimos lo que es el guila y la serpiente, que representan la cultura mexicana, y del otro lado pusimos al dragn, que es una deidad muy importante para la comunidad china.

Lo que tiene Mexicali fue la ciudad que los arrop.

O sea, Mexicali fue la ciudad que siempre... La cultura lleg para ac y aqu se protegi muy bien, no?

Eso fue el abrazo que dio Mexicali.

Pati, voice over: The Chinese began arriving in Mexicali in 1903.

Millions had come to the U.S. for the gold rush, the promise of higher wages on railroads, and the allure of American freedom, but in a time of deepening economic instability and civil war, white resentment was burning at an all-time high.

Malicious hate crimes and eventually the Chinese Exclusion Act caused many to try to find a new home.

Pero en muy pocos aos se organizaron, crearon ranchos y tomaron el control de la produccin agrcola.

Eso fue en el Valle de Mexicali.

Aqu en la zona urbana, donde estaban haciendo la zona urbana de Mexicali, crearon su barrio, y lo nombraron La Chinesca.

Y dentro de La Chinesca construyeron sus asociaciones chinas, sus comercios, sus viviendas.

Hubo una iglesia con una escuela, hubo un hospital.

Y debajo de La Chinesca construyeron subterrneos.

Ahora nosotros estamos en un local que en los aos 30 funcion como un casino.

El Casino Oriental, se llam.

Y debajo del local tenan salas especiales de juego tambin, para los clientes exclusivos... Y qu haba aqu abajo?

Pues haba unas mesas de mahjong, que era el juego tradicional con el que ellos jugaban los juegos de apuestas.

Pero tambin tenan la ruleta, tenan otra serie de juegos.

Pati, voice-over: The network of more than 40 basements were used for everything from dormitories to gambling rooms and opioid dens.

In the 1920s, neighboring Mexican states began to violently expel the Chinese, and Mexicali became a sanctuary.

En Mexicali se hicieron 23 asociaciones.

Estaban divididas por lugar de origen y por apellido.

Cuando llegaba una persona y se apellidaba Chen, buscaban la asociacin china de su apellido, le ayudaban con alojamiento, con asistencia mdica legal, les ayudaban a conseguir trabajo, a que se estabilizaran un tiempo viviendo dentro de la asociacin para que pudieran, pues, afianzarse, estar junto a su familia.

Pati, voice over: The last known inhabitants left in the 1970s due to disrepair and frequent flooding, so Rubn has reimagined the underground with his own props to educate tourists.

Este letrero tambin es un letrero antiguo de un restaurante de comida china, del Caf Victoria.

Pati: Qu es lo que te motiva a ti?

La historia de Mexicali es una historia diversa, es una historia amplia.

No solamente es la historia de la comunidad china en la ciudad.

Pati, voice over: Today, the migratory flow from China has slowed down.

However, the influence from the early Chinese is everywhere, most notably in the 200 Chinese restaurants throughout the city.

El Dragn is one of the oldest in Mexicali.

Since 1976, they have offered traditional Canton recipes with Mexican flair.

Canuto Lim owns the restaurant with his son Jorge.

He moved from Canton, China, when he was 20 and started working in restaurants.

At almost 90, he hasn't slowed down a bit.

He's here every day.

Est aqu todos los das?

S.

Todos los das.

Todos los das.

De qu horas a qu horas?

De las nueve a las ocho.

Pati: Y cunta gente tiene trabajando?

Canuto: Ahorita tiene como 32.

Diez cocineros, tres mexicanos, siete chinos.

Qu le estn pidiendo?

Tengo una salsita para un tofu relleno que va saliendo ah.

Ah.

Mira, ahorita va saliendo.

Cmo se llama usted?

Me llamo... Mi nombre es Guoyi Zhou, pero aqu en Mxico me llaman scar.

Ah.

Mira.

Eso es un platillo como queso de soya relleno con camarn picado.

Uy!

Estilo as oriental.

Con una salsita de jengibre verde, y as completo el plato.

Qu rico!

Con su permiso.

Me voy a aguantar, me guardas uno?

Claro que s.

Pati, voice-over: Even though it's a busy afternoon at the restaurant, Jorge takes the time to walk me through his favorite dishes.

Pati: Ay.

That's the one I saw in the kitchen.

You'll like this one.

It's filled with shrimp and pork.

Ay, qu rico!

There's some sauce.

And what's in the sauce?

Uh, Sorry.

It's a ancient Chinese secret.

I can't--I can't divulge it.

Ha ha ha!

No.

It's soy sauce-- Uh-huh.

soy sauce, cilantro, and hot oil.

How is it?

Mmm!

Good?

Mmm!

Mmm!

Pati, voice-over: El Dragn, like many of the Chinese restaurants here, have localized their menus over the years by adding regional ingredients and inventing new fusions.

Jorge: Our customers are mainly Mexican.

They like spicy.

It's really spicy.

Pati: What's that?

Jorge: That's fried chilies with lemon and special salt.

Pati, voice-over: Much like El Dragn's food, the borderlands are by definition a fusion of cultures, but for people like Jorge, there's an additional layer to navigate.

I'm not--I'm neither Chinese, Mexican, or American.

One time, I was talking to this person, and they said, "You know what?

You're international."

I was thinking, "Yeah, you're right.

I am."

I was born in--I was born in Mexico, I live in the U.S., but I work in Mexico, so what am I?

And at home, you have Cantonese, Chinese culture.

Right.

Chinese culture.

Cantonese and Mexican culture, too.

Has Mexico as a country embraced the Chinese community?

I believe so.

I believe--I mean, I can only speak of here in Mexicali.

Uh-huh.

Uh, for example, when I was growing up, I remember the first thing that people would say--would say, "Paisano," and to me it was I thought it meant Chinese, but later in life, I found out that paisano doesn't mean Chinese.

It means countryman, so a lot of people, like, in Mexico, they would see a Chinese person, and they say, "Paisano."

So that's--I mean, I didn't even know it back then, but that's showing you the embracing of, uh--of the community here in Mex--in Mexicali.

[Gulls crying] Pati, voice-over: The U.S.-Mexico cross-border communities seem to dance to the beat of their own drum, but CaliBaja dances with a pulsing electricity.

The contrasting narratives only add fuel to its kinetic creativity.

A-ma i Pati, voice-over: The fronterizos of the Golden Coast are blazing their own paths and fighting to be themselves, to stick together... Pati: Wow!

...and they've taught me that even something as ancient as wine can still cross new frontiers, a lesson that there's always one more way to come together.

Announcer: "La Frontera with Pati Jinich" is available on Amazon Prime Video.

To order "Treasures of the Mexican Table" cookbook, visit ShopPBS or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

The Journey to "La Frontera" continues at pbs.org/lafrontera, where you can watch exclusive interviews and video extras, get recipes, and more.