-Sonora -- one of the largest states in all of Mexico.
70,000 square miles of farmland, coastline, and ranches.
And its capital, the city of Hermosillo, a sprawling and peaceful economic hub set right in the middle of this enormous state.
I'm exploring the best of what this city has to offer.
At Doa Guille's street food stand, these giant burros are the stuff of legend.
She has, like, the most iconic Sonoran fillings in a burrito.
Phenomenal.
Qu rico.
Then, the always charming owner of one of Hermosillo's best restaurants shares some of his favorite recipes.
Whoa!
This chubbiness looks too irresistible.
Some things just don't change.
I'm visiting La Ruina, an outdoor event space and food truck park, to get a taste for what Hermosillo's next generation has in the works.
Mmm!
It's like Takis with bacon.
[ Both laugh ] And finally, no good day in Hermosillo is complete without this -- the famous Sonoran hot dog.
All over Mexico, you'll find hot dog stands.
But here, they've become really crazy.
-[ Singing in Spanish ] -"Pati's Mexican Table" is made possible by... -La Costea.
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Tropical Cheese.
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-Mahatma rice lets you unite ingredients and flavors.
Mahatma rice unites.
-Divine Flavor.
-Norson.
-The food of Hermosillo is a direct reflection of Sonora's agricultural way of life -- tacos, burros, food stands lining the streets.
Two of Sonora's biggest products, beef from the ranches and wheat from the farmlands, come together perfectly here at Tortillas y Burros Doa Guille.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -Doa Guille has been a fixture in Hermosillo for over 20 years.
Each day, locals line the seats of her sidewalk stand, happily feasting on these giant stuffed burros.
-Good afternoon.
-Ah, Doa Guille!
-[ Laughs ] [ Speaking Spanish ] Where are you from?
[ Speaking Spanish ] -While her burros are always a crowd-pleaser, her sobaqueras -- these huge, classic Sonoran tortillas -- are what really made Doa Guille famous.
The tortillas in Mexico City have nothing to do con estas tortillas.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Mmm.
Mmm!
Mmm.
She makes the flour tortillas with beef asiento, which is the rendered fat when making beef, not pig, chicharrn.
So it also has that, like, griddle, like, charred taste.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Grilled meat taste inside of a tortilla.
It's quite phenomenal.
So, to make her flour tortillas, she mixes the dough in her own mill.
This is Sonoran wheat flour.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Ah.
She's directing you guys.
She wants a camera in there.
This is freshly rendered beef lard.
-And all these tiny bits and pieces, these are chicharrn.
That's where the flavor comes from, people.
-So, from the already kneaded masa, she's going to make little balls, and that's called balling.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Wow!
-Really.
-I believe it.
We Mexicans love tortillas so much, and it's not only like -- [ Speaking Spanish ] -Burro.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -Okay.
Ahh!
Ah, okay.
So you're stretching it.
[ Speaking Spanish ] With our tortillas warm and ready, the only hard part is choosing between Doa Guille's delicious burro fillings -- machaca, chicharrones in salsa verde... Oh, I love chicharrn!
...carne con chili.
It's really tough to choose.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -Guacamole.
-Ah, avocado sauce.
It's so sturdy!
And she has, like, the most iconic Sonoran fillings in a burrito, combined.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -Gracias.
-Mmm!
I'm on a culinary tour of Sonora's capital, Hermosillo.
There is so much to do and see here, from street food to breweries to oh-so-comforting baked goods like coyotas.
But one of the absolute best dining experiences in this city is at Mochomos.
Owner Alfonso Lira wanted to give me a taste of his Sonora, so he invited me over to his house for a home-cooked meal.
-Hola!
-Ah!
Said "hola!"
-Uh-huh!
[ Bird wolf-whistles ] -Alfonso is quite the character.
-Who saved that?
This is when you were a baby?
-My mom.
-Oh, your mom had saved it.
-Yeah.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -Oh, at a party.
[ Speaking Spanish ] [ Laughs ] Alfonso is going to prepare a feast to introduce us to Hermosillo.
And what an introduction this gorgeous whole beef tenderloin is.
[ Speaking Spanish ] I mean, he's one of the biggest experts of meat in a meat-loving state, and he's teaching us how to make one of the cuts of meat that people are most intimidated by porque it's not cheap.
-No.
-It's, like, a really fine cut of meat, so you don't want to mess it up.
Why do you choose to cook it whole first instead of already sliced?
[ Speaking Spanish ] Of course, if you want a choice cut of meat here in Sonora, it helps to know a guy.
I have two of the biggest meat personalities in Sonora here.
Dr. Zambrano is one of the most important meat producers in this meat-producing and meat-eating state.
So, Alfonso is showing us how he cooks a beef tenderloin that comes from you.
Do you think he's doing an okay job there?
-Yeah.
-S?
-Yes, yes.
-What is the trick to not have the beef dry or rubbery?
-Excellent quality of meat, okay?
-Okay.
-To have a really good chef.
And the last one -- you have to have a right knife.
-I've never seen someone cut the meat directly on the grill.
Dr. Zambrano is saying it's good to cut it directly on the grill because then you're not shifting the temperature as the meat cooks.
Mmm!
-S.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -To go with the tenderloin, we're having Alfonso's house sauce that's made with large chunks of Caribbean chile, white onion, tomato, and zucchini.
This just looks gorgeous.
Let me cut in the middle.
Mm, mm.
It's really outstanding how such few ingredients... -Mm-hmm.
-...cooked so simply...
If you're gonna eat meat, you have to come to Sonora to eat meat.
You can taste the care and respect that's put into putting a piece of meat on your plate.
[ Speaking Spanish ] But you think Alfonso's done?
No way.
Just to prove that Sonora has more to offer than beef, Alfonso wanted to make grilled pork tomahawk.
Just look at those.
This is a state that has always loved beef.
-S.
-When did the pork fever start?
[ Speaking Spanish ] So there has always been... -Always.
S.
-...pork here.
Okay.
Uh-huh.
-You're adding chipotle in adobo sauce?
-Yeah.
-That's one of my favorite things ever.
In a skillet, he has bacon, onion, and one very surprising ingredient.
And then you wanted me to add vanilla?
-S.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -All of it?
-Yeah.
-Ah, the smell of vanilla as it first hit the pan is, like, crazy.
The thought of something vanilla on top of a pork tomahawk is a beautiful thing.
-Yeah.
-Whoa.
-There we go.
-I like this one, but I changed my mind.
-Okay, sorry.
-[ Laughs ] 'Cause this chubbiness it looks too irresistible.
I know I've told you this many times before, but I'm the fourth of four sisters, and my sisters have always been embarrassed about the big bites that I take.
Some things just don't change.
Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
I always eat beef and pork and chicken and everything, but, like, one right after the other, it is so radically different.
It's much more firm and sturdy.
And you had no sugar and no salt, and it's so sweet because of the caramelized onions and the vanilla.
The vanilla is giving it such a perfumed backdrop.
Mm-hmm.
Mmm!
You guys, there's classic Sonora, and then there's where Sonora is going.
Okay, you're feeding everybody.
That is so Mexican.
[ Glasses clink ] Salud!
[ Speaking Spanish ] -Salud.
-Salud.
[ Bird wolf-whistles ] [ Squawking ] -As Alfonso promotes the best of some of what Sonoran cuisine has to offer, just across town, a younger crowd is bringing new ideas to the scene.
How old are you?
-27.
-Oh, my God.
Such a...
He could be Alan!
Ricky and his partners have transformed an old textile factory into La Ruina, an outdoor food truck park/bar, complete with its own airplane because, why not?
Nope, doesn't fly anymore.
I don't know much about beers, but I really do like beer, and when I like a beer, I try to remember what it was.
And most times, it's a wheat beer.
Ooh!
-Salud.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Super poppy hoppy.
I love it!
To Ricky and his fellow millennials, Hermosillo feels like a city on the cusp of something exciting.
-What I really love about Hermosillo is the new city feeling, new projects, new entertainment, music, exploring new stuff.
-In a way, young people from Hermosillo are redesigning... -Are starting to platform, you know?
Like, before, Hermosillo didn't have the universities, really big and good universities.
A lot of the talent used to export from Hermosillo to the big cities, to Mexico City.
-They went to Monterrey.
-To Guadalajara, to Monterrey, to the U.S., and they stayed over there.
Now people are starting to come back to Hermosillo.
People are nurturing what's happening here.
-Here.
As progress, new ideas, and creative energy takes hold in Hermosillo, there is one thing that will always have an effect on life here.
-I see the Sonora, the Sonora region really special because of the desert.
-The Sonoran Desert is iconic.
It's in movies.
It's in poems.
It's in paintings.
-It's magical.
Hermosillo, Sonora, in summer is one of the hottest places on Earth.
Being from the desert, the desert people, they have a lot of [speaking Spanish] to their roots.
-Yeah.
-And it gives a lot of identity to people.
People here are really one.
-Where do you see this going?
Like, more centers like this, more activities like this?
-Hermosillo is growing, and I think Hermosillo is gonna have more spaces like this, more entertainment and more shows, more live music.
I like to call it the city of the future.
-That is so exciting, and it's gonna be so different.
Can't wait to be back... and back.
[ Both laugh ] At La Ruina, the beer is refreshing, but you know what I'm looking for.
My new friend is Chef David from restaurant called Mesa Cortez where they have an incredibly inventive menu.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Oh, I love that.
Describing the food here is not nearly as enjoyable as eating it, like this grilled pork belly in [speaking Spanish], made with charred ingredients turned into a sauce.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -Mix in fresh-squeezed lime juice and crushed chile tepin, and, well... Mmm!
[ Speaking Spanish ] -[ Laughing ] -It is so good.
Mix in that pork belly, and whoa.
Mmm, mmm!
Too good not to share.
Try, try, try.
Is it so good?
But halfway through my tour of this meat-loving Sonoran city, I ask David for a change of pace.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Uh-huh.
-First he cooked the octopus, boiled it in water with seasonings, and then... [ Speaking Spanish ] -S.
-Why did you decide to cook it first before grilling it?
[ Speaking Spanish ] -It's not only beef, it's beef and pork, and it's seafood, so it's a land-and-sea state.
[ Speaking Spanish ] It's a triple-cooking method for the octopus.
He cooked it in water.
Then he grilled it, and now he's sauting it in butter and chimichurri.
For even more yum, David has prepared a hummus base for his octopus dish.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Ah, que rico!
I'm super curious to taste the peanut in the hummus.
[ Both laugh ] [ Speaking Spanish ] He just turns around and looks at me like, "Come on, I'm good."
So important to fall in love with a dish when you see it, no?
I hope you deliver, because in principle, I love it.
Mm!
Mmm!
[ Speaking Spanish ] -It's like a super Mexican hummus.
-[ Laughs ] -Delicioso.
-Gracias.
-It has more depth of flavor 'cause it has a lot more sweetness, and I love the texture.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -Mm-hmm.
Mmm!
You guys!
I want someone to try.
[ Laughter ] -Mmm.
Delicioso.
-Delicioso.
You accomplished exactly what you say that you do, and it's so delicious.
This is so good.
Feast your eyes for a moment, won't you, on one of my favorite Sonoran gifts to the world.
The Sonoran hot dog is one of those things that just makes me go wild.
Stuffed, spicy, creamy, crunchy, piled high or as simple as can be, the Sonoran hot dog is a thing of beauty.
So, take a look, guys.
Take a look.
My first taste of Sonoran hot dogs was actually across the border in Tucson, Arizona, when I visited local hot dog legend El Guero Canelo.
-Hey!
-Mmm!
-You're making me hungry.
-Because the Sonoran dog is so popular and so crave-worthy, Sonorans brought it to the U.S. to give them a taste of home.
-Oh, my God.
-But now, finally, I'm here in Hermosillo, and I'm dying for my first taste of the real thing.
Hot dogs here in Sonora are called dogos.
This hot-dog-loving mountain of a man is Miami, owner of the Miami hot dog stand, and tonight, he's my Sonoran hot dog expert.
His name is Tomas, but they call him Miami.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -[ Speaking Spanish ] -No.
-Hot dog fever started here.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Y porque?
What triggered it?
[ Speaking Spanish ] -S.
The truth is that all over Mexico, you'll find hot dog stands.
Like, you'll find a hot dog stand right next to a taco stand.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Now, your choice of toppings here at Miami's is pretty much endless.
But one of his best sellers is this -- a cheese-stuffed, Anaheim- and bacon-wrapped hot dog.
Yum.
He built a prep station for us.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Okay.
So, here we have the Anaheim chile.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Okay.
Okay.
I'm Miami's assistant today.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Whoa!
This is so right up my alley.
Follow me, James.
That looks so good.
I can smell the fried bacon and the Anaheim chile, and I can see the cheese melting.
[ Speaking Spanish ] -All of the bread here is freshly made every day.
Now, let's start to build this amazing hot dog.
A little mayo, then that grilled and wrapped sausage.
Whoa, whoa.
Some chorizo, lettuce, tomato... [ Speaking Spanish ] Ah!
Okay.
[ Speaking Spanish ] This is just the beginning.
We are now going to the toppings bar.
And whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
21 toppings, plus the hot sauces.
I know I can't go wrong with some pork belly bacon, guacamole, of course, and more chiles.
I have three different kinds of chile in here, and I do have room for more.
Mmm!
Mm-hmm.
I haven't gotten to the hot dog yet.
Mm-hmm-hmm!
-[ Laughs ] [ Speaking Spanish ] Y I'm not a mayo in my hot dog kind of person, pero aqu, it's necessary.
[ Speaking Spanish ] This is an incredible way to end my Hermosillo experience.
[ Speaking Spanish ] Oh, of course!
[ Speaking Spanish ] I can see why there's such a hot dog craze in Hermosillo.
[ Speaking Spanish ] [ Laughs ] For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit patijinich.com.
And connect!
Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest @PatiJinich.
-La Costea.
- Avocados from Mexico A tradition of authentic Latin flavors and family recipes.
Tropical Cheese.
-Stand Together -- helping every person rise.
More information at standtogether.org.
-BanCoppel -- your recipe for sending money to Mexico.
-Mahatma rice lets you unite ingredients and flavors.
Mahatma rice unites.
-Divine Flavor.
-Norson.
-Proud to support "Pati's Mexican Table" on public television.
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