Pati's Mexican Table

Pati: Green gold, the nickname for a plant that at one time made Yucatn one of the wealthiest states in the world.

Production boomed.

Money flowed, and haciendas were the center of it all.

Today I meet preservationist Daniel Chiyean at Hacienda Tamchen, once abandoned, but is now a luxury resort.

Daniel: You can see paints, all of that original.

Pati, voice-over: Chef Julio Ku Dominguez puts this beautifully preserved kitchen to good use.

Using locally sourced ingredients, he teaches me huevos abotonados, or buttoned eggs, in the traditional way, buried in ash...

I've never seen this before.

Pati, voice-over: and my obsession with eggs continues in the town of Motul, where I meet Doa Evelia, the queen of her own egg empire.

She holds the award-winning recipe to Motul's most famous dish-- huevos motuleos.

The secret?

You'll have to wait and see.

Don't worry.

I'll teach you how to make them, too, along with a Chef Julio-inspired chaya egg scramble.

It's just packed with flavor.

[Birds chirping] [Child shouts] Tan bonisimo.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Super sweet.

Woman: [Speaks Spanish] Yeah.

Tan rico.

So breathtaking.

Male announcer: "Pati's Mexican Table" is brought to you by... Male announcer: La Costea.

por sabor!

Men: Avocados from Mexico Female announcer: Stand Together, helping every person rise, more information at StandTogether.org.

[Acoustic guitar plays Nationwide jingle] Female announcer: Here, the typical arroz con pollo or not.

Unfollow la Receta.

Mahatma Rice.

Female announcer: Levenger-- nearly 40 years of craftmanship for readers, writers, thinkers, and doers.

Pati: Yucatn was once the center of the henequen universe, an agave plant that was so popular for making ropes, bags, and so much more that it made Yucatn one of the wealthiest states in the world.

It was even dubbed green gold.

In the early 1900s, almost 70% of all cultivated land in Yucatn was dedicated to the production of henequen, and it took place at haciendas like this one.

These large plantations, established by colonial Spain to process the henequen, have now been restored by companies like Private Haciendas and converted into stunning hotels and event spaces, like Hacienda Tamchen.

Hola, Daniel.

Hi, Pati.

Cmo ests?

It's so breathtaking.

Pati, voice-over: Daniel Chiyean is the general manager.

Actually, Tamchen is part of the first group of haciendas in Yucatn... Uh-huh.

so we are talking about 1600s.

This part is the building, then, when they process and they fabric the cords of the henequen, and 90% of the ships of the world Mm-hmm.

use that cords.

Oh, wow.

Pati, voice-over: But the economic boom came at a human cost.

Hacienda owners relied on hundreds of enslaved Mayans and indentured foreign workers.

Pati: So in the Hacienda system, it was like a little town... Daniel: Yes.

dominated by...

Yes.

the owner of the hacienda, so here they were under servitude.

Totally.

They had no freedom.

No.

No.

[Men shouting] Pati, voice-over: An eventual Maya uprising led to a 50-year war known as the Caste War.

[Shouting continues] Ending in 1901, it eventually freed enslaved workers and sparked land reforms.

[Shouting continues] Daniel: All the people that worked, used to work here, they reclaimed a part of that lands.

Pati, voice-over: The invention and rise of nylon eventually brought down the henequen industry along with haciendas.

Pati: This was abandoned?

Daniel: Yes, like 20, 20, 25 years.

Yeah.

We took over these haciendas.

We find it, and we restore it, so we are going to see the old chapel, and this was the private area for the priest.

Pati: Wow.

You can see the first lines of the electricity.

Oh.

You can see the paints, all of that original.

And under, you now have the kitchen.

Yeah, the beautiful kitchen.

The gorgeous kitchen.

Hola, Julio.

Daniel: Well, Pati, Julio is dying to cook with you.

I'm dying to meet Julio, and that kitchen is so heavenly.

Pati, voice-over: Julio Ku Dominguez is the head chef at Hacienda Tamchen.

Raised by his grandmother, he developed his passion for cooking while helping in her tortilleria.

Him and his sous chef Tere Cante have a special treat for me today.

[Speaking Spanish] Yo-- I'm obsessed with eggs.

Pati, voice-over: And this region of Yucatn is obsessed, too.

OK.

I've never seen this before.

Instead of your soft-boiled egg, you have eggs cooked in ashes.

This is fascinating.

Pati, voice-over: The ash gives them a special flavor, like firewood, and it's not complete without handmade tortillas to soak up that runny yolk.

[Speaking Spanish] Here it goes.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati: Ay, they're making a masa holder for the cooked egg.

[Speaking Spanish] Ha ha ha!

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: This egg is so special, it gets its own throne.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: Now for the final step, a simple salsita with complex taste made with salt, bitter orange unique to Yucatn... [Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: and locally harvested chile de arbol.

[Squishing] [Speaking Spanish] [Squishing] Uh-huh.

[Speaking Spanish] Yeah.

[Gasps] [Speaking Spanish] OK. [Speaking Spanish] Mm.

Mm.

[Speaking Spanish] Oh, so this is like an ode to the egg.

This gives, like, a soft-boiled egg a run for its money.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: I think all the eggs of the Yucatn are calling to me to crack a yolk in my own kitchen.

Mm.

I am obsessed with eggs.

I eat them every day, and I typically will eat them with one salsita or another.

I want to show you how to make a salsita that me and my team were obsessed with as we were traveling the Yucatn, and it is an habanero table salsa, and it is so simple, so we start with 6 to 8 habaneros, and the spiciness level is always capricious with chilies, but we do know that habaneros are at least 100 times spicier than jalapeos.

You can add 2 to 3 garlic cloves.

You want them unpeeled.

Now, this is what a bitter orange looks like, very different.

The flavor from the bitter orange is just very sour.

OK, so I'm just squeezing it in here.

I want about a half a cup.

OK, so the juice is ready, and my habaneros and my garlic are ready, super charred by now.

It smells fruity and citrusy and so super spicy in here.

OK, so now all you do is remove the stems from the habaneros, and then you remove the skin of the garlic cloves.

You can see how soft the garlic gets.

Then I'm just going to give it a rough chop before I throw these into my molcajete.

I know this salsa has 6 to 8 habaneros, and you would think this is going to be insanely hot, but somehow it is not.

So I'm adding a teaspoon of salt... and then I'm just going to grind away.

Now, if you don't have a molcajete at home, get one because their oils and their fragrance and their flavor really combine in a different way, and then I'm going to start adding some juice.

If you don't find fresh bitter orange, you can just use equal parts of orange, lemon, lime, and white vinegar, and you'll get something similar.

So I have the salsa here.

It's going to be ready for me when I make my taquitos with my egg scramble.

This is a very, very simple egg scramble that I also tried in the Yucatn which is so delicious and so easy, so I'm going to use red onion, which is really king in the Yucatn, and I'm just going to sliver.

I'm going to cut into a plumita.

I'm going to turn on my pan over medium heat.

Then I'm going to add some oil, one or two tablespoons.

This egg scramble is going to have chaya.

This is so prevalent in the Yucatn.

It is so delicious.

It is really hard to find in the U.S.

If you can't find it, try to grow it like me.

I'm now growing it in my interior garden, but you can use Swiss chard or spinach or watercress or a combination of the 3.

OK. My oil is ready for the onion.

Let me add it so that it will start wilting, and then I'm just going to cut my chaya leaves.

Because I don't want to use all my chaya leaves, I'm going to cut some spinach, at least a cup per person, adding it in here.

So I'm also adding some mint, like 10 to 15 leaves... [Sizzling] and add a tiny bit of salt, pepper.

Let that cook.

You just want it to completely wilt.

Now I have 6 eggs.

I am just so fascinated with eggs, a thousand things you can do with them.

OK. Before I add the eggs, I'm going to start heating my tortillas.

My comal is already preheated, and before I add my eggs, I make sure that I turn the heat down to low because I like to cook them with a lot of love, super gentle and soft, adding salt and pepper, and this is just how I like my eggs, like, still a little moist, not super dry, so this is perfect for me.

My tortilla is ready, and now I'm going to build the taco.

You have an avocado, I mean, bingo.

You're going to be adding more salsa just like me.

Mm.

It is citrusy and spicy and rustic because of the salsita, and the soft avocado is just packed with flavor.

Good morning to you.

[Bicycle bell rings] Pati: The city of Motul in the north was one of the leading henequen producers in Yucatn and the world, but now it's the center of something much tastier-- huevos motuleos.

This is the birthplace of a beloved Yucatecan dish invented in the 1920s that Doa Evelia has made popular once again.

[Speaking Spanish] Evelia: Bueno.

Pati: Ha ha ha!

Pati, voice-over: So famous, she had to take over the restaurant next door for a second kitchen-- one for the salsa and one for the eggs.

Doa Evelia has been selling huevos motuleos for 22 years, and she sells hundreds of plates a day.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati: OK. [Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: Huevos motuleos are crispy tortillas spread with a layer of refried beans, fried eggs, and topped with salsa, made with ham, peas, and salt, mucha sal.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: Add a tostada, fried plantains, and salsa on top, and you have huevos motuleos... but Doa Evelia's signature move is what separates her from the competition.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: Topping it off is one sweet, juicy, mouth-scorching habanero.

[Speaking Spanish] Mm.

Pait, voice-over: Doa Evelia got her start in the eighties, when the economy was sluggish and the family was going through hard times.

Her son had an idea.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: She was a hit, but her international fame came after a mysterious woman asked her for her recipe and took her picture.

A couple years later, the woman came back with this.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati: Ay.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: She and her recipe were featured in Lonely Planet's "100 Best Recipes of Mexico."

[Speaking Spanish] Wow.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati: voice-over: But it's not all luck.

She famously works 7 days a week with no exception until recently.

Last year, she went to Greece on her first-ever international vacation.

I think she's earned it.

[Speaking Spanish] [Both laugh] Pati: Salud.

[Speaking Spanish] Salud.

Salud.

Pati: Now that I tried the classic huevos motuleos in its birthplace of Motul, I want to show you how to make them with all of the secrets that I learned from Doa Evelia.

I want to start heating my pan over medium heat.

I'm going to add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil.

I'm going to chop an entire onion.

Now I'm going to add two pounds of ripe Roma tomatoes that I've chopped, and I am keeping everything because we want the flavor from every part of the tomatoes and add a generous teaspoon of salt.

I'm gonna stir again, and then I'm going to cover over medium to medium low heat for 15 minutes.

As this happens, we're going to cook some plantains.

Now, we love plantains in Mexico.

We call them platano macho, and you can't eat them raw.

You have to cook them.

This is a ripe plantain.

This is so sweet and soft, and this is how we love it, when all of the sugars have really developed, and, ah, this is perfect, so it is a different kind of a yellow than the banana.

The skin from the plantain is much thicker than that of the banana, so typically, you have to cut through it to remove it.

Look at the beauty.

I have my pan that is preheating over here.

I'm going to add some oil.

Meanwhile, my sauce is looking really beautiful because the tomatoes are starting to break into the onion and you can see the juices coming out, but we want them completely broken apart, and I'm covering them so the juices don't evaporate because we want a very saucy, saucy sauce, and our oil is heating over medium, medium heat, and I like to cut my plantains in a diagonal, yeah, and then we want to cook the plantains until they brown.

Oh, this is looking beautiful.

This is so perfect.

You got to be fast.

So the plantains are such a delight because they're kind of caramelized.

Yum.

So here's my plantains... and now I'm going to cut some ham, and this was one of the surprising things that I found in Doa Evelia's eggs.

She cooks her ham in the sauce, and her ham pieces are very thick.

Yeah.

The other huevos motuleos that I had tried just added the ham at the end, and I think it really makes a difference because then the sauce has that ham flavor in it, and the other thing that I'm adding is 3/4 cups of fresh peas.

Don't use canned because they're sometimes too sweet.

See how colorful this is already?

OK. Cover again, and I'm going to let this cook for another 3 to 4 minutes while Mila is sleeping and snoring away.

OK, so I'm going to make my corn tortillas turn into tostadas.

You can make your corn tortillas turn into tostadas by frying them in oil or by simply toasting them on a hot surface like that comal that I have already preheated.

I'm going to cook my eggs right here, so I'm preheating this pan over medium heat, and I'm going to add a little bit of oil... and then the final touch for my motuleos is adding the habanero chilies in there, and I want to add an orange, green, and red.

Notice that I didn't cut the habaneros.

I added them whole.

When I get the sauce on my eggs, I can break the habanero and release that heat, and I'm going to cover and continue cooking the sauce for a few more minutes.

I want to flip my tortillas that are turning into tostadas, so all I have to do, really, is cook the eggs and assemble.

A little salt and pepper, and then I'm going to cover my pan so that they cook on top, as well, so the way they serve them there in Motul is, you get your tostada, you add a layer of refried beans, and then add your eggs, and then we do lots of sauce, lots of sauce, do habanero on top, and then some versions that I've tried add queso fresco, and I really like it with queso fresco, so here it goes a little bit, and then plantains.

Yum.

So I'm just going to eat it into a bite.

See the beans, the egg, the sauce that has the peas and the ham, and then a little bit of a plantain is going to be a ridiculous bite.

I can't help it.

Mm.

This is the best bite ever, so much so that I'm going to repeat it, more habanero.

When you love something, eat it with your hands.

It's gonna taste even better.

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

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

Male announcer: "Pati's Mexican Table" is brought to you by... Men: Ay Ay ay ay Male announcer: La Costea.

por sabor!

Men: Avocados from Mexico Female announcer: Stand Together, helping every person rise, more information at StandTogether.org.

[Acoustic guitar plays Nationwide jingle] Female announcer: Here, the typical arroz con pollo or not.

Unfollow la Receta.

Mahatma Rice.

Female announcer: Levenger-- nearly 40 years of craftmanship for readers, writers, thinkers, and doers.

Male announcer: Proud to support "Pati's Mexican Table" on public television.