Pati's Mexican Table

Pati, voice-over: In Mexico City, the line between passion and crazy is so fine it disappears.

You can invent everything.

Pati, voice-over: Baker Ivn Ortiz and ice cream maestro Kirn Miret walk this line every day.

[Ivn speaks Spanish] Pati, voice-over: With Ivn, I taste the commitment of a project nearly 20 years in the making.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: And take inspiration back to my kitchen.

I love it, Juju!

Baking a tarta de jamn con queso, jalapeos y habaneros.

Wow, nice!

Wow!

Pati, voice-over: With Kirn, I sample how decades of intense creativity behind the scenes finds a chill outlet.

This is divine!

Pati, voice-over: And return with my own riff on a sweet treat.

Aw, you love?

Pati, voice-over: A galleta Mara an cajeta ice cream sandwich dipped in chocolate.

We should just have a stock in the freezer at all times.

[Birds chirping] Pati: Mm!

Mm-hmm.

This is so beautiful.

That's fabulous.

[laughter] Mm.

Est delicioso.

[Bell rings] Announcer: "Pati's Mexican Table" is brought to you by... Announcer: La Costea, por sabor!

Announcer: From the flavors of the Caribbean to the taste of Latin America on the menu with Marriott Bonvoy.

Men: Avocados from Mexico [Acoustic guitar plays Avocados from Mexico jingle] Announcer: Over 40 years bringing authentic Latin American flavors to your table.

Tropical Cheese.

Announcer: Eggland's Best, available in your grocer's egg aisle.

Visit egglandsbest.com.

[Acoustic guitar playing Nationwide jingle] Pati, voice-over: At a bakery in Colonia Roma Sur, the mural on the wall illustrates one man's passion for bread and dedication to the craft of baking.

Before opening to the public, Ivn Ortiz spent 17 years breeding the perfect wheat for his project, El Rstico.

Now he runs this neighborhood staple alongside his brother Germn, baker Adriana and business partner Lou.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: The real connection between nature and bread isn't the meal.

It's Ivn's commitment to working the land himself and his resolve to baking the old-fashioned way.

[Ivn speaks Spanish] Pati, voice-over: Ivn works with the ebbs and flows of nature.

The bags of wheat lining the walls are everything he has to work with for the year.

Every bread and pastry starts with the same techniques he perfected at his mother's house as a young baker and incorporates a 107-year-old masa madre, or sourdough starter, passed down to him by a fourth-generation Polish woman who wanted to keep it alive.

[Pati speaks Spanish] [Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: Every choice here is intentional, replicating the ancient ways.

Inspired by one of those traditions.

We're making Ivn's favorite tarts.

The base is a cheesy, creamy quiche inside his pie crust.

One topped with tomatoes.

and one topped with figs.

[Speaking Spanish] [Pati speaks Spanish] [Speaking Spanish] What are we making?

[Speaking Spanish] So, we're gonna start by making the crust.

So I have three quarter cups of flour.

Four tablespoons of unsalted butter.

That's really cold.

Three tablespoons vegetable shortening.

And then I'm gonna add a little salt.

Juju: A little salt.

I'm gonna add a quarter cup of cold water.

Juju: Okay.

And you're gonna knead it just until it comes together.

'Cause even if it has chunks of butter and vegetable shortening, that's good for rolling it up.

For the flavoring, I want to add parsley and chives.

Okay.

So just fold it in.

It's gorgeous.

We just want to shape it into a flat disc.

Put it here.

And chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Up to 48 hours.

So I'm gonna put this in the refrigerator.

But I have a swap that's been chilling, I'm gonna take it out.

Yeah, nice.

It really, like, firms up.

Firms up?

So we can roll it.

Juju, I love being with you in and out of the kitchen.

I'm gonna generously coat our surface area.

You know you need to add flour... Yeah, to the rolling pin.

to everything.

And then we have a 9-inch round.

So you want to do an 11-inch.

And it doesn't have to be a perfect round.

Just go for it.

And if you mess it up, you roll it up and roll it again.

One, two, swift.

[Speaking Spanish] ...a big overhang.

Now, well you know how to put it in there.

[Speaking Spanish] One, two.

Oh, yeah.

I think it was pretty fantastic.

Yeah, it looks good.

You know, this is a good technique.

Show me.

I love it, Juju!

I am so proud of your pastry skills.

And I'm so proud of your Mexico City driving skills too.

Can you help me get a fork?

And we're gonna prick it all over.

Should I do the sides too or just the bottom?

S, everything.

Okay, so now we're gonna blind bake.

What would be the difference if we put the beans in versus not?

So it keeps the dough in shape.

It keeps it from shrinking and it keeps it from cracking.

Okay, so we have the oven at 375.

We're gonna do like 8 to 9 minutes.

Now we're gonna clean a little.

[Speaking Spanish] Oh, if you help me, crack an egg, Separate the white from the yolk.

We're gonna beat the white and brush it onto the crust.

Oh, we can use this for trash.

So you just want to beat the white just until it's spreadable.

Is it good?

Yeah, that's good.

It's gonna go back in for another 7 to 8 minutes.

So now I'm gonna make the filling and this is super simple.

We want 3 eggs.

We have the egg yolks that we don't want to waste and we want to crack them here.

And then I'm going to pour one and a half cups of whole milk.

Okay, now you want to whisk.

I'm gonna add a little bit of salt and a little bit of pepper.

It gives it a nice, mellow taste.

[Speaking Spanish] We can put this aside.

You want to dice.

The crust is ready.

So pretty.

Looks so nice.

I want to layer the ingredients, so I'm gonna slice the pickled jalapeos.

I like adding the non-cheese ingredients first, because if I add the cheeses now, they will melt and stick to the crust and I don't want the cheese to melt in the bottom.

We're gonna add the ham.

Habaneros.

Juju: That's the worst thing that's ever happened to me on your show is when I had to eat the habanero and then it got on my fingers and I touched my eye.

Okay, are we ready to add the rest?

Now we're gonna pour.

Mmm.

Now we're gonna do the cheeses.

We have Oaxaca, Queso Fresco and Queso Cotija.

Oaxaca I love because it melts, but it still keeps some resistance to the bite.

We're doing about a third of a cup of each cheese.

Fresco, crumbly, won't melt.

Mm-hmm.

Cotija, aged, dry, salty.

Now you can pour the rest.

Gorgeous.

I'm gonna add a little bit more cotija on top.

Mila's living the life.

She just gets to lay down, sleep right in front of where the food's cooking and she knows.

I know.

Okay, put these back in there.

Juju: How long does it have to stay in there?

Pati: 25 minutes.

So while we're waiting, what are we making?

A salad?

Pati: So I have just baby romaine.

I love doing it with just lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper.

What do you think?

Let's do it.

[Speaking Spanish] Just a little bit?

Yeah.

Just a little bit of pepper, no?

I like a lot.

You like a lot?

[Speaking Spanish] Juju: That's like two plates in one plate.

[laughs] True.

Hmm.

Yeah, it's good.

Pati: It's perfect.

Juju, it smells like?

The quiche is ready.

Pati: I'm gonna chop some chives.

Okay.

[Speaking Spanish] Wow, nice.

Wow.

Juju: I'm ready to eat.

Pati: Me too.

Juju: Let's do it.

Okay, cheers.

Cheers.

It's so good with the crust.

Flaky, cheesy, herby.

The salad tastes super good.

It's like a little bit of fresh.

The quiche isn't super heavy, but it definitely has a lot going on.

Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Pati, voice-over: In the heart of Colonia Roma, there's a little shop where nothing is ordinary.

Not the flavors, not the name, and definitely not the woman behind it.

[Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: It's called Casa Morgana.

and this woman is Kirn Miret.

I had a dream, I mean, a real dream.

I dreamed of ice cream of maple syrup with pancakes.

So when I wake up, it was like, I dreamed that I had this ice cream.

Pati, voice-over: That dream didn't come just from anywhere.

Kirn Miret is one of the most powerful women in Mexican television.

Shark Tank, Masterchef, that's her.

Kirn: When someone asks me which is like the biggest job you have, it's not producing TV, even if it's a big show.

Pati: So hard.

But this is mine.

Pati, voice-over: Chasing this new dream meant letting go of the old one.

It was bold, risky, maybe even a little scary.

This is my dream in all ways.

So I went to Italy for a month and I became a Maestro Gelatiere.

And then I came back, I sold one of my cars and I bought a big, very expensive machine from Italy.

And when the machine arrives, I was like paralyzed.

I said like... Oh, like now this is real.

This is real and I'm not ready.

Pati, voice-over: But she did it anyway.

One small space, one big leap.

Kirn: And one day I was walking the street and I saw a very small spot.

Location, location, location.

And I said, this is it.

I rent it, I refurbish and I just start selling ice cream.

Pati, voice-over: Casa Morgana opened its doors and hasn't looked back.

Kirn came up with the name Casa Morgana while traveling in Chile.

She wanted something Italian sounding, feminine, beautiful.

Kirn: And one day, my mother was so smart, but she said to me a long time ago, "you are too small to be big or too big to be small."

When you open a business, so you have to make that job.

If you are too small, you can disappear.

But if you are big, you have to make like the next step.

Pati, voice-over: And Kirn's next steps?

Wild, bold, full of flavor.

Kirn: We have 10 amazing flavors.

We change our flavors every week.

And we have 10 beautiful flavors for today.

So if you want to come here, let's try everything.

Pati, voice-over: One of her best known creations, pan de muerto ice cream.

You can see the little pieces of bread.

Kirn: Yes.

This is beautiful already.

It is.

If you like pan de muerto, it tastes better than pan de muerto.

Hmm.

What do you think?

This is divine.

Kirn: We have every year long lines.

Oh, my Gosh, it is... So, this is the crazy thing.

Like, I can taste the pan de muerto flavors, which is like the pan de muerto is heavy, big, sugar, but this is like so incredibly delicate and sophisticated.

And soft.

Pati, voice-over: The magic isn't just in the taste.

It's in how she makes them.

Every new flavor is a creative jump.

Okay, so when you are creating a new ice cream, how long does it take?

How many tries until you get that new flavor right?

So I think a lot before making each ice cream.

I hate failing, so it's like one shot for me.

You're like in an alchemist's lab.

Kirn: Indeed, that's why I went to France to study perfumery and I learned a lot about not making perfumes, but how to use those ingredients from perfumery in ice cream.

Pati, voice-over: Her mentor in Italy had a philosophy.

Kirn: I learned from an Italian in Italy, from a Maestro Gelatero, Massimo, which is my maestro.

So I learned everything I know from him.

I learned like the bases and then I invent.

He said if you can extract the flavor from a shoe, you can make shoe ice cream.

I love that.

You can use your mind and you can invent everything.

So that's the way we make ice cream.

Pati, voice-over: Kirn builds something beautiful, something entirely her own.

I feel so lucky and so blessed to have, as a woman, to have an example of a woman that is successful, that has made it, that does different things, that has had to sacrifice and make choices, but that is sweet and happy.

Pati, voice-over: It's a dream made real, one scoop at a time.

You know what they say?

What?

There's always room for dessert.

[laughs] There is.

And we have never made ice cream together.

Juju: Oh, that's not true.

Season one.

Yes.

Avocado ice cream.

So start cracking the eggs and we talk about the ice cream.

Whole eggs?

We're doing two whole eggs.

Yes, that is true.

We made avocado ice cream.

That was episode one of "Pati's Mexican Table" season one.

And Juju, you were a little thing like this.

You want to beat the eggs until they're foamy and they've thickened.

Quarter cup sugar.

And now you want to beat until it's fully incorporated.

I'm gonna add one and a half cups heavy cream and one cup milk.

Half a cup dulce de leche.

But this is not dulce de leche.

This is cajeta.

Two teaspoons vanilla.

At this point, you take your ice cream maker.

So we have the base that has been chilled.

I'm gonna turn this on and we're gonna start adding.

Maybe we should put it in a pouring thing.

Ready?

[ice cream machine whirring] So let's let the ice maker do its thing.

Pati, voice-over: The ice cream should take about 40 minutes.

And then you can pop it in the freezer until it's ready to eat.

Or in our case, ready to make sandwiches.

I want these ice cream sandwiches to be chubby.

You always need to try the things you make.

Pati: Hmm.

Wow.

Hey, hey, no.

Don't double dip.

Let's make the sandwiches.

[laughs] Mira, this is really good.

Press it without cracking the cracker.

Perfect.

Let me get a knife.

And then just go like that with the knife.

So it looks nice.

These are nice and chubby.

I love chubby ice cream sandwiches.

So let's put this in the freezer.

Okay.

And meanwhile, we're gonna make the chocolate that we're gonna dip them in.

So I'm gonna get... [Speaking Spanish] Add about 3 quarter cups.

In order to dip the chocolate, it has to be at a specific temperature.

You have to let the chocolate melt and you have to use a candy thermometer.

The dipping temperature is anywhere from like 88 or 89 to 95.

If you do more than that, it drips and it doesn't hold.

If you do under that, it makes weird, like marbling shapes.

So this is gonna be fast.

Okay, I'm gonna take the temperature.

Mm-hmm.

So it has to be under 100.

So if it goes over 100, we take it off.

And you know what you do?

You add some of those chips we left behind and we'll cool it a little.

I'll grab the cookies from the freezer?

Yes, please.

Okay.

Juju: I'm excited.

I'm excited too.

[Speaking Spanish] It makes me so happy.

[Juju speaks Spanish] Do you want to keep reading the temperature or should we just go for it?

Let's see.

I think it's coming down.

Let's just add more.

Okay, let's see.

Okay, now it's going under 100.

Okay, now we have to hurry up.

Dip like to half of the cookie.

Oh, it's sticking.

Oh, no, the ice cream is starting to melt in there.

Freezer, freezer.

Freezer, freezer.

Freezer!

Juju: Quick.

I think they're ready because it's been like 20 minutes.

Okay, I'll get them out.

[Speaking Spanish] These look insane.

So pretty.

Two for you.

Juju: Two for me.

Pati: Two for me.

With chocolate.

[Speaking Spanish] Yeah, with chocolate.

What was all that work for with the chocolate?

True.

Okay.

Hmm.

Wow.

Mmm.

Hmm.

Aw, you love?

Juju: Maria cookie is like the perfect vehicle.

It's almost like the ice cream cookies you got out of the sandwiches, like... The Maria cookie, you're right, is perfect because it holds, but it absorbs a little so it's soft.

I'm so happy we made these.

We should just have a stock in the freezer at all times.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Pati, voice-over: For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit patijinich.com and connect.

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

Announcer: "Pati's Mexican Table" is brought to you by... Announcer: La Costea, por sabor!

Announcer: From the flavors of the Caribbean to the taste of Latin America, on the menu with Marriott Bonvoy.

Men: Avocados from Mexico [Acoustic guitar plays Avocados from Mexico jingle] Announcer: A tradition of authentic Latin flavors and family recipes.

Tropical cheese.

Announcer: Eggland's Best, available in your grocer's egg aisle.

Visit egglandsbest.com.

[Acoustic guitar playing Nationwide jingle] Announcer: Proud to support "Pati's Mexican Table" on public television.