[gentle music] [car whooshes] -[Pati V.O.]

It's a new day of my Coahuila road trip, and I'm headed northwest from Monterreal to Los Lirios.

[gentle music] Armando Guadiana is waiting for me in his ranch.

He owns and runs many apple orchards.

- [Armando] Pati, como estas?

Hola, Armando.

-Hola.

-Como estas?

Bien.

Estás en tu casa.

Que bueno estas aquí.

No pues feliz de estar aquí.

Gracias por recogerme y recibirm No, hombre.

La verdad que encantados de tenerte aquí y, pues, para que vivas la experiencia completa aquí del rancho.

[upbeat music] Pati's Mexican Table is brought to you by... [upbeat music] Wells Fargo supports over 3 million small business customers.

[upbeat music] La costeña, por sabor.

Avocados from Mexico.

[gentle music] Eggland's Best, available in your grocer's egg aisle.

Visit egglandsbest.com.

[birds chirping] - [Pati] Tell me a little bit, like all that it takes to grow, harvest, and sell apples.

- [Armando] It's a pretty long process.

It's all the year.

You only harvest one between July and August.

- [Pati] One bloom a year?

- [Armando] Yeah... ...one bloom a year.

- [Pati] Uh-huh.

-[Armando] So people may think, as you already said, that it's the fact of only harvesting the apple and that's it, but no.

-An apple tree... -[Pati] Uh-huh ...needs approximately more than 500 hours of cold.

- [Pati] So, you need a bunch of hours with cold weather... - [Armando] Yeah, basically -... for the apple tree able to produce.

- [Armando] Yeah.

- [Pati] Can I see what one of t looks like?

'Cause it's been here for, what, like 6 months?

Yeah, since August.

-Oh, it's in August.

OK.

-Yeah.

-So it's pretty small.

-Mm-hmm.

You need to be really careful when you cut it, because what we don't want is to peel off this.

[gentle music] - [Pati] Ahí estoy.

- [Armando] Ya llegó.

- [Pati] Ahí vengo contigo.

- [Armando] Chiquito, pues mi papá me traía los fines de semana y le agarré mucho cariño.

O sea, ni pensar venderlo, porque la verdad es que es un santuario para nosotros.

Es como llegar, desconectarte y, pues, tener así que en mente que aquí es tu lugar seguro.

Y, pues por eso yo amo este lugar, amo los caballos y, pues es una familia aquí también, no solo los que vivimos aquí, sino también la gente que va y viene y que trabaja aquí.

- [Pati] O sea, hay generaciones Tienes trabajadores de tiempo completo, tienes trabajadores temporales, pero regresan año con año.

- [Armando] Es correcto.

Ya he visto más de dos o 3 generaciones aquí en el rancho de gente inclusive que trabajaba aquí y ya falleció.

O sea, de verdad que ha sido todo, pues un pasaje de que yo estaba chiquito hasta ahorita la edad que tengo.

Y de verdad eso ha formado el liderazgo que, pues voy tomando poco a poco y también el hecho de que, pues el cariño que le agarré al rancho.

- [Pati] Amo el ate de membrillo.

No, hombre, pues aquí lo cultivamos.

-Ah, junto con las manzanas.

-Sí, sí, sí.

Son como 4 hectáreas de membrillo que tenemos a un lado de las manzana Y eso, todo el desecho de membrillo, lo hacemos ate.

En un cazo grandísimo de cobre hacemos el ate.

Se tiene que estar meneando, porque si dejas de menear, se pega en el cobre.

Y de hecho también el quesito que estás probando, siempre, siempre, siempre, no sé por qué... -[Pati V.O.]

That bite of quince paste, or ate de membrillo, made me dream up some quince and cream buns.

I like the sound of that.

I'm very excited because today I'm gonna make with you a quince and cream bun.

Quince in Spanish is called membrillo, and it is like a, it's like a crab apple.

And it is slightly sweet, very tart, has a very grainy texture.

And in Mexico, it's beloved for a fruit paste that we call ate.

I wanted to make a pan dulce that had the ate de membrillo, or quince paste, as the crown.

And so I wanted something fluffy and soft to hold it, and then I wanted it to have cream, so I'm gonna make a pastry cream as well.

And then nata, which is the cream that rises to the top of the milk when it comes to a first boil.

So I'mgonna start by making the dough.

I'm gonna start by adding a half a cup of lukewarm water, and then I'm gonna add 3 teaspoons of instant yeast.

Mix the yeast so it starts dissolving.

Then I'm gonna add 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 2 cups of bread flour.

All-purpose flour is gonna give me the soft, cushy, uh, finish that I want.

And the bread flour is gonna dev much more gluten, and it's gonna give it structure.

Sugar.

[gentle music] Salt, 5 eggs.

I have a gorgeous view, my cup of coffee, so I can just wait here as the dough does its thing.

[mixer whirring] It uses a lot of butter.

It's one and a 3rd cups of butter.

And what the butter is gonna do, it's just gonna give the dough a beautiful buttery taste, and also a really nice texture.

[mixer whirring] When you're making dough, you can't just let it be and leave.

It's like when you leave a baby in one of those chairs that shakes a little.

You can't leave it because it rocks.

[mixer whirring] That's one great thing about baking.

It's a very contradicting, that you have to be so incredibly precise, but at the same time, you can get so messy, which is so much fun.

So look at the beauty of this dough.

Gorgeous.

We're gonna do something that's called the stretch and fold method, which is I have my flour on the counter, and then I have my beautiful, gorgeous dough.

I'm gonna stretch it like this █ until you can see, like, a panel.

See?

And then I'm gonna fold.

Now that you have it, you have to let go.

Add a little flour, and then put the dough in there.

And then we're gonna let it rest one to 2 hours.

We just want the gluten to develop even more.

And while that waits, I'm gonna make the crema pastelera, or pastry cream.

So to make the pastry cream, I'm gonna put in this bowl sugar, flour, just all-purpose flour, and cornstarch.

The flour, um, is gonna give the pastry cream a little bit of texture, but what's gonna give it even more texture is the cornstarch.

So I have my flour, uh, cornstarch, sugar, and a pinch of salt, 'cause you need some salt to make the sugar shine.

And I'm gonna whisk it.

Then I'm gonna crack 4 eggs, and I'm just gonna use the yolks now.

You have to be super delicate and gentle when you're making pastry cream 'cause we don't want the eggs to curdle.

And in here, I'm going to pour milk and heavy cream.

Then we're going to let the milk and the cream come to the most gentle simmer.

Once you see bubbles around the edges, You stop.

And then I'm gonna pour it into this egg yolk mixture and beat it really, really well, mix it really, really well.

And then I'm gonna put it back in the heat and let it thicken.

You have to be fast 'cause you don't want the eggs to curdle 'cause the milk is hot.

So little by little, like super thin stream.

[gentle music] I am gonna add vanilla extract, but I'm gonna add it after I strain it and pour it onto this bowl, because if you add the vanilla extract... Ah, it's ready, it's ready.

See?

Did you s- [laughs] Did you see how it thickened?

Like, you can see the shape of the whisks.

So now it's like a pudding, so you know it's ready then.

If I had stayed there more... it... Yeah.

Ooh, see?

Like, this was an example of how baking and making pastry cream tests you.

I'm adding the vanilla extract to the pastry cream so the flavor and power doesn't diminish.

Now, you have to store the pastry cream in the refrigerator for it to cool fast, so you have to put plastic wrap over the top, but over the pastry cream.

And we're gonna make the quince paste topping, which I'm very happy because I have my ate de membrillo, or quince paste, from Coahuila, from Villa de Patos.

So this is nothing but quince and sugar cooked until it thickens, and then they make these bricks.

But now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna make this looser topping 'cause I wanna make my buns with pastry cream, nata, or crème fraîche, and then the sweet, tangy topping of the quince thing.

I have the paste that has been thickened, and I wanna turn it into a more loose topping.

So I'm gonna put all of this and a little bit of water.

I'm gonna turn this over low heat.

So you're gonna have the fruity taste with the lime taste.

It's gonna make it punchy.

So now I'm gonna cut the limes and squeeze the juice.

So this is the texture we want.

I have almost everything I need.

Oof, I have my dough that is about to explode.

Like, seriously, look at this.

-[José] Wow.

And we're ready for the punch.

Oof.

I mean, this dough is just insane.

Hola, Mau.

Hola, Danny.

Ready for the build?

Okay.

And now I'm gonna shape this into 12 buns.

I wanna make like a tortilla or like a sopecito.

It's like a, like a round- I wanna make it about 5 inches and I wanna make the center thin and the edges puffy.

One very generous spoon of that pastry cream.

Then one generous tablespoon of the nata.

And then cinnamon sugar around the edges.

The buns will bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

And I'll dress these 6.

I'll do more on this one 'cause this is the one I'm gonna eat right now.

Come with me.

Let's go eat outside.

[gentle western music] - [Pati V.O.]

I'm meeting Jorge Madrazo, a budding biologist in the town of San Antonio de las Alazanas.

[car honks] The minute he jumps into my car- - [Jorge] Gracias - [Pati] ...he reminds me of my 3 sons.

He's part of their generation.

A ver, so you're 28.

You're a biologist.

-I am a biologist.

-And this is what you're passionate about.

And I think that's very young to know what your career is.

How did you find your calling while so young?

Well, it was not as easy as it sounds.

I remember I, I felt this pressure- -Mm-hmm -... this peer pressure and from my family, uh, that when I was finishing my, -my high school- -Mm-hmm ... I should already be able to pick up a career and just stay focused and go on.

-Mm-hmm.

-But I was really, I was really nervous and, and feeling this pressure because I, I thought I didn't fit in the normal careers that everybody else was choosing.

-Mm-hmm.

-Everybody- -Like be an architect, be a doctor.

-Exactly.

And, well, ever since I was a little kid, I've been passionate about, um, wildlife, natural history, um, dinosaurs, etcetera.

- [Pati V.O.]

He knows the Valley of Arteaga, mountainous and green, as the palm of his hand and insists we go for lunch at Las Dinoquesadillas de Doña Vero.

Being in the most important paleontological region of Mexico, she and her family started making and selling dinosaur-shaped quesadillas, which became a digital sensation.

[upbeat western music] They're super tasty, but something else smells even better back in the kitchen.

Doña Vero and her team have been cooking some of the favorite local guisados that my team and I are happy to devour.

She has cortadillo and a beef and nopalito stew, both served with Mexican red rice and frijoles de olla.

As if that wasn't enough, they're making fresh corn tortillas.

[upbeat western music] -A ver, va.

Ustedes ya comieron?

-Ya.

Sí?

Bueno, va.

Provecho y les vamos a, ahorita les servimos.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Mmm.

[laughs] Mmm.

Que deli.

-[Pati V.O.]

That beef and nopalito stew was so remarkable, I asked Doña Vero for her recipe so I could share it with you.

Bistec con nopal en salsa chile cascabel is, um, beef and nopalitos in a cascabel chili sauce.

And this is one of the many guisados that Mexico brings to the world.

Now, what we're gonna do is we're gonna 1st make the chile cascabel base.

And to do that, we're going to bring these little chile cascabeles back to life.

They're adorable.

They're called chile cascabel because they sound like a cascabel.

[chile rattles] I love it.

So we're gonna toast them in the comal.

Now, this step of toasting the chiles is helping unlock their flavors, release their fragrance, release their oils.

And now we're gonna put them in this pot of water that's already boiling.

So you can see how they toasted and transformed.

It takes a longer time for the cascabeles to rehydrate.

The water is gonna start getting some of the color and the flavor of the chile.

So when I puree the chiles in the blender, I'm gonna add some of the cooking liquid 'cause it has some of that flavor and color that you don't want, you don't want it to go to waste.

So as these chiles continue to rehydrate, I'm gonna prepare my nopales.

[instrumental mexican music] Nopales are the paddles, um, of the cactus plant.

They're such an important symbol to us Mexicans in so many ways.

They're in our flag.

They're in paintings.

They're in songs.

They're, they're really- ... a part of who we are, and they say a lot of our personality.

They're persnickety.

They're difficult to clean.

They have thorns.

And you wanna look for nopales that just look happy and bright and have a gorgeous green color.

You don't want them to look, um, wrinkled or limp or pale.

Like, nice, thick.

So I'm gonna grab a pot with water and I'm gonna cook the nopales.

I'm gonna add salt, a slice of an onion, and then I'm gonna add just one garlic clove.

The water is now boiling, and I'm gonna add my nopales.

The viscous liquid of the nopales is gonna come out.

The nopales are gonna cook until they're still crunchy, like al dente.

I don't want them limp and overcooked.

It's gonna be like 7 to 8 minutes, and then I'm gonna drain them.

And while this happens, we're gonna puree these chiles.

I'm going to grab about one and a half cup of chile cooking liquid.

It has so much flavor.

I'm gonna remove the stems of the chiles and just drop the chiles in here.

I'm gonna add some oil.

[blender whirring] We toasted the chiles.

We rehydrated the chiles.

And now we're gonna season the chiles in this hot oil.

But this is gonna jump, and I'm wearing a white shirt, so this is my shield.

[salsa boiling] We're gonna let this season for like 5 minutes over low heat.

It's going to intensify the base of the stew.

And then I'm just gonna drain my nopales.

I know you talk to yourself when you're cooking too.

Just gonna remove the onion, the garlic.

So the nopalitos are ready.

The sauce is ready.

And now all I need to get is my meat.

Let's talk about meat for guisado.

In Mexico, typically what you use for a meat or beef guisado is bistec.

This is what you get when you get a bistec, which is thinly sliced beef.

You can use skirt steak.

You can use top sirloin or sirloin.

Um, but the thing is, you want the meat to be really thin.

I already cut, um, almost 2 pounds there.

And my pan is heating.

My stand one seasoning is before, during, after.

Like, I think you have to season throughout the process.

But yeah, from the beginning, throw the meat, add salt, coarsely ground black pepper.

[pan sizzling] I'm gonna add cumin seeds.

Add the onion.

Add the garlic.

Adding the cilantro in here.

I love cilantro.

I'm gonna mix this.

Then I'm gonna add the cascabel chile sauce that we already seasoned.

So you're adding something in there that already has so much flavor.

Now I'm gonna add chicken broth.

The meat was seasoned, then browned.

Then now it's gonna braise a little bit in the liquid, which is gonna help really, really soften it.

And now we're going to incorporate the cooked nopales.

So you want the nopales to have a chance to cook in here.

We just want this to season for a few minutes while I heat my tortillas.

We need some ripe avocado for the tacos I'm gonna make.

The broth and the sauce is just taking over.

The nopales are bathing in it.

The meat is softening into it.

And this already has so many layers of flavor.

Okay, this is ready.

We want the tacos chubby.

Ready?

Oof, oof, oof.

Mm.

Doña Vero, gracias.

This is so delicious.

Oof.

Es que I can't wait for you all to try and tell me if you think I'm doing justice to Doña Vero.

This is so insane.

It's a full meal.

I can feel, like, the crunch of the nopalitos, citrusy with the, like, cumin and the chile cascabel, and it's just so incredibly delicious.

Mm.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

[upbeat western music] - [Pati V.O.]

Back in Coahuila, Jorge took me deep in the forest to explain his life mission further.

- [Pati] So learn to coexist?

- [Jorge] Exactly.

And I think that's so humbling because you are admitting, you're saying, "We share the earth with, with all these living species-" -Exactly -... "that have their own worlds, and we don't take the time to connect with what the world is."

- [Pati] This is beautiful.

- [Jorge] Mm-hmm.

- [Pati] The radical change - [Pati] of environment is - [Pati] shocking.

- [Jorge] Mm-hmm.

- [Pati] It was just 20 minutes.

- [Jorge] Yeah, the landscape.

Just 20 minutes- -Mm-hmm -... and now we're deep into the, um- Artagan Sierra.

-We're deep in the forest.

-Deep, deep in the forest.

Up in the mountain, there's these endemic species.

It's called, um, Pinus culminicola, which means the pine tree that lives where everything's at the end or, like, at the top.

And they look like tiny, um, bonsai trees.

-You can see how tiny they are over there.

-And they are super important because they create these climates that are, that b- um, give freshness to, -to the around.

-Uh-huh.

-Uh-huh.

-So if we lost these, we would be losing the cool wind, the cool air.

It would, we'd be losing the capacity to contain -water?

-Exactly, because these trees, they also -attract, uh, humidity.

-Uh-huh.

-So whenever there's a big cloud- -Uh-huh -... these trees, um- -Are like, come to me.

-Yeah, like magnetic.

-[laughs] Yeah, like a, like a magnet.

They, they bring the, - [Jorge] uh, cloud- - [Pati] Uh-huh - [Jorge ]... and the cloud is able to drop the water into rainfall.

- [Pati] Ah.

- [Jorge] And then the trees, they're able to suck up water and put it underneath the, the surface of the earth.

- [Pati] And you are as passionate as speaking for the animals as you are passionate for -speaking for the trees?

- [Jorge] Yeah.

Well, plants, they don't move, uh, and sometimes I feel like people look at them as if they were just background, um, organisms.

But they are actually here, the main characters of these stories about the woodlands, because they make the forest.

- [Jorge] These places are becoming, uh, rare.

- [Pati] Mm-hmm.

- [Jorge] They're becoming islands of nature filled with, uh, concrete and, uh, cars and roads and -yeah, so... -And with your learn, like with your learn -to coexist or conoce para coexistir- -Uh-huh ... you're actually putting -the trees in the same stature as humans.

-Exactly.

Like we're not more or bigger or more important.

-And we need each other.

-Yeah.

We need to integrate, uh, these, these natural landscapes- -Mm -... these, um, native landscapes into our -living.

-Mm.

- [Jorge] And this is a place that I like to come to whenever I feel that I want more -connection- -Mm ... genuine connection with nature, with my territory.

- [Pati V.O.]

As I wave goodbye to Jorge, I'm in awe at how the younger generation is so much more conscious about connecting with nature than my generation ever was.

As parents, we think we are teaching the young.

[car horn] Jorge, like my sons, is yet another example of how important it is for us to listen.

It gives me hope for the future.

For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit patijinich.com and connect.

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

Pati's Mexican Table is brought to you by... [instrumental music] Wells Fargo supports over 3 mill business customers.

[instrumental music] La Costeña, por sabor.

Avocados From Mexico.

[instrumental music] Eggland's Best, available in you grocer's egg aisle.

Visit egglandsbest.co [birds chirping] Proud to support Pati's Mexican public television.

[instrumental music]