Most UNIQUE Food in MEXICO!! SUPER RARE Food Tour!! (FULL DOCUMENTARY)

this is a ceremonial dish there is this legend that says the aztecs boil their enemies bodies in brock's and then eat it thousands of years ago the aztec people believed they would know where to build a great city when they saw an eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake indeed they've built that city [Music] as an american i thought i knew mexican food this soup is made out of cow's stomach it's called pancito it's called pancita that is until i came to mexico the salsa is not very spicy yeah it's not that spicy i thought it was spicy i have heartburn right now now it's clear i didn't know [ __ ] i'm very stoked to be here this is a factory for tortillas i said it the american way i mean tortillas in this series best ever food review show is on a mission to experience the vibrant this is awesome my whole life i've been eating tamales wrong dynamic this one's stealing my heart i love it crave worthy food of mexico that's incredible it's normally in mexico we're going deep hunting down the most unique food you'll find anywhere in the world i'm telling you if scientists dug this up they would say it was a dinosaur and i'm connecting with some of this country's most knowledgeable ambassadors of young mexico is a white country you have a lot of regional food in different states and right now we're in the center of mexico we're in the center super high up 2000 feet higher than denver yes you should feel it yeah i do feel it i'm always gasping for air here in north america's largest city a city of over 10 million you can find dollar street food that will explode your mind this is ridiculous there's no way in the u.s you're going to find this kind of quality for the adventurous if you go to the right places you can find another world you never knew existed wild boar ostrich i could see lion as well did you say lion lion that's correct today we're starting with the traditional culinary staples that have withstood the test of time and it all starts here is that his name you can call him chente oh that's his name yeah his name this is hasmeen and this is mr vincente the chicharron man i notice you have a big box of skins if you want to learn about mexican cuisine this is the perfect place to start so they cut the meat in this diagonal pattern to give it texture and then they boil it for five hours chicharron it's like pork rinds do you think we could put one of those in there all right let's do it here they go from skin to giant bubbly crispy creation within [Music] minutes right so now he's unraveling it putting it into one piece i mean this is like half a pig right here what is the secret to the perfect chicharron temperature he doesn't know the exact temperature but he knows how to do you feel it here in in your el hartel oh he sees it with his eye that makes a lot more sense in many places where you find meat braising and food frying you can bet it's not oil being used it's animal lard this is like one giant crispy cracker right here and so you can see that score pattern really coming to work here everything's expanded and moved apart a little bit don't move it a lot because you can break it and it's gonna fall down oh he wants to break it okay he was careful don't break it let me break it chicharrone is used in a load of mexican dishes including the breakfast i'll be trying soon are you ready yes sir this was amazing you're a chicharon legend [Music] modern mexican food we see today evolved from mayan aztec and spanish cuisines cactus corns beans chilies tomatoes cacao avocado limes the list goes on these indigenous ingredients are the core of mayan and aztec cooking then the spanish cane contributing dairy products and livestock in each dish you'll find vibrant colors flavors and textures that includes our breakfast thank you gracias how's my pronunciation pre-american oh is that right okay i'll work on it one of the best places to break your fast in mexico city is fonda margherita and folks line up here from the crack of dawn what is in front of us now these are pork rinds with salsa verde these are a specialty of the house basically eggs beans and lard refried beans with egg or you could also call it if i could have called it a second thing i would have called it bad melt lard in a skillet throw in mashed black beans and scrambled eggs fry it up and serve once you've achieved the signature shape please be my guess oh see i'm already confused i would have just eaten it we put that in there yeah you have to make a taco so this is bean and egg don't forget don't forget the lard so we roll it up and give it a bite interesting warm soft beans it's kind of a little bean burrito yeah sort of but it's a bit on the mild side are you gonna add some flavor to it now yes i like to make it spicy sauce reigns supreme in mexican kitchens and salsa is on top of them all this is like the wrapper this is what holds everything this is like the main hearty thing we're eating and this is the flavor salsas of all colors flavors and consistencies exist to cater to every dish imaginable better oh that's very nice now it's alive that salsa changes everything it's super fresh a little bit spicy garlicky oh a little bit of garlic too long if you want to make it like more pungent you add some sauce that is outstanding salsa is remarkable before we eat too much more i want to ask you about you i'm a food writer and food content creator husband is the founder of food police mexico on instagram she's the perfect person to share a table with as i dip my toe into the world of mexican cuisine most americans including myself have kind of a limited idea of what mexican food is most of the mexican food we eat in the usa is like tex-mex it's a mixture between the northern third of mexico and the southern fruit of the united states but mexico is a white country when it comes to local food mexico is divided into seven regions you'll find the best cattle in the north spanish influence dishes in the bajio delicious seafood on the north pacific coast or the gulf and the southern areas offer more long-held indigenous recipes mexico city's central location means it's inherited the best of flavors from around the country that includes chicharron and salsa verde this is a typical food from the center these are pork rinds with salsa verde they heat lard in a clay pot over a charcoal grill throw in some onion and a generous portion of salsa verde is one of the most common salsas in mexico with jalapeno lime cilantro and tomatillos next add in smaller portions of chicharron and let the pot simmer for 15 minutes [Music] i always like to start with a little square those are large wow it's like a diamond cut piece of skin with a bunch of lard and fat attached it's really beautiful i should have proposed to my wife with this my jokes are not landing in mexico well it's really interesting the fat is pretty gooey and slippery kind of slides down your throat and then that little piece of skin is actually a little harder to chew through it's kind of tough it just seems like every bite has a little bit different texture right wait hold on you put this in a tortilla too yeah can everything go in a tortilla everything what about cheesecake uh to mexicans tortillas make the meal a typical mexican family of four consumes more than two pounds of tortillas a day that is fascinating this is real wet and spongy inside for me this salsa is giving life to everything this is a fantastic start we have a lot more food to try today are you still hungry not right now but i'm gonna be all right let's do it there's a saying in mexico no corn no country corn was domesticated by the mayans long long ago and it's been inextricably tied to the lives of mexican people ever since it shapes daily meals it inspires architects its growing cycle even influences the time of festivals today 59 native species of corn take part in over 600 mexican dishes from everyday items like tortillas to the ceremonial dish we're about to try next onions lime sour cream is this a regular more oh my gosh wait all this is going to go in the soup yes this is a food called posole the word pizzole rings in most mexicans ears with a note of nostalgia conjuring memories of family reunions and special events this dish stands out for many reasons but this meal still starts with the soup itself it's green and then is this chicken or beef this is pork nailed it a dish that's not easy to nail but here at los de lucos they've been making it for 40 years it starts with a pig head simmering for hours until it becomes tender this creates the base for the broth in the meantime prepare the hominy hominy is a signature of mexican cuisine corn kernels that are soaked in lime or lye to eliminate the grain's coating this also makes it less fibrous and easier to digest for the puzzle each of the stems is removed by hand one painstaking kernel at a time that's what these guys are doing it takes 12 hours to simmer the hominy in the bra so they usually leave it overnight and the pork is added in the morning [Music] enhance your bowl your way with green salsa sour cream mexican oregano chili powder avocado tostadas chicharron onion or lime how does this work you have to put everything inside the posoli i like to begin with onion it also helps to balance the plate oregano helps you prepare your tummy or all this dish but if you put too much you may start to cough i feel like i'm in some like medieval pharmacy chili we better try it it's not that spicy i'll be careful it's kind of spicy all right i will not taste it you tasted it for us all the avocado you can handle this is a lot of stuff we again meet with chicharron as you can see i like it with a lot of lime then you have to mix it it's gorgeous it's green there's like big chunks of avocado we can see the pork skin let's go for it good yeah it's good like a very hearty soup the taste is interesting let me see if i can describe it it's not like a traditional broth there's almost like a split pea soup how it's kind of almost a gravy that's been made with the broth and the starch together and the taste is kind of mild nothing super intense cosola reminds me of the house of my parents in the independence day do you know how this became associated with that holiday no yeah if you asked me like why do you eat turkeys on thanksgiving i i wouldn't know there's so much in here the avocado and the chicharron give it different types of texture but they both add a lot to it a bit of corn flavor coming through and then there's just big beautiful stringy pieces of pork this is like a big full robust meal what stands out most about this dish is that this is not a simple dish it's a lot of time and preparation that goes into this i have seen that they sell cosole in the way they sell instant soups i never tried it i don't want to do it this is a ceremonial dish there is this legend that says the aztecs invented when they boil their enemies bodies in rocks and then eat it were they really bad at farming are they just really badass we only had chickens imagine that okay you only have chickens you should as well just eat a guy when it comes to creating authentic mexican cuisine there's one ingredient you simply can't do without the chilies they're what really make the food pop chili is just the surname of a family of 60 and they tend to carry a second name depending on their state fresh or dried pickled or roasted chilis usually accompany dishes in the form of salsas moles powders or flakes but sometimes they're cast for the main role chef put her there hola hola how do you say chef in spanish chef ah i know a lot of spanish we're standing in front of la poblanita de tacubaya in half a decade of operation this restaurant has won numerous international awards all thanks to one dish that everyone in mexico knows what is the name of this food chile chile means chili like a big pepper right exactly a sauce made of walnuts but i heard that i that okay there's a carb on you guys okay let's go over here chili peppers walnuts onions beef pomegranate raisin tomato pears the list of ingredients goes on without following any apparent theme all this makes up chile and nagada first chop the various vegetables and fruits so is it more of a dessert or is it more of a savory item something in between oh yeah sorry all right this interview is going really good so far beef stir-fried with fruit and nuts a chili pepper grilled on the stove before having its skin and seeds removed why is this dish so special to people here well celebration there are so many legends about the chile nuga but they say that it's a dish that is connected to the independence of mexico because you will find the colors of the mexican flag after the beef is covered with the grilled chili pepper this whole lump of random ingredients is blanketed with a puree of white sweet creamy sauce made with walnuts garnish with parsley on one side and pomegranate seeds on the other this looks awesome it's a little hard to see visually but it's just so white so all the details and contours get lost you don't realize that there's like really a giant pepper underneath here can we taste the sauce yes oh it's like a really yummy yogurt it is so sweet and delicious it's got little pieces of walnut and then there's pomegranate in here too it's a very very complex dish because you have to peel off the walnuts each walnut because the skin can make the sauce a bit bitter it's hard for me to believe it's not oh but now i'm getting some taste of like beef in there too oh this is so weird because at first i would swear it's a dessert split it right in half and then i'm gonna just spread it open for the world to see it is better than christmas morning i like it it's so interesting it's like this ground meat is really well seasoned a little bit savory a little bit sweet and you're chewing on fruit this is like the weirdest fruit cobbler ever this is a seasonal dish it used to be only during september but the seasons of the fruits have changed because of level warmth so you can find the pear and the apple from july global warming not all bad right is that your point um i love it today everything we've tried has been very traditional but some of it's been a little bit more understated it wasn't too wild this is exploding this is fireworks in my mouth and even when you mix in grilled pepper right if you described it to me i would say that sounds kind of gross and i'm eating it now and i can't believe how much i love it this is one of the most unique dishes i've tried so far during this trip it is my first day i've only tried about four foods but i don't know it's gonna be really hard to top this that is very unique mexican street food is known for being delicious and affordable for this whole thing right here it's a dollar twenty five that's a good deal so today i'm gonna put these price tags to the test seeing if i can spend over one hundred dollars on one full day of eating this might be impossible i'm headed to ho chi milco market a teeming hive of activity with skilled vendors and plenty of food oh it took my breath away here you'll find a load of mexico's street food staples under one roof the most fun part of this trip so far is just finding all this mexican food that really isn't available in the usa time to put my stomach and my wallet to the test [Music] one of mexico's most traditional markets dating all the way back to the 1950s this place is loaded with vendors of all types now it has over 450 vendors inside and out there's people with vegetables produce cilantro in particular right here she has cilantro sorry you're on the show now our first food for today right here in the mornings people come here for her steaming hot full-on carb breakfast a dish that combines this city's two staples corn tortillas and salsa yes see we're interacting first chiloquiles with salsa verde or green salsa is scooped up from a hot steaming vessel then it's doused with cream this is some pollo that means chicken what's up eighth grade spanish onion yes see after the chicken she adds diced onions and some cheese here it's over a pound of food it's making my wrist tired they can also put all of this into a sandwich but i've opted to not do that today i'm going to take a little bite from the corner here oh it's still warm it's steaming hot [Music] so immediately you taste the corn flavor the salsa is soaked into the tortillas so it's not dry but it's not quite a soup but something in between that's just in the corner though on top of that she's put layers of more stuff all that i'm gonna get a nice bite here it looks like cottage cheese but it is not that oh it's so good it has a similar consistency to like a mashed potato that's still a little bit chunky obviously you're not really going to taste the chicken the main flavor is coming from that salsa and from the sour cream the onions offer a nice crisp oh my gosh this is really irresistible i'm blown away that this is a dollar so i'm excited that it's a dollar and i'm worried that it's a dollar because if this is one dollar how am i gonna get to a hundred dollars on on to the next food time to head inside into the heart of this market filled with endless food potential [Music] [Applause] rebecca or rebecca's kitchen a small restaurant within this bustling market owned by miss rebecca this is our second food already and right here this bowl five dollars we're six percent of our way to our goal to 100 dollars for over 40 years she's been providing patrons with traditional local favorites this soup is made out of cow's stomach called pancito pancito the cow stomach is put into an already made broth and stirred until its colors merge with the red chilies after it cooks through the stomach is cut into small bite-sized pieces then served with the chili broth this is awesome because aside from the stomach they have what looks like a cow hoof that's just been boiled forever until it's become kind of soft and gelatinous on the sides a variety of flavor enhancers limes onions red salsa and even more chili right here dry chilies it's in an old nest cafe bottle this reminds me of my friend his mother would use the same containers to put ghee inside that's good recycling save the planet and so forth now let's eat this animal before i do anything i'm gonna just taste this broth oh it took my breath away the broth is so fatty it's almost become creamy give it a little bit of a squeeze they say put in onion i'm gonna give it a little bit more salsa to make it slightly picante i mean spicy i'm that annoying guy who's learned 10 words of spanish and won't stop saying that this is the cow feet give it a try it's kind of gooey it's got some chew to it mixed with some crunchy onions that is outstanding it is time to work our way up to the stomach the cow's stomach is one of the most bizarre looking organs it's like kind of fuzzy and furry it reminds me of a big shag carpet on the one side why it's so fuzzy i feel like i'm eating a rug it's so weird the first bite was really fuzzy and furry and it freaked me out a little bit second one was a lot more chewy which i liked delicious outstanding that's food number two we have a lot more to go our next food was only this is a pre-hispanic delicacy made from a plant i've never seen before this is a farm plant it looks like something that would grow on the side of the highway it's high in nutrition including calcium fiber and a bunch of other vitamins i have two versions of it here this one's been probably boiled a bit its applications are versatile as the seeds can be used for harvesting while the flower buds can be used for cooking that what you just saw there is actually inside of here it's kind of a stringy food now the preparation boiled us online are stuffed with mexican cheese and encased in a whipped batter usually made from egg on each of these stems you can like pull off all of these things like this so that's what's supposed to happen in your mouth when you eat that version the battered result lay are deep fried before being slathered in a tomato sauce [Music] i'm grabbing the stick end all the cheese is gonna come off right wow you can see the green part inside there's cheese covering it there's sauce on top of that this is gonna be a mess here we go not going well boom it's just too long to put the whole thing in there or is it ladies look away i mean men look away turn off your tvs [Music] [Applause] [Music] if i just came here and no one told me i'd be eating the stick and everything and i'd be like it's not that good but when you peel everything off it's almost like mashed peas and the flavors are just kind of gentle this is queso oaxaca cheese from the region of oaxaca i thought wisconsin cheese curds were good this gives wisconsin cheese curds a run for their money it's like a really good mozzarella that has way more texture to it they also have tortillas on the side you can actually strip off the food like you're pulling meat off a kebab and put it in the taco look at the excellent workout done all right let's try it out [Music] it's a tomato sauce but they're super gentle not a ton of flavor and what a unique preparation and it costs only three dollars we are well on our way to 100 let's keep this [ __ ] moving ship i said ship [ __ ] our 100 challenge continues as i'm heading deeper into the market to a place called lahia de cabrera oh we have food number four right here i should have asked questions about it what is this this stop is almost as old as the market itself first established in 1969 miss norma cabrera is its owner so right here we have the gordita ah the popular dishes quesadillas and gorditas embarrassingly i've heard of the gordita uh taco bell the crunchy gordita crunch is that a thing crispy gordita crunch the crispy gordita crunch this it actually looks a lot better the word gordita literally translates into little fat one may i advise not calling your wife this if you'd like to prolong your life expectancy this starts with a thick corn dough that's stuffed with chicharron i love that the fillings are very unique something that you also won't find at taco bell okay i swear to god i'm gonna stop comparing everything to taco bell very soon after stuffing the dough is flattened and grilled with pork lard a substitution for butter when it's ready she cuts the now crispy dough in half adds more lard and more fillings we have iceberg lettuce we have cheese they call it basket cheese why i don't know you guys can do your own research too i think you're becoming too dependent on me at this point lastly add a bit of pasta chili or mexican brown salsa finally it's ready to serve oh this is how you know it's good it's already dripping it is such a thick satisfying crunch on the outside on the inside the lettuce is giving it a nice bit of texture oh my god i'm in the very center now i'm getting a little bit more of that chicharron it's a little heavy little oily and just slightly gamey my gosh try to look at this so it's just savory it's a little bit warm not spicy at all the most fun part of this trip so far is just finding all this mexican food that really isn't available there's like a certain type of mexican food in the usa and then it kind of is limited to that for this whole thing right here it's a dollar 25. that's a good deal super delicious we are four foods in i'm still hungry let's do some more right here is our next menu item it looks fantastic this is called i'm going to try not to have a panic attack as i say this see this mexican dish got its name from a footwear the sandal to be exact and it looks like the most delicious sandal i've ever seen this is not quick to make and i'm finding that food here what you make kind of depends on where you are and what time of day you're selling first stuff black beans in the masa dough and flatten [Music] then give it its iconic oblong shape before tossing it on the flat top here these vendors are here all day they've got time the lady this morning no time she would move so quickly she could serve up by breakfast in like a minute but here this took about eight minutes for this one dish right here now the bill chile green salsa red salsa top that with onions cheese lettuce and finally grilled salted beef time to eat try just the beef it's delightfully chewy super salty a little bit funky i don't know where that's coming from i don't know how you eat this because it's huge and they don't exactly give you a fork i'm gonna just lift it up like this oh first of all i think i bit into the spicy end it's got a nice hit it warms you up the bread here is so dense oh that's so good so as you eat your way through supposedly the flavors should be changing i'm going from red to green now [Music] man i really go between loving red and then loving green the red's a bit more spicy green is super fresh and flamboyant i'm on the other end now it's a little hard to distinguish between what is bean and what is the darker salsa well let's try it out the sauce there not as spicy it's fun because the more you move around the more different flavors you get this is the kind of meal that's just going to sink to the bottom of your stomach like the titanic and then it's gonna stay on the bottom of your stomach for as long as the titanic did before james cameron found it did he find it you guys ever wonder why rose didn't share the door with jack they tried like once jack was like oh let me try to get on and it wasn't convenient and rose was like can you die instead and he's like yeah you're super hot anyways this is five foods now it's starting to hit me but i'm still determined let's keep going we are on a roll already up to food number six now this i actually have seen before it's called a pambazo calvin and i tried something like this at the state fair of texas now i'm in mexico city trying the original [Music] hey epic reveal first they dip the bread in a red guajillo pepper sauce and grill it with water when i ate it with calvin they put so much chili sauce on it that our hands were just caked and completely red here huh clean hands then the fillings potatoes mixed with chorizo then lettuce some queso fresco and lastly the crema i'm gonna sit here like a little school boy here we go [Music] oh super delicious they put sour cream on so many different foods here but it's really different than the sour cream you would get in the u.s it's very like liquidy it's filled with a lot of stuff but what you're really tasting is the seasoned potato mixed with chorizo i couldn't tell you if the bun actually had any flavor to it [Music] no the salsa they're putting on here i don't think it's adding a lot of flavor but it's making it very nice it's very pretty the price one dollar and 25 cents that's outrageous i came out here today with the goal of eating a hundred dollars worth of food i never give up until it's really the end but spending a hundred dollars in mexico on street food this might be impossible that's impossible as this challenge seems right now i am pressing forward determined to hit that one hundred dollar mark wait hi so what is this black jack jack this dish right here is very exciting this is nopales this is the cactus we saw outside right here take a look at this this is a cactus peeling cactus here it's awesome can i puerto touch i know how to say ken i don't know how to say touch this is big it's flat and most notably they've cut off all the parts that can hurt you convenient the nepalese are usually julienne here they're making it into a cactus salad ready to top our next food i'm gonna pick up just one of these because i'm so curious about it the inside feels kind of slimy like okra that's been boiled okay what is this it's got some texture but it's a little slimy too it's like a cross between okra and a green pepper that's been boiled for a long time like so many other street food treats in mexico city the taco starts with a corn dough but this time it's stuffed with cheese [Music] soon she adds the nopales salad and more cheese [Music] i'm gonna take a big bite here we go all the dishes in here have kind of a similar dough base just really heavy dense and oily this cheese is a little bit more sharp these are some random toppings and random ingredients i would not expect to see together topping that with cactus that's wild napale nepalese it's got to be painful everybody who speaks spanish is turning this off right now as well you should this one right here 1.25 super affordable probably not a surprise i have space in my four-chambered stomach for one final food this is my last chance to get this challenge done i'm hoping this last food costs around ninety dollars but you know what i kind of doubt it will i'm heading back to miss norma's stall to try out her other most popular dish guys i'm in the kitchen with norma hola can we subtitle that please it's a blue quesadilla something i've never seen before so i'm ordering one of these it's like a skinny quesadilla it starts with a blue corn dough rather than the usual white so first she puts on the queso someone said oh when you go to mexico they don't have cheese that's just tex-mex incorrect mundo there's a lot of cheese here now for that special ingredient corn smut smud doesn't sound like that positive of a word wikipedia corn smud is a plant it's a plant disease we're eating a plant disease let me read more maybe this takes a turn somewhere corn smud is a plant disease caused by pathogenic fungus it's getting worse i think um the fungus forms gales on all above ground parts of corn species it is edible good turns out this plant disease is considered a delicacy here in mexico and it's often used as a filling for quesadillas so i've had a lot of quesadillas in my life usually chicken or beef and no one's ever offered me corn smudge so and she's going to close that up and this is going to be one unique quesadilla gracias hey look at this it's like a quesadilla for a baby oh you got to start your kids early on quesadillas the smut smells kind of earthy let's try it out [Music] oh she's looking at me i like it she has a sinister laugh that's really interesting yeah it's earthy and almost kind of grainy and very sour it almost tastes like it's been aged or fermented for a bit but it's not super strong i love the cheese and i'm getting to know the smut it's like when your best friend goes to a different college and then you have to get to know his college friend it's like the cheese is my best friend and the smut is like all right you guys play you play halo too that's we got something in common at least i just would love to give this quesadilla to my mom or if somebody just has no idea what it is and i say no don't don't don't open it just eat it and then after they take it by i go okay but look you ate that it doesn't taste bad but i don't know if it's the look of it or the fact that it's corn fungus that really just seeks out in my mind i can't get over it this is my final food i can't take any more i'm stuck from here we're going to tally up the total and i'm going to find out if i broke the 100 mark for this 100 street food challenge let's find out guys that is the end of the video i simply cannot put any more food in in fact i need to burn some of this energy off today was outstanding and almost overwhelming as somebody who thought they understood mexican food i've come here and i realized i know nothing and i have so much more to learn i have an open mind and an even more open not hard mouth but we did come here for a reason today and that reason was to challenge myself to spend 100 on street food now i'm tabulating the results there's beat boop noises there's calculator sounds today after eating eight different street foods did i break 100 the total eaten for today is [Music] 17 oh that's not even close i'm blown away by the quality and the diversity and the flavors so many different foods i've never had before all in one day for 17 dollars eight different things it's unreal unbelievable tacos originating in mexico they're one of the most beloved foods in north america when you first visit the city you'll find there are taquerias everywhere places where you can get delicious tacos but it's not like tacos in the usa if you thought tacos here would be stuffed with the usual chicken cheese and sour cream do you think that's spicy yes prepare to have your mind exploded you ready i'm born ready for tacos it's not brisket today i'm on a mission to find the most iconic he's a local utterly bizarre we're literally going to be eating a giant cow eyeball and outstandingly delicious tacos you'll find in mexico or anywhere else very happy very happy in tiny kitchens pushing out big flavors it's so very good using taco fillings you've never seen before and it all starts now i'm at el brego vuido in a city with literally thousands of taco joints this place stands out the morning is just beginning and i discovered this amazing meaty treasure right here this is past three feet of pork it's so thick it's like one of the rocks thighs um we are not having this oh no i'm starting with yes that is an entire cow head and it turns out this isn't a rare sight for takarias in this city the head meat is some of the best meat you could fill your taco with today we're starting our taco breakfast with this our main ingredient these taco dealers have been around since 1969. you got it oh he'd oh he just pulled out like six 16th this is like hannibal lecter's dream if he was a cow here you can eat inside or in the comfort of your own car in the parking lot it's already been boiling for a good five six hours so it's really soft oh yes that's like the temple right there when this place gets popping they have up to 65 staff building orders and satisfying cravings this does not look like a cow to me i'm telling you if scientists dug this up they would say it was a dinosaur all right it breaks the jar that could be a paper weight that took like five minutes he just took all the skin off of this cow head this is not what i was expecting when i woke up this morning to have for breakfast cow head tacos let's go the head is cut into smaller more manageable less identifiable chunks than it's steamed on this flat top so it stays warm when you come here you can ask for a certain part of the face that you want in your taco that is cheek meat this is the eyeballs i don't know if there's bones here or not here maybe behind the ear and now the weirdest breakfast i've had in a while cow head tacos take that chunk of head meat we saw earlier chop it into little pieces and toss the meat onto a small corn tortilla we have some herbs here some onion too salsa verde going on top boom that is it look at this little masterpiece guys this has had me this is the good stuff i'm gonna find a place to sit down and introduce you to today's eating partner let's go joining the show vladimir a mexican food youtuber with abundant food knowledge passion and storage capacity i'm very hungry and i need to eat muchos tacos yeah that means a lot of tacos these are tiny little tacos right yes it's just a little but just more delicious cheers [Music] oh good that's very delicious cheers the meat's kind of oily and heavy but then it's balanced out with that salsa verde a little bit spicy is that spicy for you no spicy for us it's a low spicy for you guys it might be health what i love is this tiny tortilla so you're not gonna get full you can have like multiple taco experiences he says even though it's little it is vest are you kind of like a poet you have reinforcement but it's still very soft the way he's made it is steamed up with all that meat i love it oh what do you think about oh i just said what i got we might have a little bit of a language gap but there's one thing that brings us together food oh yeah this is the first taco of the day but we have one more on the way right now tacos de cachette or beef cheek tacos renowned tender cheek meat is chopped to bits and tossed on a double stack of corn tortillas to make sure it doesn't fall apart under the weight of all that meat add herbs onions and an extra flavorful dose of salsa verde here's the thing this looks exactly the same my question is are we going to be able to taste a difference [Music] oh that's nice super juicy fatty succulent meat inside similar flavors but definitely a different texture this is more spicy i feel like it's the same spicy it's the same salsa you said that in english this is the perfect way to take your tackle check this out he's a real technical expert this guy i can watch you eat tacos all day he gives it a pinch in the back exactly and the posterior part you have some meat and you eat okay he threw me for a loop he goes the last part right here you eat it [Music] whether you're happy sad sober drunk or hungover this place will make your life better this very tiny closet-sized takaria often has folks lined up around the block senor alberto hola check out this place first of all this big old pot of boiling meat tons of different beef cuts in here what's remarkable about this is this is large just straight lard that everything here is boiling inside of the menu here is long if you're confused point and hope for the best as for me i'm going with this this is a rare look we're about to get boom okay look at that it's a half a cow hat this half a head has been boiled for an hour with onion garlic and salt here they're utilizing the cow's eyes and surrounding tissue yes this is a real thing on the menu here and folks love it that's how you say i i just learned that so now he's cutting the eye out of here i mean we're literally gonna be eating a giant cow eyeball it's huge right here this part it's everything around the eyeball of the cow it looks pretty gnarly it's already been boiled for a long time so the collagen everything should have rendered down a bit and now he's going to cut it up so we can actually put it inside the taco so he's going right down the middle he's pulling something out [Music] he said it is uh it's the eyeball he's scoring it to create more surface area so now when it steams it's going to warm up so much faster than being one big solid piece of meat now he's breaking it apart like an accordion or like when you do paper mache in elementary school and that one is going to steam for a little bit now it's taco time he dips the tortilla in this lard and then he throws it on the flat top that's gonna get nice warm and soft this is the steamed eyeball meats all that's getting chopped up i'm gonna take my first cow eye taco right here the eye meat is topped with onions then your choice of sauce i'm taking vlad's recommendation guacamole with habanero okay he's scared for me i think because of my complexion he thinks i can't handle it i can't handle it how do you like eyes i delicious all of the head eyes cheeks mouth it's very delicious cool all right well i got you lime this time oh yeah in the tacos it's indispensable what does that mean oh indispensable we must have lime give it a little bit of a squeeze these look awesome all right let's go for it [Music] oh i love the lime and this one's especially fatty so i really need lime in mexico we say robecchio [Music] this is so fantastic it's served hot on the street in the world's smallest taqueria what's your favorite part of the head i really like cow tongue they have tongue here right this is a cow tongue soon it's gonna be a taco first they clean the tongue and boil it with onion garlic and salt in this compact secret cooking compartment go watch eight episodes of friends and when you return the tongue will be ready cut it into thick slices and slap that on a tortilla with onion and more spicy green guava this cow every day was like oh i freaking love grass with these very taste buds right here lime it up boom [Music] oh i know it's like a beef roast you can just feel the fibers kind of break apart as you're eating it it's so very good it's got some spices it's an explosion of flavor i love it [Music] it's big bold tender juicy fatty delicious taco bell get on your game man oh look at this spoiled beef tongue final bite final bite yeah [Music] one of a kind these are great tacos so great we're only about halfway through the day we have so many more to go you guys face check this out please come on for more tacos another location another variety of tacos come with me this way i'm at takadia el torito a family run takadia that's been here for 64 years this gentleman is one of the grandchildren of the original founder this is hector hola here you can find their classic taco el pastor but their signature dishes are wait for it intestine tacos they sell over 4 000 a week i'm gonna experience that soon but first another signature creation the brisket taco they cleaned and cut the brisket into chunks then it's tossed in this very unusual pan to cook with onion garlic and salt for about an hour this is just so much brisket all around the sides the pan is a little bit lower and that's where the meat is hanging out grazing in its own juices when it's done it's done and ready to eat trace taco de brisket yeah these are gonna be doubled-up tortillas so he puts it right on that dome it's gonna soften this up a little bit oh that looks nice boom to the cutting station here getting a little bit of grease everywhere oh i can taste it now [Music] wow that is so well seasoned it's certainly no texas brisket it's a little chewy that's why he's going to chop it into little tiny pieces but the flavors are outstanding chopping away hector going wildly he's a loco he's crazy he's slightly annoyed oh he puts it in the shell and he puts it back over here on the iron dome meat down this is the first time i've seen this today boom so every time you order this you're getting it cut straight from the brisket um yes everything all right we've got some herbs going on there a little bit of onion and salsa and that is a beautiful plate of brisket tacos what is this meat in spanish it means brisket first this is gonna be awesome see this taco it's more biggest than other places it's really big it is full of meat chalupa what do you say [Music] whoa so beefy so full of life and flavor the principal difference that the brisket in usa it's not in barbecue i just spent recently a lot of time in texas where we had smoked brisket which is very very soft this is cooked much faster because of that it's a little tougher but they cut it so much that it feels soft enough the taste is delicious and the salsa is not very spicy oh yeah it's not that spicy i thought it was spicy i have heartburn right now i need a pepsi ac this has two tortillas what do you prefer do you like one tortilla or dos tortillas the fat people the gorditos like me prefer two tortillas because we eat more more food and check this if tortilla broke all these in the taco because two tortillas so that's the brisket we do have one more taco here you ready i'm born ready for tacos it's not brisket right here a type of meat you don't usually see in a taco at least not in the usa that's right we had brisket and what goes better with brisket than cow intestines step one clean the intestines for obvious reasons next add them to a pot with salt onions and black pepper and cook for one hour transfer the cooked intestines over to this here pan where it continues cooking in its own intestinal juices right here a giant mound of cow intestines that have been kind of braising almost frying in their own oils i'm going to put my pesos on this being absolutely delicious hector order me up some intestine tacos please as orders come in grab and chop a cluster of intestines slab tortillas onto the dome for some heat bring it back and filled it with intestines herbs onions and salsa you like intestines i love it take just a little okay we're just going to go straight intestine oh please be good it's crunchy oh oily punchy a little chewy too good flavor good flavor too whoa i like that i'm gonna hit that with the lime repeat it's my favorite taco in the world i love eating with you ma'am you make it so much more enjoyable it's in my top rank 10. right absolutely yes top 10 of intestine tacos exactly that's a very specific top 10 list it's also in my top 10. it's also my first one here's the thing it's so good very good i got to say very happy very happy i love this i love this this is so good is it so good it's juicy it's juicy it's chewy chewy it's everything you want in a mother freaking taco yes [Laughter] just a few miles away another 64 year old veteran of the taco trade taco el paisa here they serve up to 500 guests today 362 days per year every year but what sets them apart isn't just their disdain for off time but rather this this is a local cactus species also it's going into my taco somehow but first tacos de langanissa start by cutting longanisas or mexican sausage it's a minced pork sausage similar to chorizo next relocate the longanisas from the chopping board to this wok and let the oil take over once it's crispy it gets the chop pile it high with onions herbs and salsa why is it so red it's meat of pork with spices so the spices make it red yes just just you know the drill let's hit it with some lime the third double tortilla of the day is still warm soft and flexible [Music] it's crispy this is absolutely delicious the texture in here is awesome it's very spicy i need a glass of milk after this it's not spicy like painful or spicy like i have acid reflux now [Music] it's absolutely like a texture sensation it's so crunchy as you're eating it but it's also rich and juicy at the same time seven down one to go our final taco of the day this is something i've never seen before this is a cactus it's known as nepalese nopales are the most commonly eaten cactus species in mexico even several thousand spiky thorns could not stop people from trying this next dish once the cactus is shaved it boils in a bubbling meat juice they add raw beef and cactus then season simply with salt pepper and lime this beautiful beef they're getting soft and then this can go in the taco with the beef it's a cactus beef taco after just a few minutes the cactus and the beef are ready for me to order in perfect eighth grade spanish napales taco boom he takes out some beef he's chopping it up into little pieces it's super soft but then we have the cactus right here he kind of juliennes the cactus all that goes into one tortilla he's so quick a little bit of cilantro a little bit of onion look at this plateau cactus beef tacos made in about 10 seconds first we have a nice drink now i was feeling a little bit heavy i asked for a tea they did not have one what they have here is called meat juice basically everything this was boiling in the cactus the beef this is the broth that was bubbling in cheers cheers be careful it's very hot oh yeah it's a little cactusy uh-huh oh it's warming me up from the inside this is nice on a cool night in mexico city here check this i took my taco and i shush really we can put it in meat by fat people by fat mentality it's great try it the cactus is in there all the spices and enjoy it let's take it that away wild that's like a french onion soup you just dip it in there it makes a tortilla even more soggy it absorbs all those meat juices do people do that or just you just the fat people okay just us give it another little bit of a dip oh juicy hey the taco's got a drink too there's so much beef flavor here but it's also full of cactus and the cactus is also slimy yes bring another flavor at the taco beef i'm gonna give it a dip i'm gonna eat it and then i'm gonna drink even more after that it's another flavor with the two combinations oh my gosh it's spicy it's salty savory there's so many different flavors going on it's powerful it's like fireworks my heart rate's going up i think i'm dying what do you think about this taco i love it mexico just like their salsa your experience here can be mild or extra spicy oh my god today it's gonna get caliente i just had a quinceanera in my mouth as we hunt down the most unusual what is this thing super strange shockingly wild food creations you'll find in mexico city they made pork skin into a pickle from crepey crawley taco fillings you can feed all the legs oh my gosh to a late night street food stall serving some bizarre body parts oh that's a lot of flavor so throw whatever you knew about mexican food out the window today we're going off menu [Music] this unique food journey starts at most machetes here they sell massive oblong quesadillas with an insane variety of filling options sure you could get the standard chicken or beef but what about cow stomach ever tried that in the quesadilla felucine ah here i am today's eating partner paulucce he's a local food youtuber who documents some of the best recipes around the country you're far away from me but between us is so much delicious this is incredible this is like a big big big quesadillas most biggest yes i've ever seen in my life what is this like a foot in the house maybe like 50 60 centimeters wow that's like 11 feet i don't know how to convert things these quesadillas are one of a kind and it's not just about the size they have over a dozen feeling options many you probably never even heard of before do you know what all these are yeah that's pancita that is the beef stomach there's also rajas poblanos that is type of chili there's also tinga chicharron that is pork rinds i also heard one ingredient that really stands out you said there's cow's stomach yeah yeah cow stomach exactly today we're getting machetes two ways first with cow stomach because cows have four stomachs but we only have one life so you know yolo and the second one that is called super cubano it literally means that it has everything our first cheesy masterpiece starts with the dough flattened in a press powered by hand toss the dough on the flat top and when it starts to firm up pile on the ingredients cow stomach then three mexican cheeses cream cheese manchego and queso oaxaca fold it up and let it fry until it's golden brown and crispy take a look at this there is a load of stomach in there i want to take a peek listen that cow's stomach is really strong it's like a little yeah if you go to a farm and smell and you're like oh it smells like a farm that's what that smells like kind of all right let's try this out okay [Music] wow that is intense it's very unique how are you doing enjoying or suffering i'm kind of in a mix of both i'm just suffering but it's like a good suffering you know because the cheese is pretty good i mean the dough is amazing the flavor of the oil i mean everything is a good experience do you like the stomach can i be honest it is a bit challenging for me it's a powerful flavor just because of the flavor or because of the texture too i can't even feel the texture because it's kind of mixing with the ooey gooey cheese but the flavor is very powerful it's powerful yeah you know what i think is really messing with me it's like this is one of my ultimate comfort foods a tortilla and cheese and then someone puts cow stomach in it i think that's what's throwing me off because i'm like i'm waiting for this moment of like this endorphin rush of cheese and then i met with cow's stomach can we try the other one next in line the super cubano this quesadilla is packed with just about every topping they have it starts with oaxacan cheese spread on top the over two foot long quesadilla now the toppings mushrooms shredded beet ground beef ground beef with potatoes chicken squash blossoms cow stomach again cornsmut chicharron and finally cream cheese [Music] this is a different quesadilla yeah it looks similar but inside it couldn't be more different are you ready yeah i'm going to start with this one that is the flor de calabasa oh and i'm going to start with that one which is one type of cheese let's try it out oh i really love this one this is pumpkin flour it's amazing one of the most amazing things you can find here in mexico city this tastes like a sour cottage cheese it's really interesting they have two different sauces here salsa verde which one do you like more for me i will choose salsa verde a little bit of green sauce yeah go for it okay let's try it out cheers better right it adds like a big kick to it that is so much cilantro i think the spiciness is almost coming from the cilantro itself what other bites do i have here what was that cheetos shredded meat and mushrooms you ready let's do it oh it's delicious cheesy meaty oh i have a big mushroom bite i have poblano chili and they're made with sour cream corn and also onions oh yeah one of my favorites so far it tastes like canned mushrooms i grew up in a trailer house and that is like eating caviar i'm getting full we got to walk around a little bit and go find more food let's go vamonos vamanos [Music] welcome to san juan market mexico city's most famous market for exotic meats and daring delicacies here you can find anything from crocodile to armadillo and a whole laundry list of creepy crawlers tinorita can i shake your hand nice to meet you meet the queen of this creepy cuisine sonora martha marie we came to this doll because she has so many special ingredients a lot of them used to be alive and they used to be crawling bugs they're everywhere have you eaten all these just this one this one this one just these three have you eaten all these see she's telling me that he has tasted everything and she likes it because of the textures because of the flavor and all the colors and everything so you like it that's the government that she loves it well what about um let's see yeah over here is her favorite i think okay show me this creepy bugger is known as a hissing cockroach they're one of the largest species of cockroaches in the world growing up to two to three inches in length though they come from madagascar originally these were farmed in mexico city [Music] oh it's good it is not that good for sunny but it is pretty good i mean i like it it smells like someone's hair that hasn't been washed for like 300 days for me it is like chicharron did you say dandruff it tastes like dandruff [Applause] i don't know it's so weird and i don't mean to be mean but she didn't prepare it she just put on a stick and rammed it through its butt i don't feel that bad it tastes like bad breath it tastes like halitosis that's a fantastic appetizer thank you so much you're a wonderful chef so i think we should get a few different things what is this one right here laura this is basically an end in mexico we call it a big-ass ant hey because you know it's like the jlo of ants the ants with the large posterior they're known as chikitana ants the most popular ants in mexico known for being notoriously difficult to catch not only can they bite but they can also fly fortunately in their current state they can do neither here sonora starts with a blue tortilla made from blue corn which gives it its blue color now the big ass ants slap them on the griddle and add a bit of salt add that to the tortilla add cheese and enjoy or at least try to enjoy we have our tacos here i want to first start by giving it a whiff the corn smells good oh no the ants to dance oh like [ __ ] yeah that's what they smell like the ants are like pig manure now listen not everything that smells bad is bad take me for example you don't smell that bad i mean you've been here for three days so thank you really makes you think about life huh a little bit dry long yum it's very crispy super crispy you can feed all the legs and the wings oh my gosh yeah wow yeah these bugs are so big look at this you want to try just an ant yeah of course you know what it tastes like in here we call it chicharron yes like pork rind yeah it tastes like a chicharron that's been fermenting a little bit it's an uncanny type of flavor and experience and then when you eat it with the cheese it's just not a very strong flavor our second course akosilis a species of micro crayfish native to mexico prehispanic folks used to eat them in tacos long ago the recipe is simple tortilla crayfish a sprinkle of all-purpose seasoning and a squeeze of lime add some guac and dump a load of these aquatic creatures on top she did not hesitate to just completely f this up with these little tiny crawfish it is slammed full of yes i'm gonna grab one it's wild it weighs almost nothing and it looks just like a tiny little shrimp let's try it these are the better ones little spicy little salty you know yeah it tastes like it's been mixed with spices they taste like chili salt yep all right let's try it out for me this is the best combination ever because it's salty and i love this salty flavor it's super salty you know this is like drinking food like i feel like we're missing a beer right now the flavor is much more mild than the last one it's kind of like a comfort snack kind of right [Laughter] i've eaten a lot of bugs around the world but this next one i've never seen before these are a type of beetle it's one of the most commonly eaten insects in mexico tortilla toasty bugs seasoned with chili oil salt and orange juice guac beetles fold and serve next we have these beautiful colorful beetles they have this iridescent kind of color on their wings so they're shiny and they change color let's try it out [Music] oh my god you need to chew it a lot a lot a lot because this is the the whole bug i mean oh you know what it's like it's when you eat popcorn at the movie theater and you get a kernel stuff yeah yeah yeah spot welded on the back of your throat and you're like it's exactly like this it's very sharp papery and kind of spiky it's dangerous but the flavor this is my favorite flavor out of all of it oh really kind of smoky toasted roasty flavor coming off of it yeah that blends well with the guacamole some of the best food experiences you'll have in mexico happen in the streets street vendors found everywhere throughout the city serve snacks between big meals called antojitos or little cravings here we have one of the craziest antojito stalls around when it comes to unique street food this is one of them what is it called again locos crazy doritos crazy doritos exactly your doritos and you're like well how crazy could you make doritos this crazy man this is a snack made from dorito chips but they add a whole lot of loco with other toppings and pickled pork skin normally this dish would be served inside a doritos bed but here they load it with so much there's no way it could all fit it starts with the dorito chips add pickled jicama and pickled carrots next japanese peanuts with chili and regular japanese peanuts then a fried corn steak snack called choritos lemon flavored chili and lemon flavored and chipotle flavor now for the most bizarre element pickled pork skin and a lot of it finally a dash of chamoy sauce and valentina sauce then chili powder lime and you're ready to eat one of the most unusual crazy street foods in mexico city [Music] i think we should start with a dorito let's try it out whoa oh the lime there's a lot of lime over there there's like some vinegar it's very sour super sour i thought this might not be healthy but you put a lot of carrots in mine and also they come out yeah you gotta hit your mom and carol over here yep you can feel the freshness of the jicama and the carrot for me it's like the perfect combination something like fatty and then you are not regretting it because you are tasting like the fruits and the vegetables i got a dorito i'm gonna build on top of this i'm gonna put this what is this the wheat flour chip reflowered chip then the pork skin pork skin has to go on there then some carrots some cucumber and i think that's oh that's all that's going to fit perfect oh ultimate nacho yeah go for it this is wild man i think it suits mexico so well it's super colorful it's unique the flavors are loud and vibrant there's sourness spiciness saltiness all together in one dish and just a ton of different textures and flavors to choose from the pork skin i think that's my favorite part it's pickled so it tastes a little bit sour but the texture it's kind of gummy yeah a pork gummy which is like the perfect snack at this time of the day going into night time it's perfect [Music] in mexico city when the sun goes down the street food vendors pop up but some stalls get more action than others musicians busking on the sidewalk lines of hungry locals coming home from work desperately in need of a safer retreat the big draw here is corn but it goes a lot deeper than that boiled corn corn on the cob then there's this late night snacks i didn't expect to find here ma'am senorita wow this place is awesome this is sonora santa loreto she started this stall with a small pot of boiled corn right here in 1977 since then she's added a lot including her signature bone marrow dish you call it skittes esquites exactly what is that esquites it's a type of mexican corn based snack typically it's made from mature corn grains that gets boiled in salt water then sauteed with butter onions and some protein finally when everything stews and softens it's served in a cup here they make it in two different but daring ways with chicken feet or with bone marrow you also have chicken feet i'm a big fan of chicken feet how are you making it here you want to see your patita right now why does she want to grab the foot from yeah yeah okay oh she's bringing her foot down yeah the foot is on its way boom and she's gonna prepare it okay a little chili powder and a little bit of salt she's gonna put that's it i'm not sure what to say she brought one foot yeah just one foot who gets the foot no pad for you oh i'm so sorry like two feet later double the feet okay i'm gonna try it out already i can feel it it is so soft extremely soft i can see it oh look at that it's like holding it apart yeah apparently along cheek and feet it's a simple but brilliant preparation i mean it's so fresh without lime on there and just a little bit of heat that's wonderful ma'am thank you so much for this experience i can't wait to try the food we're warming up with chicken esquitas this giant pot of corn chicken feet and chicken gizzards has been simmering all day when your order is placed it's scooped up with a little bit of everything and topped with a shake of chili powder all right look at this here so here's served in a styrofoam cup because it's really hot it's the perfect nighttime food because it's a little bit chilly here i got to try it already but uh i think you should try it too let's go and try it again go for it it's extremely soft i mean it has a lot of flavor a lot of collagen too yeah that's a great texture because you don't want it to be too tough you know in vietnam they like it to be really chewy but if you go to hong kong it's so steamy there's almost no texture at all and this is right in the middle yeah yeah as you dig down there's kind of a broth should we try it out yeah of course good touch on the lime yeah it's almost hard to call it a broth it's almost like a lime juice lime juice yeah sitting in here some people might call it a chicken stomach some people might call it a gizzard you ready yep that is delicious it's got chili powder on there so it's kind of hot but the texture is outstanding when i had these growing up my mom would kind of fry them in oil and they're kind of tough here this is super soft really good time you know delicious super refreshing super citrusy and just really soft meat you can tell she cooked this with love our final dish or uh i guess cup it's called do it donal a similar corn base is stewed with big beef bones and cartilage for hours until the marrow becomes soft melting rich fatty flavors with a starchy base when it's ready they layer in corn then skillfully remove the soft buttery marrow from the bones more corn mayo crumbly queso fresco a dash of chili and a squeeze of lime today was all about really unique food and this is a great way to end right here you ready yeah final bite whoa oh that's a lot of flavor i mean whoa i just had a quinceanera in my mouth yeah that's a pretty good description i really love these kitties i think this is the most popular ones and i know why i mean they have a lot of flavor the texture is excellent it's pretty soft they have a lot of fat as well the mayonnaise with the cheese with the citrus that is a powerful flavor oh this one's stealing my heart i love it sunny just fell in love with this there's so much of it yeah there's a lot of bomero do you know how much this cost this is only 65. so it's about three bucks it's a lot of food it's a full meal it's hearty it's gonna fill you up especially at night like a late night's neck what's brilliant to me is someone has taken marrow they took the inside of a bone and turned that into a meal that's why i like mexican food because we took advantage of these things like maybe in other countries they just throw it on the trash yeah and so i feel right at home this is perfect for me that's good my dude awesome mexico this country loves seafood it's amazing so much so that in mexico city a place hundreds of miles from the ocean you'll find one of the world's busiest fish markets this place is wild it's huge and there's just so many unexpected seafood that's where i'm headed today right here something you will not find in the seafood aisle in minnesota [Music] today i'm on a mission to witness the most daring oh why did i put my fingers in his mouth most unique aquatic culinary creations you'll find in mexico do you think they have dolphin here bizarre seafood cooked up by some of the most extreme chefs you'll ever meet this guy's incredible using ingredients and techniques that have been around for hundreds of years it's like a volcano i'm enveloped in steam and it all starts here our first stop el pariso one of the many seafood restaurants dotting the periphery of la viga seafood market this strategic location gives them access to the freshest fishies and crowds of seafood lovers all right boom breakfast is served this is awesome our seafood appetizer comes in the form of octopus tacos sounds simple but it's not the preparation starts with a broth made from fresh herbs that gets boiled with orange onion garlic and salt when these ingredients release their aromas add the octopus and cook until the broth becomes pink then take out the octopus and chop it into bite-sized pieces that gets marinated with garlic paste black pepper olive oil and a traditional mexican seafood sauce known as taiyo mix it up and throw it down on the stove top with a little bit of butter [Music] add tortillas assemble into tacos and serve don't forget the lime yep i'm gonna hit it with some lime oh it's so warm and soft eating by my side today caroline she grew up in mexico city so she'll provide me with some local insights wow that is delicious i had octopus tacos but not like this you put a bunch of octopus and then just a tortilla it's really simple and straightforward yeah but very delicious there's so many sauces here yes i think that's the worst is this one the worst yeah the worst why didn't you show me the best one why'd you pick up the worst one you should try it at least it's very spicy yeah i told you i tell you i love this habanero it's making me feel high my mouth is very spicy and warm yeah it is i love it we are at the market today this is i'm told the second biggest fish market in the world yes it is and the first one is in tokyo i think but this is the first of latin america oh how many countries are in latin america i'm not pretty sure but come on it's pretty huge but guys come on come on [Music] around the world the majority of big seafood markets are located on the coast but not this one we have entered the market this place is awesome it's a five-hour drive from la viga fish market to the nearest coastline but since mexico city has always been the economic center of this country most seafood either passes through here or gets eaten there's no limit to the amount of food here trucks come to this market daily loaded with shellfish do you like snails no i don't really like them well they made the brome because snails are awesome octopods how does that look to you looks fine just so fresh and all kinds of fish products do you know what this is no really well i'm reading and i already know that but that's sperm fish farm have you ever tried it yes oh my god is this safe we're putting eggs with sperm in our stomach you might get pregnant tonight well it sounds amazing but no thank you here they have something we can eat these are anchovy settings right yeah how do they prepare them here they are fried and then they add lime and chili can we eat it like this yeah sure try it very crunchy they are not chips that's a good drinking food i need a couple of guamas and this and that's a good snack [Music] here you can find about 100 different species of fish some are more common this is called mahi-mahi or golden fish i know mahi-mahi i usually see it in little squares about this pig it's rare that i've ever seen it in its complete form and some not so common this is a flat fish you know some people call it a bastard halibut because look at its eyes it kind of looks like an inbred bastard so i've seen this one before have you seen this yeah of course of course this is a manta ray manta means cloak in spanish yeah it has dots on it not only are they the largest ray species they also have the largest brain and brain to body ratio in the ocean have you tried this before no i've never should today be the day i'm willing for it yes it's well known one of the worst foods i've ever had in my life was stingray liver [Music] what happened to the stingray liver lassa means chef rogelio hernandez he was the first to start a restaurant within the seafood market 27 years ago the organs are taken off because the meat can be like failing in one or two days but do you just throw it away see i have mixed feelings folks in vietnam would think that's a complete waste i however would never eat the stingray liver again in my life have you ever tried or eaten the stingray liver no inteligente as you can see he knows a thing or two about rays so we're headed to his kitchen to give it a little bit of a try [Music] sir put her there i'm so curious about this whole market because it's said to be one of the biggest markets in the world how far back does this market go this market has 27 years oh wait so you've been here from the beginning yeah exactly was the first restaurant here he started as a fisherman and then he bring here and put your restaurant and now he's his business i've heard you have a complicated past we should get into it [Applause] every country has its national pastime luchador canada has ice hockey so when is your next match the usa has football no you he's retired seven years ago mexico has lucha libre or mexican wrestling maybe you could come back just for one more round like mike tyson he's gonna fight logan paul like other forms of professional wrestling do you have the mask it's a combination of sport and entertainment oh it's so colorful before chef rogelio opened his restaurant this guy is incredible yeah it is amazing he had a 15 year career in the ring the best of both girls right oh i'm having so much fun right now and he's got some pictures hold on that's a pretty provocative pose is that you yeah if i sent that to somebody if i get canceled he's so sexy i would love to talk about what we're gonna eat today starting with the stingrays what do people like about this stingray people think that it's so exotic but once they try it they can't stop to eat it that's gonna be us soon yeah today we'll be treated to two extreme seafood dishes starting with stingray al pastor start by splitting the stingray down the middle then carefully remove the meat from the bones creating a giant ray fillet cut down and trim it into more manageable pieces and remove the skin the clean fillets get boiled with bay leaves for 10 minutes now prepare the flat top with a drizzle of olive oil and a bed of sliced onions and garlic add lard herb butter black pepper cumin herbs and diced pineapple finally smother the whole thing with their special salsa made of tomatoes chilies garlic onions pineapple cumin olive oil and pepper combine everything together give it a final taste and serve [Music] earlier today when you saw the entire stingray did it look a little bit scary yeah it was terrifying but now yeah it looks delicious not scary at all right it smells delicious kind of like it's been barbecued it's kind of sour and sweet smelling at the same time do you want to try some meat first first let's go for it that is so good it's awesome i can't recognize between this and any other fish it's got sweet pineapple onions the meat is tender and delicious there's like no fishiness to it what about if you try it with a tortilla okay i've got tortillas thank you all right let's fill this up oh this is the best part it's like i'm stacking chicken on here i bet nobody would guess this is stingray the way he's cooked this it's so brilliant [Music] that's so desirable i have no words more than it's amazing excellent yeah yeah excellente for our second course an unlikely barracuda experience i've never had it before what does it taste like [Music] oh it's a exclusive dish for us no one have ever done it in mexico in another country either what do you think would be a more badass wrestling name like for myself if i became a luchador the stingray or the barracuda barracuda all right well i must eat a barracuda to become more like a buttercup i don't know if it works that way for sure but i'm gonna do it chef rehelia starts by scaling and gutting the barracuda he cleans it with water and scores the meat for maximal flavor penetration now the seasoning open the ridges and add lemon pepper and herbs all this will be cooked on a bed of onions and tomatoes but that's not even close to all the preparation [Music] he adds sweet potato slices then stuffs the inside with carrots then bell pepper choco a type of gourd zucchini broccoli and mushrooms and we're still not done yet cover all that with mexican pepper leaf worcestershire sauce and oil then a spread of garlic herb butter and finally shredded manchego cheese then wrap the whole thing in tin foil like some kind of futuristic fish mummy grill for 15 to 20 minutes bring the barracuda wow okay we might need a take-home bag brace yourself oh my gosh look at that it's quite large all right he's cutting it open soon he will repeal the fish oh yeah this guy knows how to put on a shelf oh look at that there's so much on here chef i mean come on you have outdone yourself i'm overwhelmed this is incredible i think we can stick our fork right into it and just start taking bites let's start with this this is but a plain mushroom but this mushroom should have all the flavors and essence of everything in here you were not wrong that's a good mushroom yeah all those flavors are really concentrated here i'm gonna pick up some of the broth here [Music] wow it's amazing there's the fats from the fish mixed in with the chilies and the vegetables making just this really deep vegetable kind of meaty broth it's so good this is what i would call the neck of the fish and it has cheese on it this is a first from a fish skin with cheese on top let's try it out it's something magical i've never experienced this before me either i think i ate a whole bay leaf do you know this yeah but i don't remember how to call it but definitely you won't i just ate that whole thing can i say very fresh and very fragrant that's an interesting combination the cheese what do you think you like it or you know yeah i do like it but i think that it can be also good without the cheese yeah it doesn't need the cheese we've been avoiding it long enough i think we need to build up to this right here this is the meat oh wow look at that i mean it is super white and it looks like very little fat let's try it out [Music] sticky steamed white fish but put this sauce back on i think this is the magic trick right yeah cheers oh wow my gosh it's all about this beautiful combination of flavors he's created here the trick here is just mix all these flavors together don't eat everything separately get the veggies the sauce the soupy stuff and mix it all up except for maybe the bay leaves don't eat that plate before we end our seafood adventure i'm told this market also has one creature that's been sparked sparking controversy for the past decade we're in a shipping container that was basically all frozen and inside it's full of sharks these are thresher sharks right yes they are sharks are very controversial these days because a lot of people think just because it's a shark it's endangered and some shark numbers are going down but some shark species can still be hunted every time i eat shark i have to explain like um no not all sharks are endangered and i'm not a bad person because i ate a shark you are not thank you so much we won't be eating these guys but not far from here there's a restaurant that serves up shark in a way you've never seen before hola hola can i shake your hand this is chef irma hernandez the owner of boca del rio this is a traditional mexican restaurant that focuses on pre-hispanic cuisine that means ancient recipes and cooking techniques that were passed on by this land's original native people today i want to talk about one of the main meats we're going to be eating i'm talking about shark what is it that people like about shark beats people just eat the meat but she says that you can eat everything it's also used for medicine good for your skin i need it because look at me can you guess how old i am the first course starts with the gray reef shark one of the most common reef shark species in the indo-pacific remove the head split it in half and separate the bones from the skin slicing it into perfect fillets those get seasoned with salt and pepper dip it in the ricotta roja salsa and let it hit the grill now the banana leaves lightly grilled to make them more malleable allowing for easier wrapping stack those with mega leaves and our grilled shark fillet now the real build begins smother the filet with more salsa add octopus shrimp purple onions tomatoes habaneros avocado leaves mexican pepper leaves then another shark fillet a final smothering of salsa and it's packaged up set it in a clay dish joined by a consummate broth wrap the whole thing in an ancient traditional tin foil and place it over the fire until your ancestors tell you to take it off oh here it is the moment we've been waiting for all right so she takes the knife he's cutting kind of a cross shape into it oh wow look at this it's like a seafood lasagna and it almost has like this really fragrant tomatoey smell to it does your salsa have tomato yeah a bit of a food expert thank you this is incredible like it's preparation mishote yeah to me it looks like a seafood lasagna it's layers of seafood i got a big piece here this is just straight up shark meat let's try it out it's a very soft very tender meat it's so juicy it does feel different from other mexican foods i've had it's a lot of mexican foods that really pop and this is a much more milder flavor so mild i can just feel like the acid from the tomato there's some salt there's pepper but there's nothing super intense flavor-wise i think you're supposed to kind of just appreciate the flavors of the meat itself if you move it around there's little shrimpies there's octopus i love it this way and everything has a little bit different texture but just similar fun flavors visually it's stunning there's so much effort and work that goes into it for this beautiful preparation and then when you get it at your table they kind of unwrap it like this gift so so much of the food we're trying here is about this awesome experience that you'll have at the restaurant that you could never have at home because i bet you don't have one of these dishes do you well yeah oh you know i do in fact can you lie and say you don't have okay i'm sorry yeah like you don't have one of these do you no of course no absolutely not [Laughter] our final meal shark stone soup the most important element here not the shark the stones placed over red hot coals to heat them up here they prep the bowl first and cook it later let me show you start with plantain leaves and chili paste then shark fillets are cut into thin slices add shrimpies purple onions tomatoes sliced jalapenos bay leaves and a sprinkle of episode or mexican tea leaves add dried cilantro and rock sea salt all this is just the preparation but the real cooking is about to start right in front of us at the table dude he's carrying a lot of stuff these are hot stones i feel like i'm by a campfire these stones are so hot he's gonna pour some water into each of our bowls okay take it away protect your eyes caroline i don't know what's gonna happen i'm afraid there's putting a stone in it's a hot stone i can hear it simmering this is so cool it's like they brought a completely uncooked soup to the table and now they're putting rocks inside to heat it up it's boiling oh it's really sputtering it's like a volcano i'm enveloped in steam so you've never seen this before right no i've never it's like a holy experience for me i love it this looks awesome yes i think we should start by trying the broth i'm going to spoon just that yeah well very fresh it tastes almost tomatoey yeah and a little bit of fish oh yeah like a little bit of seafood flavor and a little bit of heat but not too much very nice broth shall we start with the shrimps okay so you take off the heads it's way hot it's a little hot it's a little hot i got a nice piece of shrimp here and all it took was third degree burns cheers [Music] that's really nice i'm gonna save the rock for last because like is yours still hard yeah it is yes we can't eat that yet let's try some sharks right here a big beautiful piece of shark fillet that just cooked right before our eyes try it out wow interesting so it doesn't have a very powerful flavor or anything like that it's extremely soft in fact so it's super soft and kind of watery but otherwise it's just kind of a white meat there's nothing especially sharky about it if you don't tell me that it's shark i wouldn't know it i expected something like worse but no in fact it's pretty great so this is awesome super creative i love that it's a meal but it's also an experience right yeah i love the way it's cooked in front of our eyes absolutely it's tasty but even more than that it's instagramable yeah and that's what matters the most right yeah of course [Music] around the world if you look in the right places you can find rare meat most my fellow americans would consider exotic yeah buddy in iran i notched on camel steak wow that tastes amazing in japan and izakaya paired my sake with raw horse sashimi horse in nigeria grass cutter is a delicacy for those who can afford it do you see the head looking at you well right now i'm in mexico and nothing could have prepared me for what i'm about to see next [Music] today i'm on a mission to uncover mexico's exotic meat obsession he's telling me that there can smell the beer and this time i may have gone too far we're a place where we can fight exotic meat wild boar ostrich i could see lion as well did you say lion that's correct it all starts here my men here we are again returning to the show palute content creator food vlogger today he'll be showing me a little bit of what mexico has to offer we're inside the market right now what's the name of this market san juan ernesto the market of san juan ernesto can i just call him san juan yeah just someone it's okay i don't care san juan market is one of the oldest markets in mexico city i don't care it's nearly impossible to characterize basically anything you can't find everywhere else ends up here i don't care what is the theme of this market i would say is exotic food okay walking around i've seen big and also very long bulb penises i've seen ostrich eggs little baby piglet i've seen also baby sheep and then here bugs yeah they're everywhere on the market the edge of the sky always the first to appear in any exotic food list if you can get past the ew factor you'll be entering a world of protein-rich superfoods most don't make it that far this is more insects than i've ever seen anywhere before i mean you'll see a lot of insects in asia but it'll be like the same five here i don't know i can't even count how many there are and are a lot of these from mexico some specific ones they're from other countries but from here i can tell at least three or four mexicans i like you just call it mexican yeah yeah then mexican i'm gonna start doing that i'm gonna call american bugs americans in ancient mexico insects were an inseparable part of the diet these are the chapulines which is grasshoppers okay maggie worm and also chicatana ants these days it's not essential but it's still not uncommon to find bugs working their way into some of the local cuisine like these ant egg tacos which are quite delicious for the brave you can also eat them plain like with most of the food here slap on some lime some chili powder and it's ready to go this is like a wood worm oh no just the bug so this is some kind of a larvae and something that is going to blow your mind is that this stuff is chili mixed with a bug that is made powder we're seasoning bugs with other bubbles exactly here we go one cheers hmm the citrus makes it real fresh huh the lime and the chili powder makes it better yeah yeah it tastes good you're very optimistic and positive it's a little earthy but super dry it tastes like dry meat kind of oh yeah a little bit like a jerky like if you had an uncle who had no idea how to make turkey but he's trying his best if i was in asia that would give me some kind of superpower yeah i mean you can hear it but it is basically it's just a snack usually you can just grab it on the way home on the way home you're just making all these weird scenarios you're on your way to a job interview so this is bugs what i've been told is if you want some kind of mystery exotic meat set you're definitely not going to find in the usa this is the market to come to is that right exactly 100 years ago this market was much like any other the more exotic foods crept in from the 1970s luring in curious eaters and adventurous chefs who wanted to taste the prehispanic diet as well as rare meats like rabbit quail venison ostrich and buffalo we're a place where we can fight exotic meat exotic like that like this exactly as the market expanded so did the list of available proteins from all around the world like this llama meat being served up by fernando in his kitchen i don't think i've ever had llama they look cute yeah they look like alpacas which are also exactly yeah but do they taste cute also known as the new world camel llamas were domesticated in the early 1500s their coats are used to make cloth and their meat well here it's marinated with chimichurri sauce made of parsley cilantro oregano garlic and olive oil then seared atop a hot plate this has just been cooked up here right now it's so hot i tried alpaca when i was in peru and it tastes weird for me it tastes like grass but i don't know it's the same for llama let's try it out [Music] i'm eating a llama it tastes like a steak like a normal steak it tastes good it tastes like beef that is not beefy it's the opposite of alpaca because alpaca for me it's stringy like very grassy yeah super clean there's no intense spices on here it's just kind of some salt and some oil i'm pretty impressed this is like my new post workout meal screw chicken breasts i'm gonna start doing llama that's wild so what other kind of meats do they have here okay oh my gosh i'm looking in the freezer what is that oh he's gonna take his refrigerator yeah he's gonna take it oh my god oh my god this is crazy there's a head in his refrigerator damn look at the team is this an alligator or crocodile crocodile they used to have the whole crocodile but they cook it and they let the head how much would you charge for this hut it's 2500 pesos this is quite the souvenir i don't know if u.s customs is going to let me back in with this in my suitcase but that is wild so i know for sure they have llama and crocodile what else bernado wild boar ostrich i could see lion as well did you say lion lion meat you want to see it yeah okay the lion king of the jungle the ultimate apex predator iconic powerful and if you pay the right price it's yours what is us here in the form of a steak so there's an opportunity to eat something this rare someone somewhere is going to try it oh it's a leg this is the leg of a lion right here this is just pure muscle is this your most expensive meme yeah the lion is the most expensive one 7 500 or 8 kilos what's it taste like i don't know i haven't never eats lion meat he told me that it's a super intense flavor and it has a lot of toxins on the meat so it's recommended to not to eat more than one kilo per person once a week up to two pounds per week that's a lot but what about regulations around exotic meat how is this possibly legal lion is legal to eat here see he told me that it comes from a farm so it's totally legal sales of lion meat are legal if they're sourced from a licensed farm whereas unlicensed slaughtering can result in a felony how do i know this is really lying supposedly each stake carries with it a meticulous paper trail authenticating the legality and legitimacy of the meaning basically he told me that he has to trust on the farm a trust yeah but when it comes to the question of who owns these lion farms and where they can be found well this information is not readily available people watching this video right now some of them are interested some of them are freaking out i don't even know how i feel for sure is this something you would try well it's kind of difficult because i don't know you don't have to try it because you're on my show i would like to watch it and then maybe think about it but like right now maybe not i think for now we pass it's very interesting yeah but wow lion it turns out there's another option fernando actually sources much of his product from a private ranch just outside mexico city and he's agreed to bring us there [Music] two-hour drive southeast of mexico city will bring you here a 247-acre ranch called el moral here they specialize in sheep deer and a formidable beast i've come here to see in the flesh [Music] swift feet sharp teeth and a bulky body a wall of muscle and bone this is a wild boar [Music] and they're really easy to piss off hello we are in the pen with that i'm kind of nervous actually he's telling me that their cats smell the beer wild boars generally resemble domestic pigs no but with a longer snout and legs oh my god you had the whole control of the animal thank you they can reach up to 500 pounds have you ever seen one of these wild boars attack or bite a human gee i was hoping you would just say no they're actually super friendly once you get to know them and not really he's like it could be a real issue the wild boar is native to much of eurasia and north africa but they were introduced to north america in the 19th century as demand for wild boar has increased so has the number of people farming it in between 6 to 12 months a board like this is ready for slaughter [Music] is this more expensive than just usual pork or pig he told me that because of the diet the wild birds they eat a lot of oatmeal wheat and cereal it costs two or three times more than the normal thing [Music] why do people like wild boar so much does it taste a lot different from pork ah let's get the difference basically the whole difference between a pig and a wellbore is the fat the fat in here with the meat and with the muscle it tastes cleaner unlike most pigs here they skin the hairy beast trim the fat and let it hang for 24 hours from here it typically gets sectioned up and sent to the market but not today today i'll experience wild boar roasted whole cooked up the pepe is a self-taught chef and he's been refining his board recipe for the last five years first he seasons the bourbon salt and marinates it with a sauce of oregano salt and herbs i smell the oregano already yeah it smells good now the preparation method is something that i believe is going to be new for me i see there's a pit over here there's some kind of rotisserie but he still has to set it up so he's grabbing this torture device it's got these crossbars where the arms will be attached he takes some wire pokes it all the way through the meat and he loops it around the steel here i've never seen something like this hey i'm curious i've seen a lot of pigs bores creatures that look like this being roasted before i've never seen one with all the hair still on its head why is it still like this he told me that it looks cooler and to make sure that we are eating more and not a pig it's absolutely different from roasting a pig because as you know people here love skin no one skins a pig before roasting it yeah here they've actually have taken all of the skin off along with the fur what do they do with that skin basically he told me that the pore is pretty hard you can put it like on the wall you can also use it to make some brushes like a toothbrush yeah like a toothbrush would you use it as a toothbrush roasting a bore this is not a set it and forget it type situation it must be rotated every few minutes for two to three hours until the meat cooks all the way through [Music] pepe put her there you bet also put her there a pleasure to meet you both this is amazing to be here i've only been in mexico city a short time now and we're just getting out of the city and my gosh the drive here gorgeous beautiful thank you very much gracias pepe and his wife yvette are both from mexico city they met in vet school and decided to settle down and build a life in the countryside you almost love the country life compared to city life right you will defer to her awareness they started out small but every year they had a few more heads or new species altogether she prefers to stay here because of her career there are a lot of advantages to living out here fresh air good views grasshoppers i want to talk about what's in front of us right now i've had grasshoppers a lot in the past and usually they're just like fried and eaten whole here you've made it into kind of a soup this recipe where does this come from it is actually it was a plant there was a lot of grasshoppers so they came up with the idea to make this soup and also fry them and make it another thing that's brilliant like some kind of biblical prophecy and then they're like you know what we'll do we'll just eat them that's fascinating deep-fried grasshoppers boiled in hot water then put into a blender heads butts wings everything gets blended she strains the liquid and uses it as a broth seasoned with homemade salsa made from a blend of four different chilies sprinkle on some whole grasshoppers and enjoy so he puts onions and cilantro yeah you bet nothing nothing on it plain you can go with the lime just no man i want to get the full grasshopper experience right it tastes a lot of grasshoppers the grasshoppers are so like toasty a surprising depth of flavor to it the broth itself it's like a grasshopper milk this could be the next big thing japolines it's one of the most unique textures i've seen from something that just comes from an insect because if you didn't tell people that this was made from grasshopper they would probably think it's some kind of like a beef frog yeah like a meat juice that's really stunning we started yesterday with some exotic meats and i was trying to find out what kind of really interesting or rare meats are people eating here in mexico now you have the wild boar here [Music] now are there other exotic species that you've thought about having here at the ranch they're also thinking about water buffalo ostrich why exotic animals and why not just the mainstream animals that everyone else does [Music] they really love they're working i mean they love animals and they're in love with what they do every day so it's important to say that they're doing this because they want to preserve the species make sustainability and profit as well [Music] two hours later and the boar is nearly finished pepe scores the meat more to allow for more even cooking then the adobe a sauce made from guajillo chilies blended with garlic cumin salt and onions let the fire do its job then if you're at the right place at the right time you'll be the first to taste the dripping fatty wild boar rim hey he's ready yeah he cannot wait please go ahead look at that that looks nice it's so juicy oh yeah yeah oh he's trying it already let's go for it man whoa this is one of the strangest textures for rib i've ever had it's fat but it's not traditional fat it's like bubbly fat the taste of the fat it's amazing it is not that heavy wow the flavors are very nice super clean with this delicious red sauce on top just really gentle flavors exactly pepe what's your favorite part of the board no ribs right here yeah all right so this is it this fat on here is so different it has this weird texture as you rip through it like you're eating a bunch of sea grapes that pop in your mouth like eating fish roe almost but not slimy like that it's got like a weird sponge too can't understand but yeah do you say can't understand but yeah i kind of you understand from here you're just gonna cut up the whole thing and throw it on a platter and let's sit down and eat [Music] gentlemen this looks incredible incredible i love it when the words like are so close in spanish in english let's do a quick tour of the table right now we have the tortillas guacamole salad and onion and the whole leg here yeah i'm curious how to eat this i think you could just eat the meat alone for me it's better with tortilla we got oh i haven't tried this yet i have pretty strong alcohol mezcal it's like tequila's uncle with the dark past he doesn't like to talk about it it's also made from agave i used to have asthma when i was 12 and i think that would have cured it yeah i'm feeling ready to eat oh he has a surprise for us or another battle i think i thought the wild boar was enough but maybe fernando felt left out while we were setting up for dinner he grilled up his own culinary contribution utilizing his very specific exotic meat expertise fernando he's on the hunt for something what's that oh it's another kind of meat it's he says that we need to guess is grande [Music] oh no so this is lion it's lion i don't know if i'm ready for this you want to smell it yeah can i take a look at it it's hard to say if it looks like lion or it just looks like protein it looks like steak it looks kind of beefy and dark and kind of sinewy philosophically i don't know if i really have any issue trying lion oh i don't know yeah this is a tough one well it's certainly unusual um but it's not endangered he's not in it it's legal yeah and it's here on the table it's on the table i don't want to be rude he's prepared it uh i guess yes okay let's do it what can you imagine of the flavor of this meat i bet it's probably very lean and from the feel of my fork right now i'm going to say a little bit chewy okay he's already chomping on it uro dost [Music] so chewy very chewy very chewy well there's some fat in there yeah and the tart bits he grilled this and the charred [ __ ] tastes real nice now it's not dry but it is chewy yeah is this eaten because it tastes amazing or because it's a lion the first time it's just with curiosity they're like right into the meat but after that if they like it they go buying this meat like concept they're asked for a hamburger just for the sake i can say the flavor is good you put just a little bit of salt on it it just tastes a little bit beefy and oily although not overly fatty because usually more fat will meet a little bit more tenderness it's on the verge of being uneatable because it's so tough so it's really unique in that way what do you think it was his first time trying the lion he loved to start to chewing and chewing and chewing your first time maybe you'll put a lions on your ranch next quite a unique experience i don't want the lion to overshadow this this is what we really came here for i love that we have like a whole leg here we can just carve it ourselves all right we got some mean i'm gonna put a load of onions and some guacamole my first wild boar taco so many firsts on this trip cheers it's amazing it's so delicious it's interesting you know doing this kind of video or having this kind of experience that people are going to see it's impossible to do this without somebody having strong opinions about it yeah and it's just people you know in our day-to-day lives we've become really conditioned like these certain types of things are normal it's what i'm used to so that's what's okay yeah and food is like a religion to almost everybody around the world whether they know it or not like what they're familiar with is what is canon to them yeah that is what is okay yeah anything outside of that should be questioned so there's no way to make a video like this and satisfy everybody someone's gonna be upset about it for me my goal is just to show i guess the diversity that exists in the world and that there's no set normal and it's also a good opportunity for people to take a look at their own beliefs because people always blame the vegans but it's not the vegans the people that complain the most about videos with animal meat included it's the people who eat meat but won't accept other types of meat being eaten so maybe they eat beef and they're like well that's okay yeah but this one's not okay and so i think it's good for people to have a moment to like look at their own beliefs and question them a little bit because that's something i've done over and over while doing this show so guys just want to say one more time gentlemen amigos thank you very much for this experience incredible and something i'll remember for a very long time cheers guys cheers thank you mexico city it's one of the largest cities in the world that means a lot of mouths to feed but today i'll be meeting a few people who are up to this challenge do you know how many tamales you're making in a day three thousand tamales it's just in eight hours wow they have double shifts well you have to make the counts oh today i'm on a mission to discover some of mexico's mega food factories i've never seen any tamales that look like this what is going on here facilities manufacturers and street side cookeries kicking out massive amounts of food from local staples i'm gonna show you how you can know if you are eating a real tortilla to the most soft succulent meat you've ever laid eyes on is that a nose rumba drama a freaking nose and it all starts right here you know how many they have here they have 16 different kinds of tamales 16 different tasters there's so many our first location is right here tamale this company has its own factory that produces over a dozen varieties of tamale but we'll get more into that later it's like fast food for mexico okay you go to the office and you haven't had breakfast today and it's like oh in every street you can't find them so it's easy and it's really cheap eating with me today from mexico city carolina this one is kind of the classic what would you call this i've become very familiar with faraday so far in this trip first stop chicken tamale with green salsa you have to unwrap it oh with your hands you don't need the fork okay it's bitter sure a corn husk is wrapped around corn dough which is wrapped around the fillings no you do need the fork it's too juicy in this case salsa and chicken but the fillings can be anything you can imagine what do you think the flavors are pretty mild nothing too intense it has like a fluffy corn taste to it and it's a little dry that's the point it's supposed to be dry yeah sure you love dry things yeah i love dry things we don't have that in common this is the classic it's got chicken a little bit of protein tons of corn a little salsa verde to spice it up here's my understanding though with tamales i thought you always put stuff inside not all the time the majority of the times [Applause] oscar i would shake your hand but that would not be hygienic it said i'll give you a japanese vowel it's a very deep bow that means great respect hola and also hola meet the creator of 16 different tamale varieties chef oscar right now a fresh batch of tamales is being produced by his team you know how many tamales you're making in a day three thousand tamales just in eight hours what do they have double chests well you have to make the counts oh no okay i can do this five million i've seen tamales before but i've never seen any tamales that look like this what is going on here it's a sugar tamale so this is going to be sweet yeah the process starts with the dough in a mixer he adds butter brown sugar baking powder food coloring and lard a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig then corn flour and water and then why is it pink it's just the representative color of here mexico does it taste a little pink no now that they have all their ingredients it's time to assemble the dough and raisins are set on a corn husk bed unlike the other tamales this one doesn't have fillings inside after this they are going to steam it and then we get to finally try it now it's not morning time how do you feel about having the tamale for dinner um i don't really like it and i think that every mexican knows that it's just for breakfast okay let's skip it completely that's the end of the video guys thank you so much for watching that was up to caroline we are out of the factory out of those clothes and we're stylish again right here sweet breakfast tamale it is like the frosted corn flakes of tamales my favorite what do you think [Music] oh my gosh you could use a little butter i think that you need coffee with it yes you're supposed to have a special drink with it right yeah okay hold on i'll be right back hola dos atoles uh por favor yeah if they have chocolate chocolate how do you say chocolate chocolate pate pate choco latte i learned that second grade here you go thank you this is called milk bar tikka does it come from a cow yeah there's chocolate in there yeah it is so i'm gonna get another bite here try it what do you think now bingo nailed it oh my gosh you know it's like we had bonnie without clyde aladdin without jasmine atom without jerry yeah tom without yeary jerry oh jerry i'm just teasing you coming up we're headed to a street food stall that's prepping mind-blowing massive amounts of meat in these giant cauldrons but first that meat needs a place to go the tortilla good morning hi how are you good morning good morning santiago and daniela co-founded this factory five years ago producing and distributing a thousand pounds of corn dough or masa every day half of which is made into tortillas what do you think that it's a special thing about this place i mean your plate we make the next amal this process is an ancient process that has with us almost 5 000 a year and we are losing it let's jump into the process from beginning to end can you tell me every step i know it starts with water and then what just start okay yeah so we only need three ingredients water limestone and corn limestone we call it calvibas it's the most pure form of limestone so i have a lot of questions about the limestone when the water mixes with limestone it creates a chemical reaction softening the stone and heating the water what is the purpose of mixing that with the corn what does that do this process is called nixtamalization it's modifying the protein chains in the corn make it digestible for us the second one is have you ever grabbed a taco and it has broken up yeah yeah yeah i hate that that happens when you don't have an examinalized tortilla that's why they use two tortillas oh is that wine one of the reasons yeah i'm sure after boiling the corn will be put to rest for 12 hours and then the next morning we come and we put in the grinder and then we have the masa [Music] the nyx demolized corn is ground inside a giant grinding machine what's the favorite one the favorite one is the blue one the result is this bluish green color where i come from we use about one type of corn here though corn is such a huge part of the diet in mexico therefore there's so many different types of corn being used just in mexico we have 60 different types of corn 60 60. how does that change the tortilla is it changing the flavor is it texture blues and reds have more antioxidants than the yellow one the yellow one since the color is paler so it can absorb more sun and it tends to create more sugar naturally after grinding they move the dough to a multi-purpose tortilla making monster it kneads the dough as it's fed into the machine then it stamps out tortillas and sends them to the oven we don't only make tortillas we can also make gorditas tamales everyone in mexico knows to cook a tortilla requires not two but three flips it would go from the first rack to the second to the third and it will make the three cooking stages that thirty years and it pops it pops it means well done well done it's even said that if your tortilla puffs you can get married now after baking it pops out ready to pop in to the nearest mouth this is what i'm most excited for these are super fresh they just popped out of the machine and they are blue and they're blue look how gorgeous these are please thank you here's a little bit of salt okay yeah this is a salt top is this like what you would eat in college no we have this okay then a little bit salsa cheers mmm that's all good yeah i know this is good right well i know this is like the foundation but it's a delicious foundation obviously on here you're stacking meat you're sucking even more flavors but it's surprisingly soft it's so soft and i've always loved flour tortillas hold on let me chew a little bit more oh a lot of the corn tortillas i've had have just been more like crumbly falling apart and sometimes dry in your mouth too much limestone too much yeah this is fantastic can i have one more yeah go ahead it took three years to understand it yes completely it's astounding listening to you too i feel like i'm in a master class for tortillas you know how when i go out into the world now how do i know if i'm getting the best tortilla add lime if the color change to purple you are eating a real tortilla if it doesn't change i get my money back no maybe not [Applause] [Music] you start changing yeah yeah that is wild youtube thank you so much for all your knowledge and for sharing your passion with us i've learned a lot but now i must travel on my own i must go out there to mexico city and find my own taco but now i have the knowledge so thank you so much thank you for coming thank you [Music] welcome to the wild world of carnitas this is my man ruben the owner he's in charge here here at carubes carnitas i've come to see how they make carnitas from the beginning right here pig just in this one container it's about 250 kilograms it's over 500 pounds and he's doing over a thousand pounds each day this is one of the most iconic foods in all of mexico and it all starts by simmering a combination of pig parts for hours until the meat breaks down and becomes soft and tender so which pig parts do they use well oh is that a nose all of them drama a freaking nose out of the ear right here basically every part of the pig is in here i know what you're thinking wow they're boiling all these pig parts in all this dark water no this is large animal fat that it's kind of bubbling in for hours until it gets super super soft animal lard is ubiquitous in this city's cuisine from the tamales we tried earlier to carnitas and even chicharron now different people order different parts some people might want ear some people might want legs some people want more fatty meat some people want more dry meat either way you can order it they're going to take it from here to the assembly area that's where it gets chopped into little meat carnitas literally means little meats because after the braising process it'll be chopped into tiny pieces before making its way to a tortilla oh what is this intestines he's mixing all that in chop chop chop that's going to hit the flat top boom sizzle he's got the tortilla shells right here they're on the flat top too he flips in some meat have some salsa on it and that's going to be an awesome lunch but there's one restaurant who serves this food a little differently they skip the tortilla all together in favor of a gordita let me show you what i mean hey nice to meet you nice to meet you how many years do you have here with the business 1960 or from 1960 until now it has to be before your dad right maybe your grandpa oh his dad just was a worker here and then he owns the business oh that's cool looking at the menu behind you is loaded with food so are you serving just carnitas or a lot of other stuff too there's other kind of food but the specialty here in the house is gorditas the gordita take corn dough and smash it into a disk then fry it in oil and when it's cooked through cut it in half and stuff it with deliciousness in this case carnitas also made in a giant stainless steel vessel first of all how big is that pot that you cook in each morning at 5 00 pm 400 liters 400 liters like could you fit your whole body in there for four bodies like each day each day you think he's cooking bodies every day like human bodies so that's really big guys i don't know if you have other better measurements let me know like how many watermelons could you put in there you can fill it with 500 melons 500 melons wow and how many people do you receive here daily no no hold on sorry how many pineapples no no you're right today we're going to try three different carnita fillings with the gordita after frying the gordita is stuffed with carnita fillings of your choosing the meat is then topped with onions herbs salsa and some lime on the side we have all of our gorditas here how do you say like carnitas gorditas gorditas carnitas what is day that it's what i thought khan is wait you can also say that it's like off our final meal the combo platter carnitas from the pig snout the ribs and some back meat that's caroline's favorite cut so i think we should start with the one you like and then work our way up maybe to the nose okay one lime oh i dropped a seed in there well that bread on the outside is so good it's just so crunchy that's amazing right it is amazing the taste is very good and i especially love the breading the meat the meat's a little bit dry like to prepare to be dry have your parents disowned you yeah yeah i just never heard someone say oh i like the dry meat i'm gonna put some sauce on there it's a little spicy but it's delicious great right let's try the rib one man everywhere in mexico people love lime i've never seen so many limes and avocados in my life it's awesome it's our thing so are you ready yes let's go for it wow that pork is delicious for me that's a perfect balance little fan low protein very tender mild flavors that's really good yes it is this is good but man that is heavy is this everyday food every day every day yeah how many calories do you think it's for one of these i don't really want to count i don't want to either i'm going to be worried after all if you were iffy on the ribs this is really going to kill you this is the snout oh know look at this piece right here i'm going to do it for you this is basically just fat now all the face meat is just really fatty [Music] it's almost like gummy very gelatinous that's the thing i hate about it you know what most americans don't like that texture the taste is almost the same the texture is the thing that i hate that's a really good point you need to find that perfect ratio for you between protein and fat i agree this is a little much it's fun to try but it's super fatty super heavy and just kind of gooey the question what's your favorite one wow of the three my favorite absolutely the rib you just have to find that perfect balance between being juicy fatty but still having protein but the presentation is my most favorite part i've been here like five days i've had one thousand tacos no a million and so tacos are great but you need variety right yeah so the texture of the gordita the way it's packaged up the way it's like nice and easy to eat the crunch for me my favorite part is seeing the huge volume here there's so much food he's saying he could put four human bodies in there and 500 millions don't forget it yeah 500 melons each country's cuisine is largely shaped by what grows naturally in that given geography these are so fun mexico is amazing i guess [Music] in mexico that means chili's this salsa is giving life to everything corn that's a lot of flavor i just had a quinceanera in my mouth and one ingredient i've never seen in the usa this is something i've never seen before this is a cactus that means cactus [Music] today i'm on a mission to eat only cactus and cactus dishes for the next 24 hours to me i think the spikes could be good for fiber just move things along in the gut i didn't even know you could eat cactus oh it's gooey and now my breakfast i can eat this raw lunch is this a taco desserts is so moist drinks it is cactus water with pineapple oh good i'm glad there's pineapple in there all of it will be made using one of mexico's most unique iconic native plant species and it all starts here [Music] how far away from mexico city are we right now we're about one hour and a half away from the center this is still mexico city though hold on out here this is mexico city mexico city is a big city we're in the south this is milpal milpa ulta lies in the southeast corner of mexico city 90 of this area is agricultural land but one stands above them all the prickly pear cactus or in spanish no bud this place produces 80 of the cactus in mexico 80 i thought cactus just kind of grew wild i didn't know people were farming agriculturally do you have any idea how long it takes a cactus to get this big i don't know but we're about to find out i guess again nice to meet you meet anastasia she's a promoter teacher market vendor chef a little bit of everything but today she greets us as one who grows this superfood in her fields her farm is over three acres and most of that is covered with nopales why nepalese it was beans corn squash but in the 60s the boom of the nopal came here this vegetable was domesticated almost 10 000 years ago by the ancestors of the aztecs every part of the plant has found its way into mexican life but most significant is how it's eaten when they discovered the benefits of nepal more people and more people were starting to eat nepal and the business for them was going great so everybody changed from what they were growing today nopales can be found in many cuisines around the world in 2018 it was given the title of hottest food trend by people who like to give titles to stuff it is super rich in calcium it is really rich in fiber so it helps people digest things better and it helps diabetic people reduce their sugar levels the goo from the inside of the nopal can also be used as sunscreen do you have anything good with you i think i need that right now what makes it even better is that farming this plant requires almost no effort just bury the pads and soil from there the job is easy they don't need to water the nopales at the rain will do the work so there's just issues with different types of bugs that try to eat it right yeah that's the main enemy but she said that a well kept mobile won't have that problem after one year these nepalese are ready for harvesting before people used to have bigger neopales but it's recommended to just have three levels of nopal because it is faster for the nutrients to get to the plants and her height helps a lot to be this size if not she would have to go up to cut it right a nopal tree can generate up to 100 pads and a well-kept nopal can last up to seven years each spot that you see is like a scar of the nopal it will never grow back again in this spot but where you can see little spikes and little flowers that will be an awesome day in the low season anastasia sells 880 pounds of nopales per week and that number can double during special holidays in the market there is three types of nopales and it's based on size this one is called cambray and this one is fenty benti grande today mexican folks eat about 14 pounds of these spiky snack pads per year can i eat this raw it's in love she's gonna take the spikes up for you i can eat this raw yeah no every country i go to if there's a weird food i'm not here to see it right now usually they're horrified and they think there's something wrong with me but today she goes uh yeah absolutely [Music] boom so we got it right here wow it smells like fresh cut green grass [Music] fresco yeah it's really fresh wow the texture is so awesome the tiny bit sour and a little bit tart but pretty mild flavor overall it's a little slimy there's a little bit of goo is this how people really eat it sometimes some people eat it and even smaller ones have you had raw before today's the day i guess yeah you can get a little slimy a little even yeah it's actually good after farmer anastasia shows us her cactus field chef anastasia will be making us some cactus dishes hola we're now in your kitchen i noticed you have a big commercial kitchen it's separate from the kitchen inside can you tell us about your work here i said puerto ranios three years ago she won an award with a cake made out of nopal and since that moment she noticed that people really loved her product so she started building this kitchen so she could innovate in new products of nepal oh and then we also have this dish right here our first dish of the day starts with no pulp pads sliced up and fava beans roasted on the stove she prepares a clay pot adding in fava beans water nopales salt and epizote stems a pasta is a plant like a nerve mexican [Music] it's a little turpentine it's got some interesting like very bold flavor to it as the pot boils she scoops out the impurities that float to the top the best way to eat this is with a tortilla this special tortilla is made also with nopal what flattened dough made from cornflour fresh nopal and cilantro this is the first green tortilla i've seen i've seen blue and white then cook it up on the flat top these are cactus tortillas she puts in like a whole piece of the cactus some red salsa and then she completely disregards the beans and the beans are feeling a little left out right now you should accompany the taco with some beans people like to eat it with the outer shell and people like to take out the outer shell whatever you feel like okay should we both take a bite at the same time ah another one please cheers [Music] it was really good tortilla is delicious it's not so dry and crumbly it's got a great texture to it and then the cactus is so interesting it's squeaky as you're eating it your teeth are squeaking against it i mean it's kind of boiled so it's a little bit soft a little bit firm and it's a lot slimy toilet venusable oh oh they're really good and then this also just brings a little bit of cake a little bit of flavor to it and it's super healthy as well it's essentially vegetarian food but it's surprisingly like meaty like when people put mushrooms in a burger because they don't eat animals or whatever they do because the mushroom still has a kind of a meaty bite to it and that's what that's like well done so much food around the world has to do with just what is available to people there then they take it and they find ways to work with it and that's what people have done here for thousands of years and that's what she's still doing today what do you think could be done to make this a more popular ingredient around the world it is the combination i believe the key for international success of nepal is combining it with other things a lot of people don't like nopal alone or just grill the combination of things and the whole variety of things that you can do in nepal is the key to make it a success and hopefully one day we'll all be eating no ball but also still meat because i like meat before we leave anastasia treats us to another dish she created nopal soap with beef and cheese plus a side of cactus juice it is cactus water with pineapple oh good i'm glad there's pineapple in there nopales pineapple water lime sugar here you have a fresh healthy slimy drink oh it's so thick cheers it is refreshing it's actually really good it has some glue to it like it's like drinking air it doesn't feel like you're drinking liquid it's almost like the head of beer where you just like drink the foamy part of the beer the whole thing feels like that a slimy foam but that's pretty good right here this is our main course this is awesome when i went to the market i had some kind of a street food that was like on a flat corn dough and then they put cheese sauce and different things on top that flat thing is called atla but here instead of having those carbs you can use the cactus she scores the cactus and throws it on the grill these cactus pads are joined by slices of beef let them cook evenly on each side then add cheese to each slice of beef wait for it to melt and assemble the dish [Music] finish with a hot touch of salsa cheers cheers [Music] we're gonna go oh excellent me amigo everything comes really together it's so smoky that's what i love about it but it's so gooey too dude that's the part that throws me off every time i pick it up i see strands of goo like a five-year-old that's just sneezed but it has a wonderful smoky flavor that has taken on from being grilled and then when you pair that with meat and with cheese it goes together so well how does it taste actually really like it once you grill them it does get that gooey texture but it becomes really soft and really delicious the beef is perfectly cooked the cheese beans creaminess to the dish and the salsa can never miss in a mexican dish oh i love the salsa this is remarkable today i set out to eat cactus for an entire 24 hours so far so good but what happens when this strange species is elevated to its highest potential we're gonna go high-end okay let's do it did you bring a collared shirt do i need one they might not let you in but i'll get some for takeout for you [Music] karahilo is known for its modern mexican fusion cuisine the menu here never fails to surprise its patrons with creative touches from chef juan chef put her there thank you hola mi amigo how long have you been working here you've been working for 32 years in the kitchen but cara only for one year and seven months chef juan is also a master chef producer for mexico colombia and chile today he'll attempt to huaweas with a three-course cactus meal but first ant egg tacos i thought it was a taco instead of being on a tortilla it's on the notepad is this a taco chef juan starts by sprinkling the no pulp pads with sea salt grill it with some oil and that's going to be the taco base slather each pad with black bean paste and mozzarella cheese then back to the grill with the toppings face down at the same time the flat top receives a rib eye steak caramelized onions [Music] time for the build the cactus base ribeye steak caramelized onions and eggs and finish with the slice of avocado [Music] whoa that's delicious i think this is one of the best palettes that i've ever had in my life yeah absolutely this is the ingredients of the ingredients is what makes it the best it starts with making it look really good but also it needs to taste really good as well my gosh yeah it looks great i mean the way it tastes hey good catch it's got that base the way he's prepared it it's not slimy at all the good does not come out and then the ant egg this is one of my favorite ingredients that i've found so far in mexico city this is also known as the mexican caviar if you've ever had caviar just those little eggs the way they pop these ant eggs like kind of pop they're juicy and they have a great buttery flavor to them they're awesome we're going to have a few more nopal dishes made from you and may i just say if i had a shot of mezcal i would cheer to the future of cactus salud to cactus mezcal cheers this is like two shots oh my god i'm gonna drink half [Music] you should accompany it with a little bit of hibiscus flowers oh i need to accompany him with a bullet to my head why do i like it it hurts so good all right i'm ready for course number one course one caprese salad with no pile usually a caprese salad would be soft mozzarella cheese tomato probably some olive oil and basil here it's very different this is a mexican version of the caprese salad we have red tomato green tomato fresh nopales quesillo which comes from oaxaca and a pesto made out of seeds of the pumpkin fresh nopal pads are pressed into circles tomato and tomatillo are sliced up from the time that you were a kid until now have you seen the popularity for nepalese increase or decrease season the nopales was salt and lime give the same treatment to the tomato and tomatillo slices he says that he's seen the demand for cactus grow because at the beginning people ate it because of need and it was associated with a lower class level right but right now with the healthy trend a lot of people are returning to nepal for a healthy option time for the build okay i'm gonna start with this cheese oh my god so fresh dude that cheese is so delicious queso it's like my new favorite cheese this is super clean super fresh extremely delicious if i move things around a little bit i can reveal what we really came here for the notepad it still has the bite of the fresno palette it's just such a natural flavor there's some little bit of herbs there's olive oil a tiny bit of salt and then just the really fresh plant itself you get a hint of chlorophyll yeah you can hit the chlorophyll the texture it's like kind of crispy crunchy it's still a little goo in the inside but it's really really good magnetical is that a real word yeah hey another little bit of a tip of mezcal [Music] and i'm ready for the second course the second course braised short rib with no pot brace the rib in a sauce made with dried chilies mezcal and cactus cover the ribs with nopales and continue spooning sauce on top that way the nopal can send some flavor into the short rib and the sauce makes it a little thicker is it kind of like the way they cooked potter pakoa with maggie exactly the same use that they give them a game barbacua they use it with nopal in the short rib a spoon of mashed potato a nopal slice then the short rip garnished with red onion pea leaf slices of radish and cilantro sprouts do you ever see food so delicious and you feel like i don't deserve this well i deserve this first of all let's just grab some of this rib because what the f it is so soft and tender and succulent and delicious looking and the plate is really freaking hot [Music] this is almost like barbacoa i almost fell out of my chair it's so soft it's so tender it's juicy it's perfect wow that is incredible i gotta say i taste a lot of beef i don't taste a lot of cactus coming through let me get some sauce i got some meat i've got the cactus on there too that's delicious together the goodness of the grill in the pan is back at it again but it actually conserves a lot of flavor of the sauce of the short bread it reminds me of okra because when you steam or boil okra it gets really gooey and slimy inside the big difference is okra when it's not boiled and not steamed is like inedible but here you can eat it either way delicious raw but when it's steamed or cooked it's good too it doesn't hurt to have a 35 short rib next to it it never hurts to have a 35 dollar short rib next to something no every perfect meal must end with the perfect dessert but how do you turn this into something sweet and satisfying that's part of our shot final course gracias oh my gosh here we have a corn cake it is a mexican dessert on top of the corn cake we have a caramel based syrup with some nopal inside of it and on top we have caramelized popcorn and next to it we have tuna ice cream tuna is the fruit that comes from the cactus ah can we go again cheers cheers [Music] it's like eating the watermelon green it's a little cucumber that is a flavor here's what tuna looks like no not that tuna this tuna it's a fruit in mexico have you ever had cornbread before i mean is that what a tamale is no it's completely different all right let's try it i'm gonna cut it like a birthday cake exactly that's how you eat it right on the money oh it's so moist moist they must have included some kind of a moisturizer that is great the caramel popcorn offers a bit of crunch cake itself is super moist as i said already and then the caramel on top just kind of brings everything together it unites it all into one sweet treat i gotta say i don't taste any cactus no you can loosen a pie inside of the caramel the cactus i can see it visually let me try to taste it a little bit you get a little crunch from the cactus inside of the syrup little notes of cactus that's how rich people wait that's how arrogant people wait that's how um food reviewers that's how critics talk about food you have to talk about notes you talk about front end and back end mainly that okay you lost me for me it's very cool to go from seeing a food i've never really experienced at all in my life to just seeing it in all its different forms and iterations going from the field to seeing it locally made to seeing it elevated to its highest potential here at this restaurant it is very diverse and a very unique ingredient an ingredient that will forever remind me of my trip here in mexico nepalese salud all right thank you chef [Music] why is he not coffee i want to be like this guy when i grow up one day food is a big thing in dia de los muertos when you put an altar to honor the ones that you've lost you put food and drinks that they love because it's believed that they will come back at night and they will have a little bit of that food and enjoy themselves again in this world an inevitable universal process that will eventually fall upon us all permanent irreversible death the way we look at death has more to do with the cultures we grow up in than the process itself in some parts of the world it's taboo to bring it up but in mexico death is celebrated by the living in place of anxiety fear or sorrow there's music colors dancing and food all of them have this little button on top does that represent anything the crosses represents the bone of the deceased one this is dia de los muertos day of the day today i'm on a mission to experience the reality of this sacred holiday the people the culture the altars the food i think this must be one of the most unique flavor enhancers in the world what is the connection between day of the dead and moment it all starts in the center of mexico city [Music] good morning from mexico more specifically mexico city today is day of the dead i'm here and i'm going to experience this iconic holiday myself in the flesh at this moment we're headed to the parade the parade is a big deal here in the city it's not been going on a long time but there's a lot of people here who are excited to have it we're excited to see it behind me the holding pen for all the people in the parade everyone's ready to go people are lining up they're getting to the parade on the way i'm going to see if there's any food we can find maybe their special day of the dead themed food a skeleton cookie i don't know i'm going to see what i can find let's head out now cool what do you play what's that called trombone can i join your band i play the recorder [Music] a content creator from mexico focused on food and unique recipes dude this is so wild out here yeah there's a lot of attractions here for people to see and do there's music everybody's happy and you would never think the topic of the celebration was around that yeah how do you say it in spanish via de los muertos de los muertos yes that was good thank you day of the dead it's one of mexico's most important religious holidays what does day of the dead mean to you day of the dead represents a mexican culture that we are so friendly and comfortable with the topic of death for us this day is remembering and honoring the ones that passed away and never forgetting what they left us in this world it said november 1st and 2nd are the only days during the entire year when the dead can revisit their living families as for the living it's a time to pay respects to remember and honor deceased loved ones by building an altar adorned with photos and offerings fruit bread beverages and a plate of their favorite food the intent is to encourage a spiritual visitation welcomed by the prayers and words of the living [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] at least that's what most locals believe in the modern day day of the dead is becoming more of a commoditized holiday in mexico city there's a parade attracting thousands of people from all over the world to gather in this ocala or the main square in the city center but this parade doesn't go back centuries or even decades it actually started after a james bond movie which featured such a parade when it was recorded here in 2015. now this is the parade's fourth year giant skeletons and colorful costumes mariachi music and dancers fill the street presenting a vibrant colorful and somewhat commercialized slice of mexican culture there's a lot of people in the parade was incredible the parade goes on for four hours they must loop it right they have a long ride around the city so a lot of people can watch it and they don't have to be specifically here to be able to enjoy the parade oh i could have stayed at my hotel is that what you're saying maybe most countries every holiday every event has some kind of special food that goes along with it is that the same for this holiday food is a big thing india de los muertos when you put an altar to honor the ones that you've lost you put food and drinks that they love because it's believed that they will come back at night and they will have a little bit of that food and enjoy themselves again in this world that's something we're actually going to be seeing later today in the meantime i want to see if there's any food around here yes let's take a look let's go food is an indispensable part of this holiday this time of year you'll find skeleton themed candy skull chocolates or this a famous sweet bread roughly shaped like crossbones set atop a golden yellow glazed egg bun they call it dead bread and if you come here you can find a long list of varieties to choose from all right right this way wow i feel you're going to a stadium this is pandemorto which means bread of the dead are these all a little bit different yes each one is filled with different feelings a simple sweet bread recipe traditionally made from a rich dough consisting of milk eggs and butter here at pastela ria madrid bakery they put a twist on the traditional recipe adding an even sweeter touch this one is hot chocolate this is super mexican this flavor looks amazing i think i'm gonna try that one this one is filled with natta natta is made when you boil milk the fatty part that comes to the top and they spread it in the bread okay we get that too absolutely uh how do we get it originally i just heard his bread and i was like well bread bread's not a big deal but this this is more than bread this bread is only baked for this time of the year it's limited edition after the day of the dead it's gone cheers [Music] oh yeah oh it's so rich and creamy it's fatty it's sweet it's really good it doesn't get more fresh than that it's very airy it's creamy inside and then crusty sugary topping yes you get a crust on the top and the sugar gives it all the sweetness that it needs this is awesome if i was a kid i would love damn the dead based just on this this is very nice all of them has this little button on top does that represent anything the round shape represents the circle of life and in here the crosses represents the bone of the diseased one i'm assuming dave the dead began in mexico but where in this country near here with the aztec civilization the ancient ritual of honoring the dead was started by the aztecs some 3 000 years ago originally celebrated in the summer it was moved to november 1st and 2nd to coincide with all saints day and all souls day as the spanish brought christianity to central mexico in the 16th century both traditions mixed and that's why you get a little bit of crosses and the essence of the day of the dead it's a little bit of both cultures melding together to make this holiday that you don't really see in any other catholic nation the sacred holiday has evolved into what we now see today but the way it's celebrated still depends on the region the town and the family celebrating i'm heading an hour and a half outside the big city to a small town of about 9 000 people this is san pedro o'took pun no parades no costumes soon i'll be meeting with the family who plans to reunite with a lost loved one tonight but first mole a food often associated with day of the dead i want to find out why mole it can be a sauce or it can be a powder yes which one do you prefer the sauce obviously why is that obvious why do they make a powder if the sauce is so good this isn't the final form we have to still transform it a little bit so we can coat our protein mole is an iconic mexican flavor enhancer its depth of flavor usually comes from a great number of oddly paired ingredients like dried shrimp and cacao all ground into one fine powder i've not really had mole ever it should taste like similar to what the end form of the sauce is that's good wow there's so much happening in there you can feel the flavor of the mole it's a little bit sweet spicy at the same time this is one of the most unique flavor enhancers in the world because people aren't used to having cacao powder or chocolate mixed with spices but this is something altogether different it's very dynamic has a lot of depth and the flavor just pulls in many different directions that's fantastic this is mole street all along this road you'll find vendors selling pre-made molding as powders or pastes this community accounts for sixty percent of the mole made in mexico around thirty thousand tons each year right now we stepped inside one shop to learn more from manuel de la cruz hola hola catalin benitos mole have sales gone up a lot in the last few days is this a big time of year for molay si he was telling us that yes molly being so big in mexico so many people love it because of day of the dead a lot of people are getting together we put the food and the drinks that our loved ones loved in the altar a lot of people use molly for that okay so it's a great way to honor your ancestors or those who have passed what does it take to make a good mole me saying that a good mole has around 32 to 33 amount of ingredients with spices chilis and everything whoa a proper mole can easily consist of up to 30 or even 50 different ingredients ingredients vary according to the recipe but you'll usually find a mixture of nuts fruits spices and especially chilies here's other molasses like this it's green it looks like matcha which i hate but maybe it tastes like mole which i love this type of mole is a little bit different it's made with green chili they also use a lot of herbs and spices like the leaves of the avocado tree the root of the onion it's like a dried chili dust way more powdery europe do they all have cacao powder this one does not have cacao powder really i love the ones with cacao but i'm open to new types of mole this one is orange this is called pipian and they use chile which gives it its color and the seeds also give it a little lightness oh this like melts on your tongue like sugar it's sweet at the same time it's a little bit spicy dude i want to mix all of these with my own cooking and just see what happens this is fantastic [Music] this is sarah she's the reason we're here like most families in this town sarah is also in the mole business she's been at it for 30 years [Music] this is her factory where they kick out over a thousand pounds of mole per month today hermole will be used as an offering to a recently deceased loved one [Music] i ran out of spanish i'll take it from here okay thanks i noticed this region it's so famous for molding were you born in this area see so you just grew up with this how many different types do you make she makes three types of moles in here this one that we're going to have which is almendrado mole almendrado means almond mole nice a specialty in this town consisting on average of 26 ingredients all roasted or dried so the mole will last longer we have these in minnesota but for a different reason usually for snow and it's never snowed ingredients like this oh it smells so good right smells really good chocolatey yes can you tell me what these ingredients are platano chocolate galleta almendras avellanas nues cacaguate pasas tortilla pan ajo nadoma oh okay good the recipe you're using is this something that was handed down to you something that you've developed or changed over the years this is a special recipe it's from her husband and her and they have been modifying it three years to get to the perfect recipe that they have right now wow first they grind dried chilies then mix that with sesame seeds and grind that too now all the ingredients are mixed together and ground [Music] the one thing all moles have in common is complexity an abundance of ingredients and a time-consuming process not too long ago all this work would have been done by hand using stone mortars and pestles while still achieving the same fine powdery texture considering the labor involved it's easy to see how this became a treasured dish finally refine the mixture with a different machine creating an even finer powder but this is not its final form from here sarah brings the mole home along with a couple other day of the dead staples candied squash and candied sweet potatoes late in the evening tucked away on the hillside of this small town you'll find a tranquil ambiance peppered with distant barking from alarm dogs but this night is different from other nights tonight this family is expecting the brief return home of a recently lost loved one the father-in-law of sarah and her sister [Music] outside a decorative flower wreath that reads welcome father [Music] as open as sarah and her family are i can't help but feel i'm imposing on an event i may not ever truly understand aside from the giant sprawling altar things seem normal the sounds of people making food and savory aromas slowly creeping from the kitchen preparing food for tonight's dinner sarah's sister lucia right now she's making her father-in-law's favorite meal a meal that'll soon be presented to him at the altar in a pot add olive oil then the mole paste add water and stir until it becomes a thick sauce she adds chopped cactus shrimp potatoes rosemary the aromatic mole gravy carries captivating walks of cacao nuts and chilies finally she adds shrimp cakes and serves the mole with rice [Music] first of all i want to say thank you so much for inviting us into your home this meal looks incredible was it something you would have made every year and why she's saying that her grandparents taught her that she should cook something that is meatless completely so they don't feel like they're eating the flesh of their dead you know the usa meat is like from any kind of living animal but a lot of people around the world say meat to mean not seafood so you put a seafood and meat is like land animals so we do have protein technically we have shrimp and then there's also like a shrimp cake these are the potatoes how do you say potato papa oh it reminds me of my dad i'm not sure why how do you say dead i'm gonna try the potato i'm going in for the shrimp cake wow it's like some kind of cheat code or some new hidden bonus level was unlocked from my palette i didn't know that these kinds of flavors could exist really rich chocolatey taste mixed with spicy mixed with savory then the shrimp is blending in there too is so nice she was telling me that they only eat this in day of the dead and in christmas really yeah so it's something that's very traditional it's very nostalgic i'm gonna get some of this cake these are made with egg and shrimp it's kind of a spongy it's soaked up a bunch of that mole that is so delicious so you were cooking these at your shop you make mole but upstairs you were making a bunch of like kind of candied squash you're making these what are you making these for apparent these are made so they can be put in the altar because their father-in-law really liked it [Music] in the attrition of the day they believe that at night all the spirits will come back to earth and they will go to their altar and they'll start eating off their favorite food and drinks that they left for them [Music] so during that time where do you want to be when that happens i couldn't tell you whether feliciano came to visit that night regardless this ceremony these rituals exist to serve the dead and the living sometimes things happen beyond your control sarah and her family stare grief and loss in the eyes helping to bring closure to a difficult fact of life that we'll all face [Music] in mexico there's an ancient cooking tradition that goes back generations seems like something's about to happen see a recipe where the meat is cooked with patience and the utmost respect what is that it's so full of something this looks awesome today i'm on a mission to explore mexico's famous barbacoa from the farm [Music] sorry epic sneeze to the table have you ever eaten testicles once but so long ago i do not have a fresh memory of what they taste like you make some new memories right now [Music] along the way i'll be unearthing some of this country's most unique food it has all kinds of insane ingredients but the one that stands out the most are the worms and it all starts here a two-hour drive from mexico city hola this is my first time being surrounded by so many lamps and they also sneeze it's really weird yeah all i hear is a bunch of coughing around me meet herman he's a content creator and one half of the duo behind monks of munch we're here because of you man this place is yours can you tell us more about it what happens here at this compound here they have the whole process since the bird of the ship to the sacrifice of the ship to the cooking and all the way down to the table where they take it to the restaurant in mexico city the restaurant i'll be going to later that's your restaurant [Music] [Applause] and all of this is called butter bacoa yes so oh god one just sneezed on me why did i choose to do this what exactly is butter bacoa barbacoa is an ancient cooking method that involves slow cooking a whole animal or several animals in an underground pit it's been used way back since the mayans where they used to sorry epic sneeze keep going the mayans this goes all the way back to the mayans where they used to cook it in pits with volcanic rocks that were super hot i've seen underground cooking in other countries like omaha we want this to be airtight no air getting out but i've never seen anything quite like this the traditional way is with land but there's many other proteins that people use like beef so you think lamb is the best as you can see that's what he believes they look super tasty not yet but at some point i'm sure when they stop sneezing and chewing on me so is it all men in here i see a lot of balls the females are used for breeding only okay she just so it's all guys what makes your barbocolloid so much better than the rest is [Laughter] voices insist that half the incredible lamb flavor starts with the lamb's diet wheat barley oats rolled yellow corn sorghum and a variety of grasses this area is the feeding area where they are getting ready to be sacrificed so they'll be soldered soon yeah that is why we are in an elevated platform so they don't have humidity they place some music for the lamp to be relaxed and i'll be so scared at the moment of the sacrifice we need to go on to the next stage and i think that starts with getting out of here before we get sneezed on anymore [Music] why lamb and not sheep the main difference is the flavor and the texture it needs to be at 5 months and 40 to 45 kilograms to be the perfect lamb after being dispatched they begin a process i've never seen before an air hose is used to inflate the carcass before the skinning can begin aside from the blood and skin every part of this lamb will be used in the dishes we're trying today everything after the lamb hangs for an hour it's ready to be portioned into nine distinct cuts mr [Music] inherited this barbacoa recipe from his father-in-law how long have you been doing this is a family job for himself 35 years plus of experience doing barbacoa he said that nowadays we have a lot of ways of cooking things and even better methods but for him it's all tradition and keeping it alive with the meat ready it's time to put it in the pit [Music] the fires are made using encino oakwood that's been aged for five years these fires produce an incredible amount of heat as the wood logs reduce into embers while the flames range on they prepare the mega leaves so i think they're cooking it for a couple reasons one is to make it soft and pliable and two is maybe for hygiene reasons maybe to disinfect it on the super hot corrugated steel i'm not sure the mega is an ancient native plant in mexico its utilities here are endless it can be made into alcohol used as food or aid in the cooking process as we'll soon see with the embers near ready moises prepares the first food that will descend into the fiery pit it's called consummate a large pot of water consisting of dried chilies garbanzo beans rice onions epizote garlic and water the consummate settles on the bottom of the pit it's covered with a wooden lattice then mega leaves the meat is about to go in you can feel the heat radiating from this pit there we go with the leaves each part goes in there's nine different parts the consummate will both send steam up toward the meat while also receiving fatty drippings creating a rich flavorful broth nothing's been pre-seasoned we have the broth and then he just tossed a little bit of salt on there and then that's it there's no complex flavor profile there's no dry rub there's no wet rub it's just about using the right wood and really good quality meat on the perimeter layers of more mega leaves a lamb stomach stuffed with diced organs and spices then a clear bag made from the megaly known as michiote this mishiyote happens to be stuffed with lamb testicles we'll get back to that later now seal the pit with more mighty leaves and another lattice then more mega leaves tarps and finally good old-fashioned dirt if executed correctly the protein and the heat should be isolated from the outside environment even the smoke is trapped inside this sweltering cooking process isn't complete until 16 hours later what helped you kind of develop the high standards you have today the standards come from her family that he was fortunate to have her in her life and now they continue with that tradition she started when she was a little girl and when they got married he joined the family business okay so if anyone is doing the quality testing here it's you yeah while the barbacoa roasts heiress to this meat empire norma treats us to a unique dining experience that i cannot pass up first we will start with this pre-hispanic meal we have escamol x of the end eggs of the ant yes sir these are really big grande huevos i'm talking about myself on the flat top she adds butter onions episode day and peppers then the good stuff amount of ant eggs it's also known as the mexican caviar i like that [Music] this is a lot of eggs in one taco oh it's like a pound of eggs [Music] it's really good every day i tell myself i'm done with tacos and then every day i find something like this that brings me back you won't find this in the north or in the south only in the center of the country and we're in the center right now we're in the center right now it's really hamming it up buttery naughty it's almost like a cottage cheese because the eggs are kind of sticky the flavors are brilliant and just tons of butter that's awesome all right let's wash it down with some of this what's this this is the first liquid that comes out of the plants really you can drink magay yeah again whoa this plant is so versatile it's naturally sweet it's almost like lemonade but without the citrus he's so happy that you had this experience today and that you found a meal yeah this is so good finally after 16 hours of roasting it's time to meet our meat the digging has begun they're going to unearth the barbacoa oh yes look at the steam it's really important to get all this dirt out of the way because soon we're going to be opening the pit and then all that dirt could fall down into the food and touch the food and we don't want that you can see they're repurposing these leaves he's cleaning them off here and then he's putting it in the box this box is where our meat is going to go very soon oh my gosh this looks awesome so here's the head he's putting some salt on there right away that goes in the box the smells here guys this is ridiculous it's like fresh bread out the oven except for it's fresh lamb bless it with some salt oh my gosh this is wild there's nine pieces for each lamb look at this part right here and you can see the ribs poking through this meat i bet you can just grab it with your hand it's like melting right off whoa dude this meat looks so crazy pours off the extra juice oh pour that into my mouth so he's showing me now the bone the bone is coming out it's so soft it's so tender he just pulls it out like it's nothing hits it with a little bit of salt grasses [Music] oh my gosh there's nothing like that that is so good so tender melt in your mouth juicy and delicious wow this is the stomach full of intestine but there's heart there's lung all the internal organs are in here i mean the stomach is the perfect cooking vessel and this is steamed up beautifully oh my god even the intestine is like the best intestine i've ever had a little chewy and delicious but even that's still pretty soft so this is another stomach this is a red stomach it's prepared with red chilies cut it open oh my gosh i would not lie to you one of the coolest food experiences i've ever had it's so delicious oh more huh oh please yes oh my gosh oh this is unbelievable delicious it's really good i'm gonna speak spanish but i can't my brain is discombobulated i'm so happy right now so this is the feet full of delicious collagen it's fatty it's oily he just spit out all the bones that's how you do it like a boss like that's a hoof that's everything and it's so tender and soft that it just comes right off the bone can i keep this bone so i can remember this moment forever gracias the miguelets are used to wrap and preserve the meat as it heads to its final destination the restaurant and that's where i'm headed next good morning good morning welcome to el hidalgo renowned as one of the top spots for barbacoa in mexico city it's open only three days a week and the meat is shipped freshly cooked each day what you get depends on what you ask for with several cuts to choose from there's a wide range of flavor and textures to be experienced we have a nice beautiful bowl of broth right here this is breakfast this is breakfast in mexico yeah remember that consummate broth it's also been cooked down along with concentrated savory lamb drippings [Music] salsa matcha salsa and green salsa drunk salsa now there's some spice every time he's adding more layers to it he's saying that the combination of the lime onion and the salsa makes it whole and explodes the flavors better than espresso yes consonant is fine but really what i want to do this morning is eat balls with you remember this lamb testicle michiote first skin the testicle slice them up and combine them with lamb fat onions episode and dried chilies mix and place inside these clear bags made organically from the skin of the mega leaves after roasting for 16 hours with the rest of the lamb it's ready to eat have you ever eaten testicles once but so long ago i do not have a fresh memory of what they taste like we can make some new memories right now looks like a slice of sausage but that's really the testicle let's try it out cheers it's very soft and tender it tastes like meat that's been really finely minced or ground up even though it's not that at all it's just a sliced section of the testicle it can almost be smeared like a pate exactly i'm really impressed that's some good balls i got to say from every country i go to usually this is more of a man's dish i'm in diamond in here women men children everybody it's both in asia where i'm from they believe it gives you some health benefits or stamina are there any benefits here or is just a good food hey so what is the most popular cut that people come here for he's telling us that each piece has its uniqueness and the demand for them are equal everybody loves different parts of it and they all ask for it in different ways but what about the head because every lamb has four legs but just one head he said that the demand for the head is really high that people reserve their head with eight days before oh is that right yeah all right today we're in luck have you ever had lamb head this is my first time it'll be great i'm excited next a cut worth fighting for the lamb head sent straight from the oven to the table along with it a collection of lamb cuts prepared by chef moises himself [Music] harman yes everything today has built up to this moment this is a big portion i've never seen it in this size oh my gosh let me unveil it for you right now you ready yes whoosh that's incredible so this is i don't know 10 pounds of meat right here it looks almost the same as when we first started when they were walking past us yeah pretty much the same we're gonna build up to the head i think we just had to go straight meat at first oh my gosh [Music] oh it's crazy to think that it's only made with salt right there's no over abundance of seasonings it's just like the natural flavors of the lamb sometimes less is more a lot of people might have certain flavor expectations with mexican food especially where i come from there's like a lot of cumin and different spices that are used that become familiar that get locked into our heads like that's mexican food yeah i think when you come here either to this restaurant or the city you have to drop your preconceived notions of what mexican food is and just take it from what it is it's gonna make the experience a lot more enjoyable absolutely oh man it's very fatty the meat yeah so to go with something that's fatty tequila absolutely oh it's 9 56 hey it's drinking time let's go cheers a little bit of lime juice sour what's this one sangrita oh it's sweet wow i went through every emotion just now i think we should slam one of these inside of a taco like a good mexican you should never pick the tortilla on the top go for the middle so because they're warmer thank you for teaching me how to be mexican so i'm gonna slap on the meat and we just have so much to choose from here and then this it has all kinds of insane ingredients but the one that stands out the most are the worms [Applause] on a flat top green tomatoes chilies garlic and onions are seared along with the worms those worms grow in the maguey plant which wrapped up so i love how much this plant has come interacting with everything we're cooking when it's ready hit it with the mortar and pestle until the contents reduce down to a lumpy paste some say it's even better than guac this is gonna be one of the most unique tacos i've ever had i've never had salsa with worms in it before tons of delicious meat let's go for it [Music] it's so fresh it's so spicy the meat is so tender it goes so well in that nice big soft corn tortilla i mean sometimes the corn tortillas can be a little dry not these super soft and then this salsa man this is something else it feels fresh it feels natural it's so good but it's also wormy it's not bad it's just kind of earthy it gives it some cojones absolutely right here we have a freaking head this is a cheek all this part is the chick of the lamb this is a gift for you thank you so much that is like the best part oh there's a little bit more chicken here oh there we go wow we revealed a beautiful smile look at that i'll give it a flip oh yes lower jawl meat oh this one's for you this is probably one of the best bites on the whole lamb [Music] this is the best part it just falls apart completely in your mouth man what a unique flavor texture it's fatty it's protein it's mushy it's tender i'm gonna go in i don't know there's a tongue in here oh there's a lot of meat in here it just falls apart all right roof of the mouth weird it probably ate or breathed through that and then the tongue has a bunch of stuff attached on the bottom there's so much stuff and then this is uh potential dentures the roof of the mouth is here the tongue is here i'm gonna give you the tongue and i'm gonna eat the roof okay i'm taking off the outer layer and this inside part of the tongue is pure lean meat it's delicious i've got the roof i got the top cheers [Music] this is so strange usually i don't overthink the food because i've been doing this for a long time but i'm eating the hard palate of a lamb those lambs are sneezing all over me you know what i mean it's very tender this part is super delicious it is lean it is tender it is amazing try it all right that is my favorite part of the whole barbacoa it's lean but it becomes super tender and soft i think we've done it this is incredible barbacoa the restaurant experience is incredible but there's no way to fully understand this dish unless you really see where it comes from and you see the care and the time and the effort it's very unique you know around the world a lot of people cook food underground i've had in india it was amazing there but each place does it a little bit differently it's all right on here it's done so well in a way that's just so unique to mexico and i love that they're using every single part of the animal from the roof of the mouth to the bottom of its feet everything is utilized and everything's delicious without a bunch of heavy seasoning or crazy spices just salt good technique and good ingredients [Music] today calvin and i are immersing ourselves in the country where tacos were first invented from the unbelievably cheap seven pesos tacos very affordable to the shockingly expensive that is expensive we'll find out which tasty taco gives us the most bang for our bun let's go calvin put her there it's there we're in mexico you are a taquero see i've eaten your taco yes to you what makes a good taco for me taco's all about the ingredients we want freshness we want inventiveness but we want flavor for me it has to exist in mexico tacos are everywhere from high-end restaurants and traditional family eateries to frantic street side stalls selling tacos for only a dollar but what if you're looking for something even cheaper i'm talking just a few pennies for a tortilla full of yum for that you need to look for this [Applause] bikes like these usually with a basket on the back being driven up and down the streets of mexico city with only one mission to serve the most affordable tacos out there it all starts in the taco sellers home sir good morning buenos dias meet hassel gonzalez he and his family have been selling basket tacos for the last 24 years we're just a little bit outside of where you live and we're at your restaurant now is this something that a lot of people do in this city yeah meet our translator his name is gabriel he's fluent in spanish and english plus we couldn't find anyone else how much does it cost for just one taco seven pesos each taco that's very affordable sure preparing the tacos takes about two to three hours when the food is ready it's loaded onto the bike and he hits the streets zigzagging through the roads and avenues until every last taco is sold how many days a week are you doing this seven days a week seven wow this guy's a hardworking guy he is paso sells three taco flavors after filling each tortilla they're laid in a basket topped with onions then a step i did not expect the entire contents of the basket is doused with searing hot pork grease why do you do that they get sweaty the other way that you call them is sweaty tacos that's my nickname in high school this morning we wake up our taste buds with his potato tacos stuffed with a seasoned mashed potato building upon ordering hasso fills it with his spicy green salsa he's like santa claus hey here you go thank you oh yeah that looks good it's just potato but it looks very filling very hearty try it out [Music] such a simple oh it's so spicy it's so spicy i'm trying to maintain the heat right now oh i feel alive a simple ingredient like a potato right with spices and love it becomes something completely different uh yeah have you ever been to india i have the indian food as potatoes and then how can we spice it to just make it taste awesome that's what he's done here incredibly spicy and incredible salsa man that salsa hits you like pop it's for you to feel mexico yeah okay i feel it i'm ready for more hazel also sells frijoles or fritos or refried bean tacos now are these pinto beans are black beans cancelled in his kitchen he stirs up a huge pot of refried beans with chicken broth lard and epizote you try it out just go for it mmm for me it's consistency with the smoothness of the beans it's a nice wrapped corn tortilla this is a perfect way to stop the morning we have one taco remaining the chicharron chicharrones this is as close as we're getting to some real protein here the other two are basically vegan now we're getting into some real animal territory it's pressed chicharron they pressed it and then they season it with a red sauce okay so this has been pressed and we're about to be impressed try it out oh my god that's so flavorful it's got more animal flavor to it right it's oily it's meaty it's heavy i'm super impressed i didn't know what to expect i mean they're like it's a few cents for tacos i was like well this is gonna be a disaster they're good sir thank you so much for inviting us into your home and showing us a little bit more about your lifestyle and your food especially tremendous in mexico city one of the most legendary taco sites is the trumpo al pastor tacos shaved off a giant pile of beautifully seasoned meat usually it's made from pork some make it with beef or chicken but our next mad food scientist has completely gone off the deep end chef put her there hello this is chef daniel silva he took this 64 year old family restaurant and added his own wild seafood inventions we're so excited for the food here it's very unique it's unlike anything you've had before here in mexico i guarantee you that kelvin good i cannot wait before we get into the food i must ask you about your mustache [Music] it looks like a scorpion a scorpion with a wow can you try to curl mine with that we're here for the octopus the octopus here is so famous you even have it on your chef jacket right here what do you like so much about the meat is octopus and the way it's cooked alfa store is much more delicious now wait alfa store that's usually reserved for pork you can do that with an octopus and you can make it with basically anything trompo de leon he just said that you can make a trumpo out of lion have you done that before at all yeah many times does it make you fuerte hold on okay [Music] cooking begins with octopus and pineapple slices how many kilos of octopus do you go through in a month marinating in el paso sauce sientos quilos diarios 300 kilos daily wait daily daily now the construction he's just saying it's just explaining the way the alpha story is he explaining to me like i'm a child alternate octopus and pineapple slices on a steel rod the pastor almost fully built now the cherry on top we must seal it with this gee yes okay he wants me to help out [Music] check this out this is the most strange type of creation i've seen in mexico stolen with tons of little octopuses this is going to be wild [Music] when guests order he slices the tentacles and finishes them on the flat top assemble the tacos with fresh pineapple cubes red onions guacamole and even more al pastor sauce this looks incredible we've really leveled up in size and quality and in price this is a little bit over four dollars per taco now in mexico that ain't cheap the average taco here on the street with like plenty of meat and some good salsa is about a dollar and so this is four times that price but you're paying for this right i have brought pesos thank god okay yeah back to the show i want to get a taste of this octopus look at this dude is there anything better than like a nice long tentacle as it's getting more slender the texture changes continuously it can be like gelatinous on the top it can be crunchy on the bottom and then every shade in between should we try it out i'm ready oh oh that's delicious wow it's so tender but just firm enough the texture of this octopus is so succulent it's almost like biting into scallops but the flavor is on there it looks like it would be really hot it's not spicy at all it's just savoury and juicy and juicy oh it's so juicy it looks amazing it looks creepy it's sensational try it out that is good this is the first taco i've had with pineapple here it kind of just explodes with fruity sweetness it goes so well with the seafood they put a lot of love into it and they don't try to go over the top it's very simple everything on that plate you can identify right well hold on one second octopus oh yeah yeah absolutely tacos in mexico are delicious diverse and extremely affordable usually around just a dollar each so how on earth am i gonna find high-end pricey tacos in this city i came here to find out hola may i shake your hand meet javier valenzuela one of the chefs here at cornmeal this high-end restaurant specializes in fusing mexican street food with influences from la and new york that means traditional time-tested classics that are elevated using high-end ingredients and high-end techniques we've eaten a lot of tacos today some very unique tacos and it's all built up to this moment i'm fascinated by this idea of street food being elevated i've seen it all around the world but we're here for tacos can tacos be fine dining food yes of course from the technique to their quality of the ingredients you can bring to the highest level where do you get inspiration to make these tacos we're mexican there's always a tackle for everything that is the best answer everywhere i went to a tortilla factory and they put salt on it they're here taco i mean that's basically what we started with today and now we're going to try one of the most luxurious tacos in the place that invented tacos i bet there's expensive tacos in the usa but it's going to be filled with wine and gold flakes but here they're focused on good quality ingredients and elevating mexican traditions that have been around a long time are you ready calvin i am pumped this is gonna be the best taco of my life today we're taking on a three-course taco journey starting with black beef tacos the unique black color comes from the onions scorched in the oven until they've become as dark as kim jong-un's soul the onion ash what flavor does it provoke it gives the color obviously and it gives a smoky flavor to it now the beef seasoned with something they call pariente then lemon pepper and juice made from lime cumin oregano and garlic now add the onion ash [Music] grill for 20 minutes and finish on the flat top serve with cilantro onions and lime calvin sunny this entire day is built up to this moment so this is our first taco and this is not affordable the quality of meat here is a lot better say what you can find on the sidewalk but is it going to be better in taste we should take a bite without these sauce first really savor that meatiness and then because it's salsa on them [Music] wow first and foremost the tortilla it is fresh it's so aromatic then the meat the meat has so much that ladle running through that rib eye do you taste the blackness i don't taste the black despite taste the char in the beef i'm just rotating on the thrombo it's getting hit by heat on one side and it really gets these nice charred bits and has a nice smoky mist to it i do think it's mostly about the look it's badass they have a big black drum ball so it stands out it's very unique and absolutely delicious let's try it with some salsa verde okay fresh medium delicious when elon musk eats tacos these are the tacos he eats two illah is mexican it's alone i thought he was south african no it's balloon he dropped the pea and his standalone musk [Music] the second course is a shocker this is called essentially it's a suckling goat a baby that's only ever eaten its mother's milk it only weighs around five kilos around one month of age it's ready for slaughter it's a popular ingredient in iberian and latin american cuisines why do you prepare goat when it's so young for the tenderness of their meat and for the pure flavor of the meat here they cut the kid into big chunks and throw it in a huge pot of lard here it'll comfy slow cooking for the next six hours making it even more tender i can imagine how soft the child goat is gonna be this is gonna be wild the meat is shredded and tossed on the flat top joined by tortillas slathered in peruvian refried bean sauce to finish it off a few cubes of butter top with avocado and their special salsa garnish with fresa dia tomatoes and parsley first and foremost this taco has been drenched in a sauce it's the enchilada of tacos is the tacos and enchiladas what's most special about this i think is about what's inside just like us i have no goats inside it we're about to but first we have to get through to the bottom of it i mean it is soggy already try it out all right oh this coffee baby goat just shreds apart this sauce on here it's like a mexican barbecue sauce and then the meat is just so tender it is like a very moist pulled pork where it's almost like little watery soft supple and sweet it has a sweetness to it people around the world are obsessed with young meat whether it's eating lamb in barbacoa or eating a very young goat here the younger the animal the softer the meat your meat would be very tough it'd be like chewing on an inner tube and that's only halfway how rough i am ladies and men next taco our final and most expensive taco is made with bone marrow oh roasted in the oven it's a bone from black house then move to the flat top the femur the fever i was like is the bone more tender in the cow joined by wagyu filet mignon the most tender cut of beef seasoned with salt doused with two savory sauces bone marrows gives all the flavor to the dish it gives the punch once you mix it with a fresh meat it gives like a really strong flavor to it melt acetero cheese and top it with a corn tortilla finish with parsley tempura and yuzu sauce our final taco experience right here [Music] wow every layer of this is incredible there's a tortilla a crusty cheese on top of that then a thin slice of filet mignon and then the bone marrow even on top of the bone marrow they put some yuzu what's that a japanese citrus japanese citrus and so it's 100 authentically mexican or japanese with a touch of japan bone marrow is tricky right because it can easily be too much of a good thing of course like you can't just eat it by the spoonful you're gonna literally feel sick it's oily buttery but kind of gritty too i think that's the bone oh i ate too far oh it just plopped out oh i'm gonna spread it now filet mignon is known for having no fat it's the most tender part of the steer they added this extra layer of fat it is a river of fat uh let's take a quick bite [Music] oh my god that's good that is wild what the hell man the cheese has a nice layer of texture the fillet cooked beautifully but to top it all off the creme de la creme that bone marrow sunny this is probably the best taco i've ever had in my lifetime this is elevation at its primal peak this is a one-of-a-kind experience this is really incredible i know it's expensive for this level of quality i think it's quite reasonable i think it's very reasonable to have dinner between two friends at this price point and then the atmosphere the service the people the music we're here with all of our friends [Music] sonny there's no one here dude you're my only friend i didn't think we're that close honey [Music] calvin sunny we went to three different locations and we paid three different price amounts of money i did not you in particular thank god i want to know which one for you gave you the most bang for my buck the best bang for your buck was the modernized mexican elevated tacos the filipino the bone marrow that might be the best taco i've ever had i hate doing this calvin are we doing the same one here's the thing i enjoyed every single location today with the very affordable tacos i didn't know what to expect because with less money you're gonna get less ingredients and certainly not premium ingredients but i like that a lot in location two extremely unique pastor on the trumpo but i have to agree with you my best value for today is the third location i think it's super reasonable i could have gotten half as much and then shared it with someone who i actually like to hang out with like me don't think just a yes yes great guys that is the end of the video a huge thank you to my good friend calvin you can go follow calvin right here on his youtube channel become a subscriber and join him in his own fun food adventures he's got a lot of them and a lot more coming even some from mexico otherwise that is it for this one guys we will see you next time uh wait what okay that's this one see you next time wait what oh no i'm broken as a person what do i usually say guys that's it for this one that thank you so much for watching for watching i'll see you next time and then what i never know what's the endings

Channel: Best Ever Food Review Show

Views: 16,798,427

Keywords: Best ever food review show, befrs, befrs team, sonny side, Mexico, Latin america country, Mexico city, latino, Mexican food, where to eat in Mexico, Aztec culture, Mexican culture, Mexican traditional food, Food Tour in Mexico City, AZTEC FOOD, street food in mexico, cheap food, taco tour, cheap vs expensive taco, exotic food, lion meat, bugs, mole, day of the dead, barbacoa, eating cactus, intense seafood

Id: BBT_FLYF65k

Length: 195min 30sec (11730 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 30 2021