♪ Pati Jinich, voice-over: When one visits a delightful city in Chihuahua, one must travel in style.

So, what's life like here, Mayte?

Oh, it's wonderful, Pati.

Pati, voice-over: Enter Mayte, my guide to the wonders of Casas Grandes.

From its vast pecan fields to an ancient past.

Like, you have your little town right here.

Pati, voice-over: Her bed and breakfast is a terrific way to enjoy the city and taste the region's rich heritage.

Pati: This is like a cheesy craze.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Pati, voice-over: Part of that heritage is the buttery pecan, one of Mexico's largest exports.

Gustavo Jr.: Here in Chihuahua, it's a native place for the pecans.

Pati, voice-over: The Vázquez farm is innovating ways to grow more pecans and use them in delicious recipes.

I need to go jog now.

[Laughter] After all these pecans, I feel like I have so much energy.

Pati, voice-over: In my kitchen, we're starting with savory and moving to sweet.

First, Chihuahua-style charro beans-- hearty pinto beans simmering with all sorts of deli meats, pickled jalapeños, and a lot of their brine.

Mila loves chicharrónes so much.

[Mila munching] Pati, voice-over: And then, an incredibly rich snack cake made with pecans, dates, apple, and chocolate.

It'll transport you directly to the warm Chihuahua countryside.

♪ [Sizzling] What a feast.

♪ Pati: Mm.

So succulent.

These beans are insane.

[Laughter] Mm.

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♪ Pati, voice-over: Until the Spanish arrived, the city of Casas Grandes in northwest Chihuahua went by a different name-- Paquimé.

Just outside of town lie the ruins of old Paquimé, an ancient city that thrived between the 13th and 15th centuries.

These ancient walls were home to a pre-Columbian city that mastered the art of life in the desert grasslands.

♪ [Horn honks] [Speaking Spanish] [Speaking Spanish] [Speaking Spanish] Pati, voice-over: And if you're as lucky as me, you might see another ancient relic rolling around town-- a 1960 Cadillac owned by local art dealer Mayte Luján.

So, right here, we have the ruins of Paquimé.

-Yes.

-And they left?

-They left.

-Nobody knows why?

No, nobody knows where they went, because they didn't continue with the culture.

Correct.

And then the Spanish arrived here when?

Yes.

1665.

Pati, voice-over: Mayte is the perfect guide, having once been the curator of Paquimé's museum and now running a hotel and art gallery inspired by the ancient civilization.

So much art, right, in Chihuahua?

-Yes.

I think that's something that people don't know about Mexico's north.

-People don't know.

No.

And I've been just amazed at the richness and diversity of art... -Yeah.

-and beauty.

So, what's life like here, Mayte?

Oh, it's wonderful, Pati.

Life here is very tranquil.

It's calm.

♪ Pati, voice-over: And there's no place more calm than Las Guacamayas, Mayte's hotel designed to resemble the ancient ruins that are right across the street.

Like, you have your little town right here.

-[Laughs] I never hear that.

-It's a little town.

Pati, voice-over: Mayte first built an art gallery, selling the prestigious Mata Ortiz pottery, which is in the style of ancient Paquimé.

The hotel part was almost an accident.

It grew directly out of the gallery.

Luján: I did my gallery and then my collectors wanted to be here, so, I built a guest room, and then their friends, so, the second guest room, until I had 4, and then people start coming and coming and coming.

♪ Pati, voice-over: Besides the beautiful gallery, my favorite room in the hotel is the kitchen.

I feel so honored to be here in your kitchen with so much history, with Paquimé right here, like, just a few steps from us, and you sharing the recipes that are, like, part of the DNA of the region.

Pati, voice-over: One of those dishes is chile con queso.

How many ingredients, Mayte?

There's green chile, onions, garlic, a little bit of butter, milk, and cheese.

OK. 6 ingredients, 15 minutes, your chile con queso.

Let's go.

Yeah.

Welcome to Chihuahua.

Casas Grandes.

Pati, voice-over: Our first step is to roast the chiles to enhance their flavor, then slice and cook them with garlic and onions before adding the cheese.

And now I'm gonna slice them [Speaking Spanish] -Sí.

-Like in rajas.

Yeah.

However you want to.

Oh, it smells so different from other chiles.

-Yes.

-I feel like the chilacam... -Yes.

-smells very fruity and grassy.

-Yes.

Kind of sweet.

Pati, voice-over: Cooking with Mayte, I can feel the legacy of Paquimé.

Her kitchen and the ingredients connect me to this place's ancient past.

I can tell that everything in here has a story, and I think we share that.

Like, for me, my kitchen, everything I have just takes me places.

It's you.

Your kitchen is you, Pati.

Yeah.

Now, can you smell the garlic already?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Smells toasty.

-Now is the time to add the onions.

Uh-huh.

-White onion.

Then it will be the time to add the chiles.

If you like black pepper... -I love black pepper.

then add more.

You know, depends of your taste.

I love black pepper and I think it goes really well with chile peppers.

Yes.

[Speaking Spanish] So, this chile needs a lot of salt.

Mm-hmm.

Porque it's so wet and juicy, right?

-Yes.

-So, that's gonna cook for a little while?

-Uh, like, two minutes.

-OK. -And then you will add the milk.

-OK. -So.

-The milk and... At last, the cheese.

♪ Pati, voice-over: Chihuahua's famous for [Speaking Spanish], a soft, white cheese perfect for melting with chiles.

It's made by the Mennonite communities that have flourished here for 100 years.

I didn't know-- I always used to think that queso Chihuahua and Mennonite cheese were two different ones, but here I've learned that it's the same thing.

-It's the same.

It's the Mennonite cheese, but it's from Chihuahua.

It's also called Chihuahua cheese.

And for any Chihuahuan, when you're far from home, that's what you miss, and then as soon as kind of start, like, bubbling, is when you drop the cheese, and then the cheese will melt.

-Oh, yum!

-And then we're ready to eat.

And then we're ready to taco.

10 minutes to make chile con queso.

Mayte, you lied.

You said 15 minutes.

It was, like, 4.

-Well...ha ha ha!

Pati, voice-over: You get to decide if the queso or the chile is the true star of this recipe.

[Speaking Spanish] [Speaking Spanish] [Speaking Spanish] This is like a cheesy craze.

-Sí.

-Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

[Laughs] -The never-ending [indistinct].

This is ridiculous.

[Speaking Spanish] [Speaking Spanish] [Speaking Spanish] Ready?

♪ Mm.

♪ Mm.

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

And you know what?

When I took a bite and I ate it, it wasn't spicy at all, but now I'm starting to feel the heat.

The flavor of the chile, like, evolves as you're eating it.

Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

♪ Pati, voice-over: In Mayte's town, the hotel reflects history, the art is stunning, but this chile con queso is a masterpiece.

Luján: And I'm so happy to have this, our best ambassador of Mexico.

Thank you, Pati.

-Gracias, Mayte.

-Welcome, welcome.

♪ Pati: Another iconic dish in Chihuahua is frijoles charros.

Now, there are frijoles charros all over Mexico, and every region in Mexico has its own spin.

My surprise, when I tasted the ones in Chihuahua, was how much meat is in it.

All different kinds of meat.

I didn't know frijoles charros this way before and I absolutely love them 'cause they have so many things that I love.

So, I'm gonna start with a half a pound of thick slices of smoked bacon.

Gonna raise my heat to medium high.

Gonna add my bacon.

I'm gonna add a half a pound of Mexican chorizo.

I like the Mexican chorizo that comes in links and then you can remove the casing.

You don't want to eat the casing.

I'm gonna coarsely chop... and add into the pan.

Gonna rinse my hands.

♪ As this continues to brown, and this is looking so beautiful already, I'm gonna cut my turkey hot dogs.

So, I have a quarter pound of turkey sausages.

Add the sausage.

And then I'm gonna add some deli ham.

I have Black Forest ham here, and I'm gonna cut the slices into bite-size pieces.

OK, I'm adding the ham.

So, meanwhile, I'm gonna cut some onion.

Chopping not very fine.

OK. Now I'm gonna add the onion.

I just want the onion to soften.

I don't want the onion to become crispy and crunchy.

I have a pound of pinto beans that I cooked with nothing but water and onion for, like, an hour, an hour and 10 minutes.

You want to cook them until they're tender but not falling apart.

I'm removing the onion that cooked with the beans, and then once the beans are tender and cooked, you can add your salt.

I added two teaspoons of salt in here.

OK.

So, now I'm gonna put the beans in here.

So, the beans are already seasoned.

I mean, they're so flavorful.

They're seasoned just with the onion and the salt.

But now they're gonna get the seasoning over all my meats cooked.

So, adding all the beans.

Adding all of this.

♪ The next thing, and I guess this is why I fell in love with the Chihuahua-style charro beans so much, is because they have a lot of pickled jalapeños, and I don't know if you know, but I'm obsessed with pickled jalapeños.

Love them so much.

I'm adding the jalapeños and I'm also adding the brine, which is like a pickling vinegar brine that has vinegar, spices, and it's so flavorful.

♪ I mean, I would add many more jalapeños.

Can I?

♪ I eat one jalapeño with every bite, practically.

And the last thing I'm gonna add, I'm laughing 'cause there's so much meat in here, these chicharrónes.

I hadn't seen frijoles charros that had chicharrónes before and I love it so much.

I love having the chicharrónes transform.

[Munching] Mm.

See?

Even Mila knows.

Mila loves chicharrónes so much.

[Mila munching] [Pati munching] I think Mila crunches better.

[Mila munching] ♪ OK.

This is ready.

♪ I'm gonna add a little bit of onion.

♪ Gonna cut some of the slices of the pickled jalapeño in here.

Then this is how you do it.

You grab your corn tortilla.

You cut it into, like, totopo sizes.

♪ And then... ♪ this becomes your edible spoon.

♪ So, I'm gonna take a little bit of everything.

The tortilla's getting all soaked in the pinto bean juices.

♪ Mm.

Mm!

Mm!

Oh, my God.

The chorizo is browned and it's, like, delicious seasoned bites, and then the bacon, mm, perfectly browned.

The sausage, nicely seared.

The ham.

Like, all the mixed meats are so flavorful.

And that chicharrón, I mean... ♪ Mm.

Mm-hmm.

♪ Mm.

♪ Pati, voice-over: In northern Mexico, the pecan is a symbol of heritage and resilience, as are the families that produce them.

The Vázquez family has run this farm in Casas Grandes for 3 generations.

Armando Vázquez started growing pecans in the 1980s and now his son Gustavo and grandson Gustavo Jr. run the farm.

What is the oldest pecan tree that you have?

We guess it's one over there that-- -How many years?

-I think it's about 90 or 100 years old, or even more.

We don't even know.

Oh, the stories it could tell, right?

Pati, voice-over: Pecans are native to the region, but making them thrive requires careful adaptations to the ever-changing environment, and it's also good business.

Gustavo Jr.: You can make, like, a hectare of pecans, like, go from one ton to 3 or even 4 tons per hectare just based on the management of the farm.

Irrigation management.

Fertilization management.

Sun management.

Gustavo: You have to manage the sun.

So, these limbs are still alive because if you shade it... -Oh, it dries.

-It dries.

It's called die back.

It starts to die from the tips inward.

Pati, voice-over: Pecans' natural affinity for Chihuahua's climate, and the innovative techniques of the Vázquez family, creates a product unlike anywhere else.

Gustavo Jr.: Here, Chihuahua, it's a native place for the pecans.

The color, the size, and the thin of the shell.

This tastes more, like, concentrated.

Like, the oil, yeah.

I've noticed that pecans are juicy.

They're, like, milky.

♪ Pati, voice-over: And the Vázquez are as innovative with their cooking as they are with their farming.

Just look at this spread of pecan-based dishes.

Tell me about everything.

That?

Gustavo Jr.: Pesto.

Pati: Pecan pesto.

Gustavo Jr.: Pecan pesto.

Pati: It has... Gustavo Jr.: It has the basil, the parmesan, and instead of pine nuts, we use the pecan.

You want?

Mm-hmm!

Mm-hmm!

It's amazing.

With pasta.

Gustavo Jr.: This is a dip.

Jimena: Mushroom, pecan.

Pati: Uh-huh.

Jimena: And garlic.

Yeah.

Pati: Uh-huh.

Jimena: And it has lime zest.

Pati: It's like a mousse.

Gustavo and Jimena: Yes.

It tastes a little bit like chopped liver.

You know, like the spread?

[Speaking Spanish] Mm.

This is so original.

So, it's like pecans with basil, pecans with mushrooms, and it's savory.

OK, and then tell me about the pie.

Margarita: That is dates, yes, of course, pecan nuts.

Sugar cookies and butter.

Pati: Oh, it smells so good.

Oh, it smells like holiday.

Like dates and cinnamon.

[Laughter] [Speaking Spanish] [Laughs] Mm!

Mm!

It also feels, like, nutritious and healthy.

I need to go jog now.

[Laughter] All these pecans, I feel like I have so much energy.

[Woman laughs] Gustavo Jr.: When I'm harvesting right here, sometimes, I don't go to my house.

I just pick a couple of nuts and I have another 3, 4 hours to go.

This is pecan milk.

Mm.

This is so good!

[Speaking Spanish] Mm!

Mm.

A ver the milk.

You guys are gonna get so jealous 'cause I'm about to sip half a cup of freshly made pecan milk.

Gustavo Jr.: Mm-hmm.

With no sugar.

♪ Because we don't trust sugar here.

[Speaking Spanish] [Laughter] [Speaking Spanish] Gustavo Jr.: Salud, salud.

Pati: Mm.

[Speaking Spanish] [Speaking Spanish] I learned so much.

I have so many ideas of what to do with pecans now.

Yeah.

Not only sweet ideas, but also a little bit salty ideas.

Mm-hmm.

Pati, voice-over: But I think the best idea is to hold baby Juliana... ♪ who is sweeter than the pecan snack cake I'm about to show you to make in my kitchen.

♪ That date pecan pie was so delicious.

I came back home just thinking about that combination of flavors.

So, I came up with this date pecan bar that also has chocolate chips and grated apples.

So, I'm gonna start by peeling and grating two apples.

I'm using Granny Smiths because they're tart.

This bar has the flavors that I found in Chihuahua with some of the things that I ate from my grandmother.

She loved combining apples and chocolate.

OK, so, I'm grating the apples.

After grating the apples, I decided to mix them with a teaspoon of cinnamon and one tablespoon of cocoa powder.

And I let this sit for a little while.

It, like, combines the apple juices with the cocoa powder and the cinnamon and it makes something new out of it.

Oh, it smells so good.

Now I'm gonna make the batter.

And this is so easy because you make the batter for the bars right here in the saucepan.

I'm gonna add 1 1/4 cup of unsalted butter.

This is an apron that I got in Chihuahua.

It's from the Rarámuri community and it has pockets.

♪ I love this universe.

I love my aprons.

I love my things.

I love cooking and I love sharing it with you guys, so, I hope you will try these recipes.

I'm gonna crack my eggs and whisk them.

I'm gonna beat these lightly.

I'm gonna combine my dry ingredients.

I have 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour.

I have one teaspoon of baking powder.

And I'm gonna add a half a teaspoon of fine salt.

Whisk these.

And my butter has melted.

I'm gonna remove it from the heat and then I'm just gonna start adding everything in here.

The first thing I'm gonna add into my melted butter is sugar.

I have 3/4 cups.

Since I'm not using a mixer, I want to make sure that I mix really well.

I'm adding the two eggs that I lightly beat.

♪ The next thing I'm gonna add is dates.

And here I have some that I already chopped.

I have a cup and a quarter, which is about 10 ounces.

And you want to make sure that you beat really well, 'cause you don't want them to clump.

And now I'm gonna add the dry ingredients.

♪ And then I'm gonna add a cup and a half of pecans I coarsely chopped.

♪ Chocolate chips.

♪ Oh.

Look at this.

Now, this is gonna marry with the cocoa powder that's been macerating here with the apples and the cinnamon.

♪ Yum.

Now let's mix this.

OK, so, this baking dish I buttered, floured, and I also added parchment paper to the bottom so it won't stick because, as you can tell, this is sticky, super gooey.

Gonna spread this out.

I have the oven at 350, and this is gonna bake for anywhere from 28 to 30 minutes.

It's gonna puff up a little, gonna brown a little, and if I insert a toothpick, it should come out clean.

♪ My bars were in the oven for almost 30 minutes.

Took 'em out.

They've cooled.

Now it's time to eat!

You can see all the yummy chunks all over the place.

I'm gonna go around with my dinner knife.

It smells fruity, it smells chocolatey, it smells fudgy.

♪ OK. ♪ Let's flip it again.

♪ Ready?

♪ ♪ Ta-da!

♪ I'm gonna add some confectioner's sugar on top.

♪ OK. Now we can ta-da.

And then you can cut it into whatever size you want.

This is something that you can eat anytime.

♪ You can see the grated apple, the pecans, the chocolate, the dates.

♪ Mm.

Mm mm mm!

Mm!

In my mind and in my heart, it's like my Lali's, my grandmother, apple-chocolate combination that she adored... with a date-pecan combo in a nut bar, and it is... so good.

It's turned into an anytime sweet, like, comforting bite.

I hope you will give this a try, too.

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

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

Announcer: "Pati's Mexican Table" is brought to you by... ♪ Announcer: La Costeña.

!por sabor!

Men: ♪ Avocados from Mexico ♪ ♪ Announcer: Texas A&M International University-- going beyond borders.

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

Visit egglandsbest.com.

[Acoustic guitar plays Nationwide jingle] Announcer: Levenger-- nearly 40 years of craftmanship for readers, writers, thinkers, and doers.

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

♪