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[Chef Einav Gefen] So, Chef. Tell me a little bit. They said you started cooking when you were very young with your mom.
[Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah, my mom was a teacher, but she always made sure that we have, like, home-cooked meals.
So, I always used to watch her and help her to make the food for the next day, so....
Yeah, to be around food and sharing with my family, I think that's like....
I think in Sonora, just to share the food and...
....just be together. So, I really, really like that feeling.
All the food here is smoked or grilled and we don't know anything else.
And I don't know. We just like it and I think it's like....
It's like, our "thing." (laughs)
Those look pretty nice.
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You have to keep an eye on them.
[Chef Einav Gefen] You can't really forget. [Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah. (laughs)
[Chef Einav Gefen] Alright, Chef. What are we doing?
[Sheyla Alvarado] Today, we're making a Black Aguachile.
And it's black because the sauce is made from ashes, as we start prepping here.
And it has like a cucumber and a little bit of lime.
It's called Aguachile in Mexico because
it comes from the word "agua" and "chile," which means in English, "water" and "chile."
First of all, we're going to just season the shrimp with lemon and salt.
[Chef Einav Gefen] So, you it's almost like curing them a little bit? [Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah.
[Chef Einav Gefen] We put some lime in there. [Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah.
[Chef Einav Gefen] And in the sauce you said we're putting....? [Sheyla Alvarado] Lemon.
[Chef Einav Gefen] Lemon. But you actually call this.... [Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah. Because...
[Chef Einav Gefen] Limón? Lemon? And this is lime? [Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah.
[Sheyla Alvarado] I think just we just call yellow "lemon," yeah. (laughs)
[Chef Einav Gefen] One big lemon. [Sheyla Alvarado] Really, really big.
[Sheyla Alvarado] So, we are just putting aside, like, a little bit, so we can get that time to just put this sauce in....
You know, plate....
[Chef Einav Gefen] Wow. [Sheyla Alvarado] You like it?
[Chef Einav Gefen] Yeah, I love it. That's so good.
Cuz you get the char, but there's no bitter.
[Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah, there's no bitter, right?
[Chef Einav Gefen] And it's just like a nice hit.
[Sheyla Alvarado] You get that from just burning all the ingredients really, really well,
so they are not so bitter.
I think most of the people have that idea that because it is all burned.
[Sheyla Alvarado] It will be.... Yeah. [Chef Einav Gefen] Too bitter?
[Chef Einav Gefen] And is that traditional to burn the ingredients? Or is it your take?
[Sheyla Alvarado] I think it's my thing. I just love, I don't know — burning things! [Chef Einav Gefen] Burning stuff?
[Sheyla Alvarado] Because I don't think that's a mistake. I think most of the people think that burning stuff — it's a mistake....
And I don't think in Mexican traditions or Mexican food
....it is like that. We have a lot of....
....really, really important dishes that are basically burned so, yeah....
[Chef Einav Gefen] On purpose. We should state for camera. (laughs) [Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah. On purpose! (laughs)
[Sheyla Alvarado] So, we are putting on a little avocado cream.
[Chef Einav Gefen] And what's in the avocado cream?
[Sheyla Alvarado] It has coriander, serrano pepper.
[Chef Einav Gefen] Fresh serrano. [Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah. In the avocado.
[Sheyla Alvarado] So we have like a little cream....
[Chef Einav Gefen] ....And the rolled cucumber and the beautiful radish you just tossed with the mixture was olive oil and....?
[Sheyla Alvarado] And jello. [Chef Einav Gefen] Yellow.
[Chef Einav Gefen] That's gorgeous.
[Sheyla Alvarado] Did you like the radishes? [Chef Einav Gefen] I love the radishes.
[Chef Einav Gefen] Had a nice bitter, crispy texture to them.
[Chef Einav Gefen] You want me to toss the items? [Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah, sure.
[Sheyla Alvarado] Some fresh coriander.
[Sheyla Alvarado] These are garlic flowers. [Chef Einav Gefen] Garlic blossoms.
[Chef Einav Gefen] That's beautiful.
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[Chef Einav Gefen] Chef, what do we have here?
[Sheyla Alvarado] These are suckling pig tacos.
We took away the fat from the pig, and we just put them in the pan and we fry the the pig.
[Chef Einav Gefen] And the pig was cooked before. How did you cook the pig?
[Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah, we make it from like 6 to 10 hours in our "Caja China."
And we we put on a brine from the day before.
[Chef Einav Gefen] And what's in the brine?
[Sheyla Alvarado] We put salt and sugar and some oranges and peppers.
Then we put some tomatillo.
And red onions.
And then we just fry them for like three minutes. And we just serve them in our handmade tortillas.
And we just garnish them with some radishes and avocado cream.
[Chef Einav Gefen] Is there really a Baja cuisine? Or are you defining it really?
[Sheyla Alvarado] I think we are getting there. I think everybody has their ways, or their ideas, or their influences.
[Chef Einav Gefen] You know in the States, people associate Mexican cuisine with, like, the guacamole, the chips and salsa....
[Sheyla Alvarado] I would say, that that's not it. (laughs)
Take the risk. Because I know for most of the people they see Mexican cuisine like a [...], because we....
We are a little bit crazy, and we like to burn things, and we like to make these kind of crazy things for them....
And maybe so they should take the risk to come and try what we are. What we have for them.
[Chef Einav Gefen] Be more experimental? [Sheyla Alvarado] Yeah.
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