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One of the questions that I get asked most often is,
why are you in Mazatlan?
Why did you move out of New York?
And so I've decided,
I'm going to answer the question,
and the reason is pretty simple.
I mean, look at this place.
It is one of the most incredibly beautiful places
that I've ever been.
And it also has something that I really, really love,
which is shrimp.
Some of the most amazing shrimp I've ever had.
It's what keeps me here, along with the beach.
This episode is all about my love letter to Mazatlan.
(upbeat music)
Welcome to Mexico, Pruébalo.
If I see locals eating at a certain place,
it's probably like 70% gonna be a good place to eat.
And then I watch the person cooking.
And if they look like they take pride in what they do,
right?
The people that want to be there,
that want to present you the best food
that they can possibly make,
you can see it in their eyes.
You can see it in the way they do things.
They put the food down and then they wait.
They watch you as you take that first bite.
It's this unspoken exchange.
And when that happens,
I usually know that that's a good place to eat.
And that's what I thought about Ay Papá.
This place is not by the ocean, and it's like
a little hole in the wall, but this is
my favorite aguachile in the city.
An aguachile is similar to a ceviche,
super fresh, raw seafood is thinly sliced
and quickly marinaded in an acidic salsa,
using lemon or lime juice.
But the big difference is that in ceviches,
the fish can marinate for up to 15 minutes,
but in aguachile, it's sauced and served immediately.
It's the shrimp at Ay Papá that push it over the top.
They taste like they just came out of the ocean,
served with salsas that are incredibly flavorful,
and super spicy,
which balance out the creaminess of the avocado
and the sweet brininess of the shrimp.
It was being able to sit outside in the tropical breeze,
eating an aguachile,
even during the darkest and loneliest days of quarantine,
that was enough to keep me optimistic
and really helped me get through it.
So my family is Mexican-American.
My grandparents are from Monterrey and Torreón.
My grandfather loved Mexico.
He loved the culture, he loved the food,
and he would tell me stories about it when I was little,
and it just started my love affair with Mexico.
And then more recently, in 2019,
I decided I wanted to write a book.
And so I wrote a proposal about a regional Mexican cookbook,
where I would go from region to region,
trying the food,
and writing recipes of the things
that I loved eating the most.
I, I visited probably close to 160 cities in this country.
And then, I was traveling
when the pandemic got really bad in New York.
And I had a choice,
I could fly back to New York,
and I figured I would probably just get stuck there.
And I thought, well, if I'm gonna,
if I'm gonna have to be alone for, you know,
at that time I thought, like maybe three or four weeks,
I want to do it by the ocean.
So I was like, all right,
I looked at the map. I'm like, what is the nearest beach?
And Mazatlan? I've heard great things.
I was like, all right, I'm just going to drive there.
Then I'll just wait there until it passes.
When I drove into Mazatlan,
I got here like around five o'clock and the sun was setting
and the city hadn't shut down yet.
So there were still people,
and parties and the bars were open,
and there was an energy here.
It was intoxicating to me. It was like,
I just took a drink of something really
delicious, but also really strong.
And I remember feeling like,
this is exactly the kind of place I wanna be.
And right now where I want to be is Mercado Pino Suárez,
to buy the ingredients for an aguachile
to make in my own home,
a home that I would not have found,
had I not walked to this market almost
every morning during quarantine.
So after it was clear that the pandemic was gonna
last a long time,
I decided that I was gonna start cooking all the recipes
for my book. And so,
if you draw a line from my Airbnb to the mercado,
you have to pass by this house.
And there was a sign out front that said it was for sale.
Finally, like, I was like, you know what?
I want to look inside this house.
I don't know if I'm
really seriously thinking about buying it,
but I would at least want to look at it.
So I reached out to the owners and I made an appointment
and we sat here.
We sat like right here, talking for about an hour and a half
before I even looked at the house
and Sócrates was like,
I guess you came to look at the house, not talk to us.
And I was like, oh yeah, that's right.
I mean, not only did I fall in love with them,
I also loved this house.
I don't know, like, they just put me at ease
and I think that's so true of so many people I've met here.
I lived in New York for 20 years.
You don't look at people in the face,
and you're on guard all the time. Like,
what do you want? Why are you talking to me?
What do you need? Like, what are you after?
And all of a sudden I get into this city and I'm like,
all these people just want to be nice.
They want to share their stuff with me.
They want to share their experiences.
A one thing that I've learned living here in Mexico,
even though it's only been for a short amount of time,
it's I just know that I need to be as good as they are.
It's such a good way to live, and, you know?
And it's like, if you just live your life,
doing good for other people
without expecting anything in return,
it just makes the world a better place, you know?
And in the spirit of giving and generosity,
I want to share this incredible Mazatlecan aguachile
with you.
Okay. So for the aguachile, I'm making two salsas.
The first is a salsa verde.
So I'm gonna take some chiles serranos, an habanero,
some cilantro, some lime juice, a little bit of lime zest,
salt, and pepper.
And blend that up.
(blender whirring)
(salsa pouring in a dish)
Okay. And for the salsa negra, we're using
chile de arbol, chile serrano, chile habanero,
garlic, and soy sauce.
(blender whirring)
(Rick coughing enchilado)
So for the aguachile,
I'm using one pound of large shrimp, cleaned and deveined,
tails removed and butterflied.
Three quarter cup, fresh lime juice,
half of a medium cucumber,
peeled, seeds removed and thinly sliced.
Half a medium red onion, thinly sliced.
Half a medium avocado, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced.
And a little bit of fresh ground pepper.
(soft music)
I hope you've fallen in love with Mazatlan
as much as I have.
And I also want you to try the aguachile,
it's a super simple recipe. It's so incredibly delicious.
If you love shrimp, you are going to love this.
And it's so easy to make.
But more importantly,
I want you to find your happiness and live in it.
11 years ago, I was working in an advertising agency.
I felt like I was stalling in my career.
I always loved to cook,
but I thought that was just my hobby.
That making money and getting ahead,
those were the keys to success and my happiness.
I was wrong.
When I finally got the courage to quit my high salary job,
go to culinary school and make minimum wage as a line cook.
That was when I found real happiness.
Now I wake up every morning, excited to go to work
in this stunning tropical paradise.
Do what makes you happy,
and the money and the success will follow.
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(ocean crashing)