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Ah.
(chuckles)
Damn it.
(clicks tongue)
(upbeat music)
Welcome to Mexico.
Pruébalo.
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
Choco and I just drove into Hermosillo,
a town about three hours north of Navajo.
We're here because I love flour tortillas.
I grew up in Austin, Texas eating my mom's
homemade flour tortillas in breakfast tacos.
They're very different here in Northern Mexico
than they are in Texas.
So I've come to Hermosillo to learn about
all the different kinds of styles
and to learn how to make them.
Choco, let's go.
Ruben Leal is a friend of mine
who grew up here in Hermosillo
and now has an artisanal flour tortilla business
in Lawrence, Kansas.
It's become so popular.
He ships tortillas all over the US and Canada.
We're meeting at one of his favorite places
for breakfast tacos to talk about how much we love
flour tortillas.
- [Ruben] These are one of my favorite tacos of all time.
So these carne asada, I could have this for breakfast
every single day.
- I grew up eating flour tortillas.
And I remember when I was little,
I was like eight years old,
I would come into my grandmother's house
and just like these perfect stacks
of flour tortillas and hers were thicker.
And then my mothers were a little bit thinner
and she had a rolling pin.
And I remember, you know
when I would come home from college,
she would ask me what I want to eat when I came home.
And I would always tell her I want chili colorado
because it was one of the only dishes
that when she made chili colorado,
she made homemade tortillas.
- Okay.
- And that was a special occasion and I knew it.
And I would open the door
and then I would hear the clicking
of the rolling pin on the marble.
And I just like, I'm gonna cry thinking about it,
but it's like such a beautiful memory.
Flour tortillas for me are just such connection to home
and to my mom.
- Yeah.
Same as you growing up.
I ate a lot of flour tortillas
and actually all the way maybe to junior high,
my dinner consisted of flour tortillas and beans.
So it was a bean taco.
My mom used to make those every single, I'm not kidding you,
every single night, I had a bean taco
for dinner. - So good.
- So good.
A Sonoran-style flour tortilla and, so good.
Every single day of my life growing up.
- That was an amazing breakfast.
It was so great to see Ruben again
and to share our memories of home
and family and why we both loved tortillas.
We're heading over to a tortilleria now
to see how a local business has become
a part of so many family traditions
here in Hermosillo. - Wow. That smell.
- Oh my God.
- So this is a traditional tortilleria here in Sonora.
You got your typical flat top.
That is extremely hot.
- [Rick] Wow. Truest.
- [Ruben] And you got your electric press, which
- [Rick] That's so amazing. - [Ruben] Yep
It removes the rolling of the tortilla.
It precooks it.
It's ready for it to roll.
Soar it around as you can see.
And what they're doing,
they're just kissing it with really high heat
to bring that browning, which is the flavor
and off they go.
- Ooh
They're so soft.
They're so different.
Actually, they're really different than the ones in Sinaloa.
There's a lot less gluten in them.
I think also because they're not rolled.
When you roll them, you develop the gluten
because these are just pressed,
It's super, super soft.
They're very buttery.
The texture is amazing. Oh.
Hmm.
You just eat these all day.
And now we're off to a taqueria to try the taco caramelo.
The namesake of Rubens tortilla company back in Lawrence.
(people chattering)
Ah, it smells amazing.
- [Ruben] I know.
I love the smell of Mesquite.
- [Rick] I Know. Oh my God, look at that.
Wow. Okay.
So where are we?
- [Ruben] We are in Taqueria El Chambarete.
Typical taco stand, shop in Hermosillo.
(upbeat music)
- The reason why I wanted to come here with you
is because I want you to explain to me what a caramelo is
and why you named your business after it?
- Carmelo taco is pretty much a flour tortilla
like the one we make in Kansas.
Cheese, a melting cheese either, you know
Chihuahua or Oaxaca and carne asada, real steak.
That's it, pretty simple.
That's a caramelo taco.
So it's pretty much paying homage to
the taco I ate growing up.
- Well, I think we should try it.
- Let's do that.
Yeah. Cause this looks amazing.
- I know. Oh my God.
- Lemoncito
(people chattering)
- I love your tortillas.
- Thank you.
- And one of the things that I love about your story
is that you are actually from Sonora.
I didn't know about Sonora
or the tortillas here and the third dinner
but also to the innovation that you brought, you know
making 'em with duck fat, making them with avocado oil.
You opened a business, you grew the business.
And now you're tortillas sell out in four minutes.
- Sometimes, you know, everything has happened so fast.
There is moments that I stop
and I tell to myself, wow, you know,
look what's going on.
And I get a goosebumps.
- Ruben has done so much to share with the world
a beautiful part of Sonoran culture
through the food that he makes.
Now, I wanna show you the beauty of how
those tortillas are made.
Specifically a sobaquera, an iconic, giant tortilla
famous across this part of the country.
(instrumental music)
I couldn't just sit back and watch.
I really wanna learn how to make them myself.
And one of the owners, Patricia Covarrubias
is going to show me how.
Damn it.
(upbeat music)
After several tries, I finally got it.
It was a lot harder than it looked.
And it looked pretty crazy.
Now we're off to meet up with some friends,
Andres Ramirez and Kiki Morfin
who are grilling up some steaks for our carne asada,
the Mexican equivalent to an American backyard barbecue.
While Ruben and I are grilling up some
normal size tortillas to go along with it.
So I know you make 7,000 tortillas a day.
Today, we only need 30.
So can you do it?
- We're gonna try.
It's been a while since I've made small batches
but I think we'll be pretty okay.
So let's figure it out.
Yeah. - Okay.
- Mix the flour and salt together
until it's completely incorporated.
Heat the water and the lard until the lard is melted.
And make a well in the center of the flour
and slowly pour it in.
Use your fingers to mix the dough
pressing together any loose bits of flour.
Once it all comes together into a smooth dough,
cover and let it rest for about an hour.
While we're waiting,
let's fire up the grill and get those steaks going.
(upbeat music)
Now, let's finish the tortillas.
Pinch off ping pong sized pieces of dough
and roll 'em in the palm of your hand until a ball forms.
Press a roll into seven inch rounds
and cook on a hot grill or griddle or comal
until puffed and brown in spots on both sides.
It's really beautiful.
And I love the grill marks.
I've never seen a grilled fire tortilla.
So we should try it?
- Let's try it.
Okay.
See how soft it is?
- Wow. You, so you can smell the lard
and you can smell the smoke.
I love that. Wow.
How do you make a flour tortilla even better?
Grill it.
This is amazing.
Thank you so much.
- [Ruben] My pleasure.
- And I really want you to try and make your own.
They're really, really easy.
You can grill them.
Sonoran-style tortillas are amazing.
And we'll see you next time on Pruébalo.
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(woman speaking in foreign language)
Choco
(woman speaking in foreign language)
Choco