♪ ♪ >> Pati narrates: Tijuana.

You've probably heard a lot about this place, but what's the real Tijuana?

It's complicated.

It's a melting pot on a border wall.

People come from all over Mexico in pursuit of one dream or another, bringing their unique culinary cravings with them.

This Mexico is new to me.

No towering cathedrals overlooking peaceful town squares, this place is alive!

Here in Tijuana they're making it up as they go, and you can taste it.

Tacos, tortas, modern mole, Tijuana has it covered, and believe me, I'll be trying all of it.

First bite in Tijuana!

Pati narrates: And of course, I'm bringing the flavors of Tijuana back home to my kitchen.

I'm making an outrageous Tijuana take on a shrimp taco, Tacos Gobernador.

and a show-stopping but easy to put together chorizo stuffed pork loin with a three-chiles adobo sauce.

I over promised, but I really over delivered.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> Pati: If we're gonna get to know Tijuana, we need to get a feel for Baja first.

A vast peninsula, almost 800 miles of beautiful coastline stretching all the way from the United States border wall in the North, to the Southern tip, the Arch in Los Cabos.

To drive it would take over 24 hours, and what some call the ultimate road trip through seaside port towns, wine country, fishing villages and major tourist destinations, but the gateway for this journey is right up here at the top, on the border wall in Tijuana.

We've all heard something about this place, but what's the real Tijuana?

For me, the best place to start is the beating heart of the city, the street food.

(meat cleaver chops) >> Pati: That is the sound of my mouth watering.

>> First bite in Tijuana!

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

>> Pati: Tortas Wash is Tijuana's first torta stand, and this place is legendary.

They only sell one thing, Torta with Carne Asada, that's it, and the name "wash"?

Just look over to the left, Tijuana's first and most delicious tortas are at the car wash.

It has the crust of like a ciabatta, but it goes so well with the meat that is really nicely marinated.

Pati: Tortas Wash is a family-run business since it was founded.

Manuel is one of five brothers who inherited the stand from their father who opened it in 1964.

Like so many delicious things in Tijuana, this torta was born out of a craving.

And remember what I said about people making it up as they go here?

This torta is the perfect example.

What's the story of Tortas wash, because the only thing I know is that it's the longest standing, best tortas in Tijuana.

>> My father started.

>> And your dad came from where?

>> Jalisco, he is from Jalisco.

He was working at Wash Mobile, and the owner at that place asked him to cook something to eat because at that time there was no food around there.

He started selling tacos, and one day he bought some bread for him, and he put meat in the bread - >> Just because he loved bread, or?

>> It was the first time someone did that.

>> It was the first time that instead of doing a carne asada taco they put it in a torta.

>> Yes.

>> And then it became an insane hit?

>> Yeah.

>> Oh, he wants four.

>> This is the best torta of Tijuana.

>> You've been eating these tortas for how long?

>> 54 years.

>> But how old are you?

>> 54!

>> Oh so since you were born - >> If I want tortas, I go here.

>> Oh, a loyal customer!

>> Yes!

>> (laughs) ♪ ♪ >> So here in Tijuana there's - it's like this bottleneck, or this hub of Mexicans from all over Mexico, right?

>> Yes.

>> And when you're telling me about the bread, this is the bread that comes from Jalisco.

It feels like here you guys have no rules, your dad just made the torta he wanted to make.

>> He made the bread, the torta, for him that time.

>> Most of your customers have been here since you were a little boy.

>> Yes.

>> So it's like an extended family thing.

>> Yes, we are brothers, cousins, nephews, brothers-in-law - all of them.

>> What does it feel like to be part of this family tradition and to be carrying it on?

>> A lot of joy.

I'm proud of my relatives and father who started from nothing.

>> You guys kind of did the American dream, but South of the border.

You're living the Tijuana dream.

>> I think so, yeah.

>> Yeah.

(birds chirp) >> The food in Tijuana is so outrageously delicious, especially the street food, and what you find everywhere are tacos.

These tacos that I'm going to show you to make are called Tacos Gobernador.

They have a very tasty and chunky shrimp filling, and they're overloaded with cheese.

I'm cutting one and a half white onions, and some gobernador tacos have poblano chiles, some have green bell pepper, now you know where I stand on this one: poblano chiles all the way, a thousand times a poblano over a green bell pepper because the poblano is just so charming and they have so much depth of flavor.

Five garlic cloves, we're gonna chop them, and I'm using two roma tomatoes cored and seeded.

I have a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, and I'm gonna add 4 tablespoons of butter.

Onion and poblano with butter is like this crazy good combination.

There's something about chiles and anything that has to do with a milk product that tames the heat of the chiles.

And also shrimp!

I mean, shrimp love butter.

Now we're gonna let the onion and poblanos cook 3 - 4 minutes.

We really want the onion to soften and the poblanos to start releasing their heat and flavor.

Delicious, now I'm gonna go get the shrimp.

Mmm.

So I'm gonna cut them into bite-sized pieces, I just want to make these easy for me to assemble, and they also cook more evenly.

I started making these shrimp tacos right after I came back from Baja.

I made them for the boys, and they loved them, and I loved them because you can make a meal for an entire family in 10 minutes.

This is the moment we've been waiting for, which is when the onions have just began to brown.

I'm adding the garlic right now, so now this is gonna go really fast.

I'm gonna add the tomatoes, 3 tablespoons of chipotle in adobo sauce.

You may be wondering why one chile with another chile?

Because chiles love the company of other chiles.

About 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, it's gonna give it a little bit more sweetness.

This looks like such a delicious mess already, and I love delicious messes.

I'm adding 2 teaspoons of your favorite sauce, Worcestershire sauce - "W sauce"!

Half a teaspoon of salt, and I'm gonna add the shrimp right in the middle, a pound and a half, and this looks so pretty already, and I want to cook these just until the shrimp cooks through, I don't want to overcook the shrimp, I want it to be crisp and stay really plump and sweet, I want it to have a nice deep bite when I bite into it, so it's really gonna take a minute.

I'm gonna add my tortillas in the comale.

Shredded Oaxaca cheese - not just a little, I'm adding, like, a mountain of cheese.

When you're making quesadillas or these shrimp tacos, and you want the cheese to melt faster, then you fold it like a quesadilla, and you know why this is incredible?

You want the cheese to start melting, come out of the tortilla and go into the comale and start creating a crust which is what we Mexicans call "Chicharron de queso" which is so delicious my mouth is watering right now.

I'm gonna add the shrimp gobernador mixture right in there, mmm, mmm, mmm!

Oh look at that cheese, that is just perfect, that super messy cheese is just perfect.

Oh, look at that!

A little pickled chile and red onion.

Mmm.

Mmm!

It is so crispy and gooey and tasty, and the shrimp is just cooked to perfection.

You guys, for your next taco night, taco Tuesday, I give you the gobernador taco.

>> Pati: So much of Mexican cuisine is about tradition.

Thousands of years of recipes and techniques passed down from generation to generation.

That is not the story of Tijuana, where the food scene is constantly reinventing itself.

One of the chefs leading the way is this wild man, Miguel Angel Guerrero.

Miguel and his wife Judy own La Querencia together.

They're proud of everything Baja has to offer.

>> We have Baja California with the best seas that we can have.

>> You have the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean.

>> We have a lot of fish, meat, whatever you can think, Baja California Republica has it all.

>> Pati: Tijuana dates back to the late 1800s, not that old by Mexican standards.

Instead of talking about history and traditions, most conversation here is focused North.

>> Tijuana is a very young city still with the most interesting frontier, California.

>> Pati: Being located right on the border of California, Tijuana draws people from every different state in Mexico.

They all come to the frontier in search of opportunity.

>> The opportunity may be to cross the border.

Some people made it, some people didn't, and so they stay here.

>> You have people here that are adventurous.

>> Yes, all the people, they came from Puebla, Oaxaca or Yucatan, they bring their ingredients to Tijuana so we grab them with the products that we have, our fish, our meats, and we made this cuisine.

>> That's still in the making!

>> Yes!

Still in the making.

>> Pati: Chef Miguel truly embodies that adventurous Tijuana spirit.

>> We're going to mix seafood and wild game.

>> Oh!

>> It's gonna be grilled, stuffed octopus tentacle.

>> Surf and turf!

>> Kind of.

>> Pati: From the bounty of Baja, sausage made with deer and jack rabbit, and grilled octopus stuffed with olives and capers.

>> Look at this 'cause I've never seen octopus with potato this way, he has the potato that he turned into spaghetti, and it has - wait, wait, wait!

(crew laughs) >> Under the potato there's jalapeño.

Pati: For creative dishes like this, Chef Miguel relies on his sous chef Maggie who brings more than just a helping hand to his kitchen.

>> Maggie comes from Puebla and she works here with Miguel so it just goes to prove how Tijuana has people from all over Mexico.

>> She brings all the stuff from Puebla and puts it into Baja.

>> So this is the one Miguel did, so here we have the hunter caveman version, Miguel Angel, and then you have the female touch of Maggie.

You can compare, woman power!

Now you're gonna fry it.

This inventiveness and creativity, is that a huge part of the cuisine of Baja in Tijuana?

>> It is, we're making it right now in this moment.

We don't have a cuisine of Baja, we're making it in this moment in particular.

>> Mmm.

Mmm!

It's incredible.

>> I'm glad you like it.

>> You should be so proud!

You have to finish it with me.

(birds chirp) >> In my kitchen here, I already shared with you some shrimp tacos, now wait until you see this Chorizo Stuffed Pork Roast.

We're going to start with a 3-chile adobo, and this is very simple to do because you already know what an adobo is, an adobo is a chile-based sauce that has some seasoning, a little vinegar.

Today we're going to use three chiles, so we have the guajillo which is just a very mild chile that's very pleasing, it's like a comforting base, then we have the pasilla, this is very bitter, and the ancho, which looks very different.

This is a sweet and a little chocolatey, but anyway, you have three very different ingredients that are going to make a really fascinating and rich tasting adobo.

I'm using two guajillo chiles, two pasilla chiles, and two ancho chiles.

One garlic clove, one roma tomato, pour some water just until they're nice and covered, and then I'm gonna bring them to a medium simmer for about 10 - 12 minutes.

While that cooks, I'm gonna get my filling.

Couple tablespoons of vegetable oil, and I have half a pound of Mexican-style chorizo, and I have about 3-ounces of bacon.

I'm gonna add the chorizo.

I always think of chorizo as a happy and lively addition to whatever you add it to 'cause it has so much going on, it has the achiote, it has the chiles, it has a complex flavor that's going to be the base of the filling, and then we're gonna add another meat in here, the pork bacon, and it's gonna start frying in the rendered fat of the chorizo, so mmm, double-mmm, because now the bacon is going to start rendering its fat into the fat of the chorizo.

As the chorizo cooks, it tends to clump together so you have to separate it with your wooden spatula or spoon so you have a filling without big chunks of chorizo.

This is right when you want to add the vegetables and fruits because the chorizo is already nice and crisp.

Half a cup of onion, half a cup of celery, my plantain that I just diced, and a little green apple, 1/3 cup of slivered almonds.

So here you have a little bit of spicy, a little bit of salty, you have that very soft mushy plantain, and then you have that acid green apple and nice nutty crunch of the almond, so this is a delicious filling, so we're gonna let this continue to soften.

We have the chiles that are already rehydrated and plumped up, which means we are ready to make our adobo.

I'm gonna add about a cup of the liquid because we love the liquid, 'cause look at the color, it's not only rich in color but it's very rich in taste, 2 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 a teaspoon, so a little more of allspice, and 1 teaspoon of oregano.

Have a little bit of salt, we are adding some black pepper too.

We're going to puree this until completely smooth, and this is gonna be our 3-chile adobo.

(blender whirs) >> Mmm.

I wanna get the pork loin from the refrigerator.

So we're gonna butterfly this pork loin, and you can ask your butcher to butterfly it for you, but it's really fun to butterfly meat.

You're gonna make an incision about 1/4 inch deep, and then you just start unrolling the meat.

In Mexico we love making stuffed roasts, we call it "lomo relleno".

Cover it in plastic wrap 'cause I want to pound it to make it even.

(pounds meat) >> The great thing about pounding it is that you're also tenderizing it.

We're gonna add some of the adobo on the baking sheet, spread some of that adobo.

Now I'm gonna add the rest of the adobo right on top.

Look at this, I mean, this is just making me so happy.

I love food like this so very much.

It's food that makes you just wanna jump in there, it's an incredibly delicious adobo, and look at the beautiful piece of meat, and look at the filling!

It's just mmm!

So now I'm just gonna start rolling.

Tie it up and cover with aluminum foil.

I'm gonna roast this like this, covered, for 50 minutes.

After 50 minutes, take the foil off, raise the temperature to 400 degrees, put it back in the oven and roast for another 20 minutes, just until it browns on top.

>> Pati: In Tijuana the food scene is unexpected, playful and constantly changing.

One of the reasons for that - Tijuana is bustling with young energy, young tourists, locals and chefs.

The millennial crowd here is driving creativity and demand.

Chef Ruffo Ibarra is one of those innovative new chefs.

We're sharing a drink at Telefonica Gastro Park, a brewery with 10 - 15 delicious food trucks, a favorite local hangout of the young crowd.

So I see you're, like, the young face of Baja.

>> (laughs) There's younger but I'm around there.

We do have a very big movement with young people, very creative people.

Now they're entrepreneurs or restaurant owners or they're opening a food truck.

So what happened is they started a culture movement around food.

>> Everybody's a foodie here.

>> Every truck, every taco stand has a personality.

>> This new Baja cuisine that's really young.

>> Yes.

>> And I'm wondering what ignited the creation of it?

Like was it Tijuana trying to find it's voice?

>> There are two very important chapters of Tijuana to end up where we are right now.

First, it was prohibition in the states, so Tijuana became the party scene for alcohol and gambling.

Second chapter is a very bad chapter for Tijuana, the cartels came down and it got really, really bad.

After this really bad era, we actually do a really good job and get the city back.

We changed the direction from a party scene city to a cultural city.

>> It seems that the number one thing that people are coming for is food.

>> Yes.

>> Pati: One of the many fabulous food trucks here at Telefonica Gastro Park, Humo, is owned by a good friend of Ruffo's.

>> Ruffo!

>> Is he your partner?

>> Yeah, he's one of my best friends.

>> Pati: Chef Giovanni Brassea.

His pork and beef sausages are packed with personality.

>> We have only 3 things on the menu, so that's it.

The one that you're gonna order is gonna be the bacon, and the pork, those are the two favorites.

>> I love it when people tell me what to do in their restaurant!

Pati: This amazing sandwich comes with sweet bacon sausage topped with bacon candy, dijon mustard, cotija cheese and house dressing.

>> I am coming in!

>> (laughs) It's a big bite.

>> This is like - >> The bread is soft, it's crusty but not hard.

You have the sweet, and then you have the mustard which is tangy and a little spicy so it's dijon.

Pati: The hits just keep on coming at Humo.

Giovanni's next sausage is pulled pork and beef topped with red cabbage, paprika, and barbecue sauce.

>> There you go, you need a napkin.

>> Completely different.

A little bit spicy, I love the combination of meats, and then the coleslaw is a little tangy, and the corn is sweet.

>> The way you're describing it, I want to put you over here, just sell the whole thing.

>> (Pati laughs) Okay, so this is the test.

We have to show it to James, because if something is really good, he'll take a bite after I'm done.

>> (Pati laughs) ♪ ♪ >> This is gonna make for an amazing meal, but this is also gonna make for amazing leftovers.

Yes, oh my gosh, and yes it looks gorgeous, and I am so happy right now!

I mean, this is just so festive looking.

>> Mmm, mhmm, mhmm.

It's so incredibly complexly layered, but not in an overpowering way, it is just so festive and so delicious and really talks about what I tasted in Tijuana and Baja, it's all these incredible ingredients that end up being very nurturing, filling family meals.

♪ ♪ >> Pati Narrates: For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit PatiJinich.com, and connect!

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest @PatiJinich.