[light rock music] hola. bien. gracias. mucho gusto. - sí. - god, look at the color. mm-hmm. oaxaca s varied altitude and climate means even simple produce is extraordinary. rising star chef thalía barrios garcía has made the ingredients of her hometown the main draw of her hipster restaurants. oh. okay. these juicy rastrojo and bola tomatoes are grown among oak trees, which conserve water and enrich the black soil
[playful music] [laughs] i feel like i m making a baseball. - [laughs] - oh, god, i m sweating. that s my quesillo! - hey. - oh, my god. look at his, though. i m just gonna say i did this one. wow. y mira. mira, mira, mira. it s the original string cheese. oh, wow. you can taste the milk. - mmm. - it is super lactose-y. [laughter] if you re lactose intolerant, don t eat this. you can make so much with quesillo. - even ice cream. have you tried it? they make it in oaxaca. - no. - it s delicious and amazing. - mm-mm. oh, look at yours. my god. respect to omar. i have never seen so much cheese gobbled so fast.
sí. i always assumed it just came in this shape. [laughter] [light music] back in the city, i want to check out how this local cheese is celebrated at oaxaca s hottest restaurants. star chef celia florián loves innovating with traditional ingredients in her kitchen to create gastronomic magic. hola. un gran placer. - mucho gusto. - ay, mucho gusto. [chuckles] - okay. uh-huh. yerba santa is a local herb that has flavors of anise, eucalyptus, and mint. and since pre-hispanic times, it s also been used for medicinal purposes.
to replace it with a new one of the same make and model. get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. farmers mnemonic [upbeat music] - oh, look at these agave. oaxaca is the land of the agave plant. and where there s agave, there s mezcal the smoky liquor this region is famed for. i ve always been more of a tequila girl myself, so i m off to a palenque, an agave farm, for a little mezcal education in san baltazar chichicapam. and i m excited because this palenque has a maestra mezcalera, which is a female master of mezcal. and it s very rare in the mezcal industry. tequila is only made from blue agave, while mezcal uses a variety of species. so, to see the field out here with all this diverse agave
ziploc. unloc life. sc johnson. [upbeat music] - hi, eva. - hi. how are you? - great. great meeting you. - oh, so nice to meet you. - you too. bienvenida. welcome to the world capital of quesillo. - oh, it s my favorite cheese. food writer omar alonso is passionate about oaxaca s most famous export, a stringy cheese. legend has it, it was created here in the sleepy town of reyes etla, where the locals christened it quesillo, meaning little cheese. - so, yeah, quesillo is a very important part of our diet in oaxaca. - in your sandwiches? - yeah. [dog barks] omar is taking me to meet one of the most distinguished quesillo makers in the region. there s a difference between the industrialized one and the artisanal way?