i mean, if you could smell this right now, you d be yelling for it too. - so this one, we buried yesterday. - the big reveal. - yes. yeah. - [gasps] oh, wow. can i take the banana leaf off? - yeah, please. - look at this! [gasps] look at that. look at the juice. oh, my god. it s just, like, falling off! oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. well, i need more now. i mean, you can taste the comino, the clove. that sour orange really is - yeah. sour orange and the spices, no? wow. - mm-hmm. mmm! - my mouth is watering now. - watching me? - yeah. - [chuckles] - so i wanted you to try, like, the normal way. - mm-hmm. - and also, i want you to try my way,
this is gorgeous! - [chuckles] - how are you? oh, you look so handsome in your chef s clothes. - welcome. [laughs] - known as the recado king, roberto s star of the menu tonight is his black recado. are we doing the spices here? - well, yes. we re gonna grind the spices here. - all right. - but actually, we re gonna burn the spices here. - ooh! - [laughs] we have onion, oregano, cumin, garlic, annatto seeds, the pepper. - uh-huh. roberto is making his recado negro from scratch. - so if you want to start. - yeah. what do i do? with me as his wingman. we put it in here? - yeah. - oh, my god! [laughter] - good. - i already i already messed up. ok. - put some cumin. just a little bit. - a little bit? - like a spoon. yeah, that s good. - what is this one called again? - annatto seeds. you can put more, more, more, more, more, more. - the spices are lightly toasted, but when it comes to the chili. it s burning! [laughs] we crank up the heat. - the more you burn the chili. - the less hot. -
i mean, if you could smell this right now, you d be yelling for it too. - so this one, we buried yesterday. - the big reveal. - yes. yeah. - [gasps] oh, wow. can i take the banana leaf off? - yeah, please. - look at this! [gasps] look at that. look at the juice. oh, my god. it s just, like, falling off! oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. well, i need more now. i mean, you can taste the comino, the clove. that sour orange really is - yeah. sour orange and the spices, no? wow. - mm-hmm. mmm! - my mouth is watering now. - watching me? - yeah. - [chuckles] - so i wanted you to try, like, the normal way. - mm-hmm. - and also, i want you to try my way, which is the way we serve it at the ixi im restaurant, so. - ok.
[laughter] - i m just teasing. this is one of roberto s signature dishes: onion tempura. with the recado? - with the recado. yeah. why not, right? - oh, my god. roberto adds the recado negro to the tempura batter. - so i m gonna dip this. - and like everything else in yucatán, it s a slow process. - yeah. - [laughs] - it s time-consuming. - yeah, it is. - oh, my god. these are gorgeous. so the black doesn t mean it s burnt. it s just the color. - exactly. - mm-hmm. - oh. - these beautiful blackened onions are presented on a bed of charcoal. have you had to tell some clients not to eat the charcoal? - you know, it s funny because some people just - cause it s the same color. - and everybody like. [laughter]
- all right. i think i just pulled a muscle. - i think we are, yeah, just finished. amazing. - how do you know if it has the right balance? mmm. ooh, that smells great. - yeah. it s good. - now, we re gonna add. - the orange. - the sour orange. why am i doing all the work here? - [laughs] [speaking spanish] - i don t know how much to put. - [speaking spanish] - then you mix it, no? - yeah. it looks so weird, huh? - no, it looks amazing. - you re like, yeah. [laughs] - oh, wow. oh, my god. that is so complicated. - [laughs] yes. - let s put this on something. - yes. so first, we re gonna get this white onion. - mm-hmm. - are we making yucatán onion rings? - i think it s a bit more than that, but. [laughter] - i m just teasing. this is one of roberto s signature dishes: