This dish is rodrigo s tribute to the meteorite that made mexico. is it, like is it beef or deer? - it s like beef jerky. it s very common right here. - dried beef was one of the original survival foods of nuevo león, and rodrigo uses it as the base for a local stew known as atropellado. in mexican stews, more time, more flavor. - the finished product is this pot of tender, herb-infused beef. - looks like a meatball. - yes. yes. - 12 grams. - each one have to be 12 grams. - exact? okay. - yes, exact. - flour tortilla. - you want bitter. - okay.
Is now at the forefront of gastronomy in nuevo león. muchas gracias. - salud. - this is amazing. okay everyone, our mission is complete balanced nutrition. together we provide nutrients to support immune, muscle, bone, and heart health. yaaay! woo hoo! ensure with 25 vitamins and minerals and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein.
- hola! - hi, eva. how are you? - good. nice to see you. i ve come 30 miles north of monterrey to meet ranch manager jorge montemayor to collect a cherished ingredient that s been on the menu in nuevo león for thousands of years. so you raise them here and then let them go? - yep. - rancho del puerto, one of the hundreds of ranches in nuevo león, specializes in deer farming. - so we have, like, three or four breeding pens, with 20, 25 does per stud. - mm-hmm. so there s only one man in here? - yeah. - and these are his ladies. - his ladies. - so are they all pregnant? - right now? we hope they are. [laughs] - oh. the deer may be bred in captivity, but then they re freed to roam, just like their ancestors did. there s many stone carvings made by the nomads who lived here 8,000 years ago that depict the food they hunted.
- oh, i love that sound! that s my favorite sound in the world. - we call it carne asada, but we don t have to grill meat every time. it s about the gathering, about being together. - the fire unites us. [speaking spanish] this is what happens when you get united by fire. [speaking spanish] - sí, sí. - cooking over fire goes all the way back to the nomads, the first people to live in this harsh terrain, constantly moving camp in the hunt for food. but it was the spanish in the 1500s who introduced hardy breeds of cattle that thrived in nuevo león. and for the regios, beef has been king ever since. oh, my god, look at that. - these are most traditional cut of beef. - what s that called? - oh. - okay. are you making filets right now?
To have this sort of restaurant? like, elevated cuisine from nuevo león. - yes, it s meat and carne asada - yes, that s what the people think. - everybody has a grill, so why do i need you? - totally, totally. - so it s not just about taste. - that s right. yeah. - okay, so are you putting me to work now? [laughter] okay. what are we making? - well, let s do it. - okay, let s go to the kitchen. - are you guys working? - yes. - okay. all right. just making sure. so to understand this recipe, we need to go back in time. like, way back to when a giant meteorite struck the yucatán peninsula, wiping out much of life on earth, but triggering the growth of the flora and fauna of the modern world.