the market for 30 years. anthony: whoa, that s awesome what he s doing. he s cooking the egg right on the comal. oh man. so the guy working the comal. first of all, a lot of comal you see now are metal. that s old school, super old school. that s the way they did it in zapotec times, man. alejandro: yes, correct. anthony: on the clay comal, and i mean, i m looking and he is doing our tortillas, and he s doing one of my favorite things, the zucchini flowers with the string cheese. ah, that s so pretty to see. olmedo s cooking, his focus, his passion, have very old, very deep roots. alejandro: my parents were farmers. in the small village like mine, since you are 6, 7, 8, you have a role to develop in the family. anthony: right. alejandro: so my role was to water the chile plantation, the tomato plantation, to milk the cows, and help my mom while she was making tortillas like that, she would give me directions and tell me, okay, roll the chiles, roll the tomatoes, i ll tell
see now are metal. that s old school, super old school. that s the way they did it in zapotec times, man. alejandro: yes, correct. anthony: on the clay comal, and i mean, i m looking and he is doing our tortillas, and he s doing one of my favorite things, the zucchini flowers with the string cheese. ah, that s so pretty to see. olmedo s cooking, his focus, his passion, have very old, very deep roots. alejandro: my parents were farmers. in the small village like mine, since you are 6, 7, 8, you have a role to develop in the family. (vo) i was born during
ingredients define not only the mescal, but also the food. alejandro: one of the main reasons people visit our city is to eat. anthony: this is alejandro ruiz olmedo, one of mexico s best chefs. he started cooking young. when he was 12, his mother died, and it fell on him to raise and feed his five siblings. alejandro: this is what we call pasajo. anthony: today, he draws much of his inspiration from oaxaca s central market. anthony: probably america s beloved food is what they think is mexican food. alejandro: yes. anthony: and i think most american s view of mexican food is like beans, fried tortilla,
alejandro: one of the main reasons people visit our city is to eat. anthony: this is alejandro ruiz olmedo, one of mexico s best chefs. he started cooking young. when he was 12, his mother died, and it fell on him to raise and feed his five siblings. alejandro: this is what we call pasajo. anthony: today, he draws much of his inspiration from oaxaca s central market. anthony: probably america s beloved food is what they think is mexican food. alejandro: yes. anthony: and i think most american s view of mexican food is like beans, fried tortilla, melted cheese, some chicken. alejandro: yes. anthony: in fact, but particularly we re talking about oaxaca, this is a deep, really sophisticated cuisine. alejandro: that s correct. oaxaca has this different micro-climates all over our territory and that gives us this
anthony: on the clay comal, and i mean, i m looking and he is doing our tortillas, and he s doing one of my favorite things, the zucchini flowers with the string cheese. ah, that s so pretty to see. olmedo s cooking, his focus, his passion, have very old, very deep roots. alejandro: my parents were farmers. in the small village like mine, since you are 6, 7, 8, you have a role to develop in the family. anthony: right. alejandro: so my role was to water the chile plantation, the tomato plantation, to milk the cows, and help my mom while she was making tortillas like that, she would give me directions and tell me, okay, roll the chiles, roll the tomatoes, i ll tell you how to prepare the molcajete salsa. so that was the beginning of my profession. cooking, learning from the knowledge of how a tomato should taste like when you cut it directly from the plant. anthony: the way it should taste. alejandro: that s right. anthony: oh, man. happy. alejandro: this is what you