BBQ - Rosalia Chay Chuc

[bunniefuu]

My grandparents used to tell us...

that they had this type of maize
back in the ruins.

The ancient ones.

It doesn't exist anymore.

When you get there...

there's a wind you can feel.

Soft.

Very cold.

And you can feel the sounds.

It's almost as if it was a spirit.

That land is the last connection
to the Maya.

Many people in Mexico do not believe
that Maya life is important.

If we don't rescue our Maya tradition,

all our beliefs will be lost.

NETFLIX PRESENTS

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL
DOCUMENTARY SERIES

YAXUNAH, MEXICO

The ancient Maya empire was
a strong culture with a lot of knowledge.

They used to have
very detailed history books.

But when the Spaniards came,

they b*rned thousands of them.

{\an }They had to pass all information by mouth.

{\an }RICARDO MUÑOZ
AUTHOR & CHEF, AZUL RESTAURANTES

Nevertheless, there are things
that still survive, 

like the language and cooking.

Yaxunah is a small town

in the central part
of the Yucatán Peninsula

where indigenous Maya are still cooking
like the Maya did a thousand years ago.

In this particular part of the country,
they developed the pib,

which means the underground oven.

This is where barbecue started.

YAXUNAH

{\an }When I came across
the food in Yaxunah...

{\an }ROBERTO SOLIS
CHEF, RESTAURANTE NECTAR

...I was really surprised.

Many of the people in town
are very good cooks.

But the one I keep going back to
is Rosalía.

Rosalía makes a cochinita pibil...

almost identical to what the Maya did
in the ancient times.

When you cook the pork in the earth,

you get a dish where you feel
the smokiness of the ground.

It's a connection with how we used to eat.

And that connection
is what makes it special.

Rosalía will receive anyone
that is willing to experience this.

People have to be very clear.

This is not a restaurant.

You are coming to Rosalía's house.

Don't expect a tablecloth
and silverware.

You come for the opportunity

to be tasting something
that is very old and very delicious.

If you are gracious enough
to appreciate that,

it's something
that you're not gonna forget in your life.

Go ahead, turn, turn, like that, yes.

I learned to sew huipiles with flowers

because my mother taught me,
and her mother taught her.

I'm very happy to have this knowledge...

that I have had since I was a kid.

I feel like this is important.

It's what identifies us as Maya women.

And our traditional food is the same.

The food we prepare represents who we are.

I'm a traditional Maya cook.

When I was a girl,

I used to come with my grandparents
to the cornfields.

After the harvest,

we'd come back to my grandparents' home
to cook tortillas.

Don’t make it too big, girl.

Also, it’s very big.

She'd give me some dough.

She'd say, "If it didn't come out right,
do it again."

I'd watch her work.

That's how I learned, little by little.

When I was seven...

I learned how to make tortillas by hand.

Being from a Maya community,

everything we consume
comes from the earth.

My grandparents believed

that it was healthier for the family
to only eat what we grew ourselves.

This way of life...

made me feel very proud.

Whenever there's a party,

we cook cochinita pibil.

When the Maya cook the cochinita pibil,

it is a very religious, ancient moment.

This is a ceremony.

They invite the neighbors
and the family to cook.

Everybody dresses how they used to do it
years ago.

The ladies prepare the meat.

And the guys make a pib.

They put stones
and big chunks of wood...

and they fire
until the stones get really hot.

They started to do it in the year .

It's the oldest of all of the barbecues.

We cut up the pork
as soon as we're ready to cook,

and we harvest the ingredients.

I don't need to measure.

It's all in my head.

I prepare the spice paste.

It's made with fresh achiote.

I add a little bit of orange juice.

And then I marinate the meat.

I add the plantain leaves.

Then we bury it in the ground.

The moment they put the pot
under the ground,

that means you are giving back
to the earth

what you took from the earth.

They leave it overnight.

First thing in the morning,
when they take it out,

the meat, it's so tender,
falling apart with all these juices.

You put it in a nice tortilla.

In Mexico, there are
more than , different kinds of tacos,

but there is one that stands alone,

and that is cochinita pibil.

COCHINITA PIBIL

Growing up in my town...

it was very secluded.

All the roads are dirt roads.

There are no buses, no bicycles.

There were no phones either. Nothing.

But then, the internet arrived in Yaxunah.

And the roads were paved.

Many families left the town.

Many people felt that Maya culture
wasn’t important anymore.

No one was interested in following
everything our grandparents taught us.

My father taught me how to speak Spanish.

He'd tell me, "If you only speak Mayan,

you won't be able to get
a decent job in the city."

But I wasn’t interested
in having a modern life.

I didn't want my life to change.

Corn is the base
of the entire Mexican Maya cooking.

Without the corn,

we wouldn't be able to build
the Maya cities and this culture.

According to the Popol-Vuh,
the Bible of the Maya,

we are sons of the corn.

In Mexico,
we have , different kinds of corn.

Specifically in Yaxunah,

there are many endemic varieties.

Sadly, they are struggling.

Globalization is changing everything.

Every Mexican thinks,
because he's eating a tortilla,

he's eating the real corn.

But it's a lie.

Most of the restaurants in Mexico,
they buy the masa,

and, of course, with mass production.

Most of the time, they mix it with wheat
and they put preservatives.

When you get to Yaxunah,
you see the effort

people are putting into making sure
that the corn will stay the same.

Most chefs in Mexico don't see
traditional ancient cooking important,

and there is discrimination
of indigenous people.

But without corn, there is no country.

If we lose this,

we lose our identity.

Stand and fan, so that it’s quick.

-Did you hear me?
-It’s not lighting up.

It’s going to light up. Stand and fan.

I'm standing.

That’s it. See how it’s lighting up?

What do I put now?

Go get water and wash the comal.

-Do I go get water?
-Yes.

When I was ,

I married Ernesto.

He worked as a construction worker.

That's how we were able to get ahead.

We had four children.

I want my children to learn how to do
all the things I know how to do.

But that's a little hard.

I spend the whole day
cooking for my family.

Also farming and all that.

Ernesto helps me with everything.

But things aren't the same anymore.

My children don't have the time.

They're more focused on studying.

Jeni, what did you eat at school?

One of those sandwiches sold by the lady.

That’s all she had today.

-Did you finish all of your homework?
-Yes.

I want my children to have a better life.

But I’m worried they won’t learn
about Mayan traditions.

I’m afraid that the day I die...

all of this will be abandoned.

Pour more.

Is it not falling?

No, it’s not falling.

One day, two chefs came to my house.

Ricardo and Roberto.

I was going through the Yucatán,
finding new ingredients for my restaurant.

Somebody told me to see
this group of people.

At the time, Chef Ricardo Muñoz was here.

He's an investigator of Mexican food.

I said,
"Ricardo, let's go to this town."

When we got there,

there was a type of wild boar

that was at least a thousand years old.

I asked them how we should cook it
because I didn't know how they ate it.

Rosalía says, "Let's make a cochinita."

I was like,
"Okay, let's make a cochinita."

I started making the spice sauce.

And I kept thinking:
"Is it going to be tasty?

I don't think they'll like it."

When I took a bite,

it was...

one of my greatest moments in my life.

I told them,
"What you have here is a diamond."

They looked at me like if I were crazy.

And I said, "This is a national dish."

Nobody in Mexico or in the world
is still doing it like this.

I asked them,

"Can you cook with me next week in Tabasco
at the Chocolate Fair?"

I said...

"I've never left my town before. Never.

I can't go."

But my family insisted.

They wanted me to go.

Transportation came to Yaxunah.

Where were we going?
Who was coming with me?

It was the first time I ever traveled.

It was such a long trip.

VILLAHERMOSA, MEXICO

I was so nervous.

PAID PARKING

The city was so much bigger
than my little town.

I saw many different things.

There were many people staring at me.

Look at that corn.
It seems like it’s getting wasted.

True.

I was surprised
by all the products they sold.

There was a lot of food, frozen food even.

You don't find any hand-made tortillas.

I wondered what people would think
when I arrived at the festival.

I'm just a woman from a small town.

I felt so different from them.

The Chocolate Fair is
a very important festivity

to honor Mexican cooking.

On the first day, there were , people.

TH FESTIVAL OF CHOCOLATE,
TABASCO

I took the ladies on the stage
to do a demonstration

of how to make the cochinita pibil.

This took me by surprise.

I was never told I'd speak
in front of so many.

We got onstage.

But my partners weren't able to speak.

They don't speak Spanish.

So, I thought...

"If I don't do it myself, who will?
I have to do it.

I have to do this."

Little by little, I explained
how to make the cochinita.

It was such an intense moment.

There was this connection
with the people.

After that,
there were lines and lines and lines

to buy the cochinita pibil tacos.

People came by. They got closer.
They'd ask me:

"Where are your huipiles from?

Where are you from?"

I was so excited.

I never thought they would be
so interested in our stories.

When I got married,
this wasn’t like this. It was just soil.

You’re right, back then it was just soil.

The weddings, the Janal Pixán,

the celebrations and the imageries
are all becoming things of the past.

-Everything’s disappearing.
-Everything. Absolutely.

Young people say:

"I don’t like to speak in Mayan.
I’m embarrassed when I speak it.

-I don't want to wear a huipil."
-Yes.

We must keep what our ancestors taught us.

Yes.

The Maya believe
that once you finish harvesting,

you perform a ceremony to the spirits.

They're called the Aluxes.

You offer them atole
so they'll take care of the cornfields.

Since there are four cardinal points,

you offer them four bowls.

If you don't do that,
the Aluxes will leave.

The way we sow...

and harvest our food is important.

We have to take care of the cornfields.

But nowadays, many people...

fumigate and contaminate the fields.

That's why, little by little,

we started losing
the most original seeds we had.

Roberto came to visit again.

He said, "I brought another chef.

His name is René Redzepi."

René Redzepi changed the world of cuisine.

His restaurant, Noma, has been awarded
two Michelin stars.

So I invited him to Yucatán.

It was really surprising for him to find
all these new ingredients.

He was falling in love with our flavors.

He got to a point where he was like,
"I want to do a pop-up."

René said, "I'm going to open
a restaurant in Tulum.

I want to invite you to come
make tortillas at my restaurant."

When I was a little girl making tortillas,

I never imagined I'd be cooking

with people that came
from so far away.

Never.

When I came to the restaurant,

I was surprised to see so many utensils
I had never seen before.

They had large blenders.

They had pans.
Things I'd never used before.

I was very excited.

Noma Tulum was a clear understanding
of a Danish chef,

taking the style of the Danish people,

but bringing the flavors out of Mexico.

The pop-up made the world understand
and appreciate Mexican heritage.

Tiniest mango I've ever seen in my life.

This one is from Veracruz,
it's called a "manguita."

They were teaching people

where our ingredients are harvested from.

That way, all the world
will know about them and Mexico.

They were sharing everything.

Just the way my parents
and grandparents taught me everything.

I realized...

I am a Maya woman. This is my job.

I must share
our traditions with the world.

When I got back to my town,
I wanted to invite people to my kitchen.

I told my son, "Come here, Carlos,
help me with this.

You need to teach me how to go online."

My son showed me how to communicate
using that technology.

Then I realized people were
sending me messages.

People started coming.

-Hi, welcome.
-Thank you.

Welcome. Come in. Have a seat.

Today, I'm going to talk to you
about what you're about to eat.

They're panuchos and tamales colados.

Made with the cochinita pibil
we make ourselves here.

I myself make the spicy sauces.

I even started teaching about the way
we cook things,

where we harvest the ingredients.

Achiote is a grain we grow ourselves.
The plants are right outside.

People from all over the world started
to come to Yaxunah

just to eat the cochinita pibil.

People from Japan, from Italy, everywhere.

Our traditions cannot be forgotten.

Right now, the whole world
is interested in rescuing them.

The meat from smaller pigs is much softer.

That's why they called it "cochinita,"
because it's made of small pigs.

I love it.

PANUCHO
STUFFED TORTILLA

It's done by noon.
From early in the morning till noon.

It takes about five hours.

Five hours?

FRIJOLES CON CHILE
BLACK BEANS AND CHILI

These are tamales colados.

It's boiled corn that's then ground
and strained.

TAMAL
GROUND CORN WITH PORK

And these are blackened chilies
and stuffing.

RELLENO n*gro
SLOW COOKED TURKEY, BLACKENED CHILI

Let's check the corn.

See if it's ready for harvest.

This one was eaten by a bird.

-It’s spoiled.
-It’s ruined.

-This happened because a bird ate it?
-Yes.

-Yes, they eat the tip...
-That’s why you should fold it,

so the birds don’t get to it.

The birds peck at it,

and that makes it spoil.

When the birds sit on it...

-If we don’t fold them...
-they ruin it.

They peck at it and open it,
then the rain makes it rot.

-Yes...
-It gets wet and it rots.

-Did you understand?
-That’s right.

Here.

I'll never leave Yaxunah.
I wouldn't think of it.

I'm happy with everything I have.

My son tells me sometimes,

"I want to travel far away."

And I say, "First you need to learn
how to work, then you can travel."

I tell my daughter,
"One day, you're going to leave.

With the time that you have left here,
learn from what I'm doing."

-Should I add more?
-Yes, go ahead.

I'm your mother,
you need to learn what I know.

Because if you go to some place

and they ask you...

"Who are you?

Where are you from?"

You'll know.

You'll always have your homeland.