– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

- I know you're all gonna come to this restaurant.

Don't blow up our spot.

I know, we're actually blowing up our spot, right?

- No, I do wanna share the love.

- Yeah. Okay. We're not gonna gatekeep.

- We're not gatekeeping, no.

- Because this is really good.

[upbeat music]

- Ola, this is Norma. - I'm Saqib.

- From Masala y Maiz in Mexico City.

- And this is "Where the Chefs Eat."

[upbeat music]

[upbeat music continues]

[speaking Spanish]

- If you've never been to Comal Oculto, you have to come.

It's an unmissable spot.

Really delicious, straightforward Mexican food.

- Super good ingredients, great ethics.

And it's a style of food that I feel like people,

when they come to visit the city, they miss it.

- In a city that is getting flooded

by outsiders opening restaurants,

it's really cool to support a neighborhood spot

that it's done by people

from this neighborhood. - From the neighborhood.

- Barbara is one of the co-owners of Comal Oculto,

and we are so excited.

[speaks in Spanish]

[speaks in Spanish]

[speaks in Spanish]

[upbeat music]

[speaking in Spanish]

- [Norma] It's so yummy.

- [Saqib] And they're really talented.

- Mm.

- Look, when you eat in Mexico,

put a little bit of salsa on at a time.

I always make the mistake,

and it's a classic gringo mistake,

to put a lot of salsa on without tasting it first.

There's an issue in Mexico City because of the intense

gentrification that's happening, that-

- In certain neighborhoods. - Some places

in certain neighborhoods,

they're removing the chili from salsas,

- The spice. - And it's the spice,

so then the salsas don't have the heat anymore.

So it makes you very happy to eat food

that does have that heat.

- I know you're a red guy. - Mm, my salsa.

- [Norma] Why do you like red over green?

- I think it reminds me more of desi food

and I grew up eating so much red salsa.

- Mm, I'm gonna argue with that

because wouldn't a green salsa remind you of

a green chutney? - Our chutney.

True.

[speaking foreign language]

- I love green because of the level of acidity that

the materials give to a dish.

Especially when you're eating Mexican street food.

- Yeah.

- That it's more greasy.

It helps you balance and cut the fat.

[speaks in Spanish]

- Yes. - I'm so sorry

you can't have this.

- I know that looks real good, but this...

- Yeah, this is a- - The flautas that I've

been dreaming about and waiting for it to eat again, yes.

- And this is a gordita.

A gordita is like a thick tortilla

that's stuffed with something, I can't talk,

my mouth is watering.

And this is comfy pork shank, chamorro.

And Barbara said to mix these two salsas.

We have the black habenero, green molcajete,

and a classic salsa macha. - Salsa macha.

And I'm having the flautas ahogadas.

Crispy tortillas.

One of 'em is stuffed with chicken and some casillo,

and the other one is with some potatoes.

Like classic, classic flautas.

And then my salsa's a divorciadas.

So mole and a salsa verde.

And I'm very excited.

[speak in Spanish]

- Mm.

This food is delicious. We can't even talk.

I think the biggest compliment of a chef

is when people are having a conversation

and then the food arrives to the table and nobody speaks.

- Mm-hmm.

[upbeat music]

- We're at the next stop. Campobaja.

- [Norma] Our favorite seafood restaurant in Mexico City.

[upbeat music]

- We have a deep love for this spot because

one of our first introductions to it

was during the 2017 earthquake when Chef Alex and his team

opened the restaurant up as like-

- A hub. - A hub, yeah,

to gather donations for all the people

affected by the earthquake.

[speak in Spanish]

I'm so excited.

Chef! [speak in Spanish]

Wow!

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

- Okay. I want an oyster.

- I want an oyster too.

- Norma and I met cooking in the Bay Area in California

and we used to spend so much time eating oysters together

and it was like one of our favorite, favorite trips out.

And so getting good oysters always feels like a treat.

- [Norma] It's super briny, but sweet at the same time.

- What?

Man, he's spoiling us. What a luxury.

- I'm spoiling you. - Ah.

Mm. I think we got two lessons from this.

One, shellfish is very good. And two, I married very well.

[she chuckles] I'm so happy.

[speak in Spanish]

[tortillas crunch]

- Mm, mm.

Mmm!

- You're dancing.

- Food's so good.

- You know what I love? I love tuna and avocado.

- Yeah. - I like cream and cream.

- Perfect Avocado. Perfectly sliced tuna.

Really fatty. Super fresh.

And the ponzo [indistinct] are yeah, just a plus.

I feel like there's so many versions

of Mexico City Tuna pasteros, but this is-

- This is top.

- This is pretty [beep] good.

- I wish you guys could be tasting this right now.

[tortilla crunches]

[speak in Spanish]

- [Saqib] No, no, no, no, no. Okay.

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[speak in Spanish]

[pan sizzles]

- All right, let's switch. - Okay, I'm gonna switch,

because this, - This is all you?

- This [indistinct]

- And I'm here - I'm gonna have a bite

of this too, but this to me is one of the most

interesting dishes in Mexico City,

is a staple of the house now.

My mouth is watering.

Calamari cooked in what would be a [speak in Spanish]

It has soy sauce, it has lime.

The potatoes are cooked in dashi

and it has a confit garlic somewhere in there

that I'm gonna look for it - To just spread on the toast.

- To spread on the toast.

- There it is.

- [Norma] There it is. Look at this beauty.

- And what's amazing, like he's got this upbringing, right,

that grew up with all these cultures and cuisine

that is both Mexican and so influenced

by so many different Asian cultures

because of immigration policies.

And that is a food that is cooking here.

And there's so few places you can have that done.

- Oh my God, have that. - With such effort and care.

- You're a lover of garlic. - I love excessive

amounts of product.

- And this is what he said to do, is like,

kinda like smash the garlic on the toast,

and then this is like calamare.

- And to be fair, there's not,

there's never an excessive amount of garlic for me.

- Eh. - I've cooked her things

where she's like this.

- Because you don't have to smell you

at night. - She's like,

"This is way too much garlic."

- You have that texture of really fresh calamari,

perfectly, perfectly cooked,

but the depth of flavor from the cacahuate con guajillo

it tastes very distinctly Mexican

and not Mexican simultaneously.

All right, I'm ready for it.

- [Norma] Go.

- I love tortillas very much because they remind me,

so I mean the rotes,

the rotes, I went on a study abroad program to Mexico,

to know the Mexico.

- [Norma] And got bettered with lard.

- That's debatable.

Because I'm also a good husband.

- Hmm. - Lobster machaca, cheese.

Perfect roti. [speaks Spanish]

And he said the lobster machaca recipe

is from his grandmother.

- That this is a very homely dish.

This is something that he would eat at home

and the cheese comes from a ranch in Baja.

So the tortilla's just perfect.

- And it's done with lobster because seafood,

because it was living on the ocean,

was cheaper to get than meat.

And so they did machaca

- Than beef. - Machaca with lobster.

Man...

This is really good. [chuckles]

[pan sizzles]

[speaks Spanish]

[upbeat music]

- [Norma] We have arrived to Tlecan,

our favorite bar in Mexico City.

- This is Ellie Martinez's Kingdom.

She is the queen of Mexicans.

- Queendom. - Queendom.

Excuse me, queendom.

[upbeat music continues]

- My favorite thing about this bar,

well one of my favorite things, I love drinking here.

The knowledge and the research around Mexican spirits

is infinite.

I really appreciate,

you don't see any commercial brands around the bar.

There is deep, deep research into direct distillers

and preserving traditions.

There's a lot of small batch things

that you will never be able to taste anywhere else.

[speaks Spanish] The queen is here.

[speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

- Whoa. [speaks Spanish]

[speaks Spanish]

- Hmm.

- [Saqib] Whoa.

- I grew up drinking pulque.

Pulque is a Mez-American drink that is extracted from

a specific type of agave called pulquero.

It's really beautiful. It's an art form.

And for a long time people didn't wanna drink it

because it was considered like a poor people drink

and it had that stigma.

Colonizers, when they were trying to bring wine

and when there was a push to sell spirits in Mexico,

they demonized pulque.

I see in the later years, a lot of bartenders and chefs

doing a huge effort to promote pulque drinking.

- One of the things that we love about working with Ellie

is that, much like Masala y Maiz, she puts her team first

and she focuses on the producers,

on the workers, and the quality.

But she's also like one of the top bartenders in the world.

She has all the awards, like she is

the bartender's bartender. [speaks in Spanish]

She is the queen. The queen of Mexican distillates.

And when you talk to her,

not only does she have this wealth of knowledge,

but this generosity to put everyone front and center.

[speaks Spanish]

[upbeat music]

Thank you so much for joining us

to some of our favorite spots in Mexico City.

Good food, good politics, good sourcing, good stories.

That's what we love about eating at these spots.

Comal Oculto, Campobaja, Tlecan, you can't miss it.

- A lot of soul and a lot of love,

it's put into these places.

I hope the next time you're here, you visit them.

Salut - Thank you.

Salutita.

[upbeat music]

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
restaurant /ˈrestrɒnt/ B1	noun - a place where people pay to eat meals
spot /spɒt/ A2	noun - a particular place or location
delicious /dɪˈlɪʃəs/ A2	adjective - having a very pleasant taste
food /fuːd/ A1	noun - things that people or animals eat
Mexican /ˈmeksɪkən/ B1	adjective - relating to Mexico or its people
ingredients /ɪnˈɡriːdiənts/ B2	noun - the parts of a mixture, especially foods
neighborhood /ˈneɪbəhʊd/ B1	noun - a district or area of a town
salsa /ˈsælsə/ B2	noun - a spicy sauce made from tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers
spice /spaɪs/ B1	noun - a flavoring for food noun - excitement or interest
heat /hiːt/ A2	noun - the quality of being hot or spicy
acidity /əˈsɪdɪti/ C1	noun - the level of acid in something
greasy /ˈɡriːsi/ B2	adjective - containing too much oil or fat
tortilla /tɔːˈtiːə/ B2	noun - a thin, flat Mexican maize pancake
pork /pɔːk/ A2	noun - meat from a pig
oyster /ˈɔɪstə/ B2	noun - an edible shellfish
seafood /ˈsiːfuːd/ B1	noun - animals from the sea eaten as food
tuna /ˈtjuːnə/ A2	noun - a large fish used for food
avocado /ˌævəˈkɑːdəʊ/ B1	noun - a fruit with green skin and creamy flesh
calamari /ˌkæləˈmɑːri/ B2	noun - squid served as food
garlic /ˈɡɑːlɪk/ A1	noun - a strong-smelling plant bulb used in cooking

Key Grammar Structures

• I know you're all gonna come to this restaurant.

  ➔ Future intention with "going to" (informal "gonna")

  ➔ The word "gonna" is the informal contraction of "going to" and is used to talk about a future action that the speaker expects to happen.

• If you've never been to Comal Oculto, you have to come.

  ➔ First conditional with present perfect in the if‑clause + modal "have to"

  ➔ The clause "If you've never been..." uses the present perfect ("have never been") to refer to a life‑time experience up to now, and "you have to" expresses a strong recommendation or obligation.

• I always make the mistake, and it's a classic gringo mistake, to put a lot of salsa on without tasting it first.

  ➔ Infinitive of purpose ("to put") + gerund after preposition ("tasting")

  ➔ The infinitive "to put" explains the purpose of the mistake, while "tasting" is a gerund that follows the preposition "without".

• There's an issue in Mexico City because of the intense gentrification that's happening.

  ➔ Present progressive in a relative clause ("that's happening")

  ➔ "That's happening" uses the present progressive to describe an ongoing process (the gentrification) at the moment of speaking.

• I think the biggest compliment of a chef is when people are having a conversation and then the food arrives to the table and nobody speaks.

  ➔ Present progressive for ongoing actions ("are having", "arrives") within a noun clause

  ➔ The progressive forms "are having" and "arrives" show actions that are occurring at that specific moment, adding vividness to the description.

• I grew up drinking pulque.

  ➔ Gerund after a verb of development ("grow up")

  ➔ The gerund "drinking" follows "grow up" to indicate an activity that was a regular part of the speaker's childhood.

• I think it's a very homely dish. This is something that he would eat at home.

  ➔ Conditional modal "would" + infinitive to express habitual past or hypothetical action

  ➔ The phrase "he would eat" uses the conditional "would" to talk about a typical action he performed in the past (or would do in a hypothetical situation).

• I love green because of the level of acidity that the materials give to a dish.

  ➔ "because of" + noun phrase + relative clause ("that the materials give")

  ➔ "because of" introduces a reason, followed by a noun phrase "the level of acidity"; the relative clause "that the materials give to a dish" specifies which acidity is meant.