Hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day. It's mark wiens, i'm in tucson arizona. This is a unesco world heritage, gastronomy city known for its food and for its contribution for its heritage of food, and today we are gon na go to what is one of the ultimate legendary restaurants of tucson. It's called el charo cafe.

They are famous especially for inventing they invented the chimichanga, which is essentially a deep, fried burrito and we'll learn all about it. They're also really known for their dried beef. Let me introduce to you tucson's dangling meat cage. Let's go eat at el charo, cafe, legendary mexican food, oh wow, in tucson arizona he's got a good story to tell jeffrey.

You have been telling me about this place for years. This has been on your list for years right. Well, as you know, in extreme foodies uh, we do all origin stories like where were things invented? There are all kinds of arguments about it, which makes it more fun. People say no, that's not true.

This one's, the real one and you shouldn't, say those things. I say the opposite: it makes the food more interesting, it makes a little more fun character, character, builds character and the legend which i'm sure they'll tell you. In 1922, they dropped the uh, a burrito into a fryer and said chimichanga. Apparently she was trying to say something like chingada, but she changed her mind to the last second, and so just just get that quickly before we before we eat the chimichanga.

Just get that in your your your head, create. How is she carrying the burrito like cradling? It like a baby, possibly and just dropped it into the deep fryer on accident. That's what i mean, how many, how many that's the story for so many foods that the accidental deep fry, one thing i started telling jeffrey here - and this is a little bit of a side note - is that you'll see this you'll see this a lot with these Historic and that buildings rock comes from a small, not even a mountain. It's called sentinel peak and back um before tuesday was a big city uh.

The native americans called it, which is where tucson comes from, and that means land by the black hill, because there was a river that flew through here. That was the black run, i'm here for the margaritas. How long has it been since you've had a chimichanga? The last time i heard a chimichanga probably about i mean i want to say 25 30 years, something like that. It's been that long so uh.

I guess it's time to try one out again jeffrey. How long has it been? It's such a funny question. I would have normally thought yeah recently and then, as i think about it decades, it was back in venezuela at a fridays in caracas. I don't even see them on the menu anymore yeah and then, like.

I can't actually remember the last time i made a chimichanga. It was somewhere in arizona and probably when i was a kid but anyways, so that kind of sets the story. That is the the little bit of the history of the chimichanga, which was invented at el chato. Cafe was it 1922 1923, i think 22.

But there's a place that shall not be mentioned in phoenix. The claims was invented in 1946, but i'm like hey, wait a minute. That's a quarter century later next question that i have for you guys. Why haven't you guys had another chimichanga? Why have you had another chimichanga? Well they're, big and oily? What about you? You can't find them, don't see them yeah they're, just i don't fried burrito bring it up.

You know i should clarify. I have had them. Okay, i can't it's just it's actually rare to find, though outside of arizona right yeah. Is it rare to find in california? I think if you were to ask people in l.a when was the last time you had a chimichanga, you would have them so confused and thinking, and they probably wouldn't even remember so you don't you, don't really find it in california.

No, no, it's really. It will be rare. This is ami and she's going to show us the karnaseka cage, awesome cage very nice to meet you cool, let's walk over this way. This is uh, we'll follow you yeah, so el charo 1922 we're going on our 100th year um this upcoming year.

We initially this was a house. So that's what you have on this original location. This is the original location since 1922. Since 1922.

Yes, we did move for a little bit, but then came right back, usually see it full of people, but it is summer time into sansa yeah, so sitting outdoors is only for extreme foodies. It's only for extreme foodies 120 degrees. Up top. You see way up.

There me hanging up there um drying under the sonoran sun. Usually you know in other parts of the country. Maybe you could do it like two three days we have. You know we have this wonderful sun on this wonderful heat, so leave it in there.

One two days: it's sun dries: we bring it down, we shred it real finely we sauteed with onions, tomatoes, green peppers, um and that's how you get your carnage cake so that right there hanging in the sky, literally in the sky, is a cage of carneseka, which Is marinated beef sun-dried in the sonoran desert sun? What a beautiful, beautiful cage! I love that elevation and one of the coolest things is uh. Is that it's it's grandfathered in so it is? It wouldn't be legal anymore right, but because they've been doing it for so long. It's been a tradition. It's been part of the heritage of el chato.

Cafe they're still granted permission to do that because they've been doing it for so many generations. I'm going up going up to the meat cage on top of the roof. Oh yeah. Now this is one of the cooler meat mexican food experiences you could ever have or on the rooftop.

The meat is drying in the cage and now we're at we're at eye level with the meat you can just see it it's. It is starting to turn to a jerky texture. I love naturally, sun, dried meat, it just it it condenses. It increases it magnifies the flavor.

What's up man. Thank you very much. Awesome awesome nice to meet you. Oh so then, after it's dried, it's shredded yeah shredded like a shredder that we have, okay, especially after it dries in the sun, for approximately a day and a half or two days, then it gets shredded and turns to like almost the texture of a meat floss.

You can see it's really dried out. The flavor is condensed um and then that meat, the carneseka, the dried meat, is then fried up with some tomatoes and some onions and that's gon na go into the chimichanga. So israel is going to get started on the chimichanga. So we grow the tomato with the onion, the green chilies, okay and then, when those are nice and caramelized, we add the cornstarch okay i'll, give it a mix, real, quick, all right cool.

Can we just fry for possibly like two minutes? Okay, you got red sauce. I, like the red sauce green sauce, is good uh. Raphael is also good. I think red sauce yeah.

Oh this goes to the oven. Next nicely done yep, so that's ready to go. That's ready after being deep, fried then you can choose your different sauce. There's red sauce, there's green sauce, he added some cheese and then it goes into the oven, the sloven and just on the conveyor belt rolls your chimichanga rolls through the oven once that gums out the other side.

He then tops it with uh. Well, you get some rice and beans on the side. You get some sour cream. You get some cheese on top of it, some guacamole! Oh that looks so good.

What a historic masterpiece of a dish. Okay, what an awesome story! The dangling meat cage! The history of this restaurant, the chimichangas so we're in the one of the rooms which is beautifully decorated. I love the antiques. I love the everything about it looks like mexi.

Papa is already getting started here on a beverage margarita adam's finished already with a beverage. How are the margaritas guys they're really good? This is a special one uh for summer, it's a tamarindo with a little bit of negromandello in it. Is that a jalapeno? Yes, oh that's beautiful and they're about to start on another famous dish that they have. Is your table side mashed up, guacamole, nice.

I love that that fork mesh. So it's not too fine tomatoes, onions, jalapeno cilantro, goes in all right, original shadow style, beef tacos in 1922, when tia monica started, there was only one way to make a taco. You form a ground beef, patty fold it in a tortilla and fry it in a pan, garnish it with peas, radishes and mexican cheese. Try the original, taco and taste.

History can't wait to try that guacamole. One of the things i love about guac like this is the chunkiness of it because you only used a fork, so you've got big chunks. You've got small chunks. You've got some kind of pureed bits, just simple, but fresh yeah.

It's so creamy. You've got that hint of lime, salt and pepper. This is just like nothing extra needed. It is what it is.

It's cool. It's refreshing! It's creamy when you eat a lot of the modern guacamoles that are all cluttered up and distracting you dream and wish over guacamole like this. That's exactly right, like it's everything, it's one of those things, that's everything it needs to be nothing more! Nothing less! Here comes the chimichangas. This one is sauceless, so we've all got a chimichanga, the original monika who again dropped a burrito into the deep fryer to create this masterpiece of a dish and again filled with the cartons which is drying like literally above us, dangling above us.

In the sky, ready guys, let's dig in, are we going fingers? Let's go commando? Oh yeah, it's actually crispy it's! Even though it's got the sauce on it, flaky mm-hmm and that beef for being dry is not too dry. The layers of the tortilla are so are so thin, then the top layer is crispy, of course, and then, as you go down, it's like more gooey towards the meat. That's delicious, rich flavor! Oh wait! This is epic. I think i got shrimp didn't even realize until i like taken through my chin, that i got shrimp now.

This one is filled with shrimp, but then the other one over here. This one is a carne seika, so they do they do sauce it typically, but they also serve it dry like this and that's where you really get it more crispy right, yeah that looks amazing. It's like a giant egg roll we're going inside right. Here, yes, cheers! Oh yeah, oh wow.

First, did you hear the crunch mexican? What do you think and that card inside this is one chimichanga? This is very flavorful and, like you said, a crispy flavorful juicy sauce was just on point that cotton chicken is amazing. It's so flavorful the flavor just condenses in that dryness, it's to the point of a jerky almost but but kind of hydrated a little bit. At the same time, right, oh wow. I think i can speak for all of us that places like this.

Their original authentic care about the history of the recipe i mean this is why we live to eat so incredibly flavorful and then with the crispy tortilla, oh beautiful sauce, i think, for the real deal purity of flavor, the no sauce, the sauce, the dried chimichangas. You really get the mixture of textures the crunch and then it just like the contrast of that dry beef. It's a real honor we've been talking about this place for years, and we made it you've been telling me about this place for years. Yeah and i've never been guacamole on it would be good too wow.

This place goes in this place into the hall of fame yeah of authentic local regional food. The original el chadoro taco, basically hamburger with what peas, cheese and radishes deep fried. So what is this? Taco called again - and this is the one that jeffrey read on the menu - this is truly a homegrown tucson taco right, yeah they're named after ancient giamonica mexico, horseback riders, oh they're, the ones who wear all these big hats. That's a chatter! Let's see what it's all about, that's fun, it literally is like a hamburger sausage patty within a crunchy tortilla wrapper and peas, which is the unlikely topping mexi baby pop.

Are you talking about something different here, though wow you tell me carlos. This is a patty. If somebody invented this today, i would be annoyed. It would annoy me, but knowing it's 100 years old yeah and it's made in kitchens across tucson.

This is badass. God bless tia, monica it's a patty and a taco yeah. It's strangely addictive like once. You start eating it, you can't stop when it comes to local, regional, authentic restaurants.

This place goes into my top ten, like certainly in america and maybe the world. I love el chapo in everything they do here. You can feel that there they really care about preservation of culinary family history. Yeah.

Have you guys already tried the mini chimichangas? I had one when it was hot and it was. It was great great dipped in the guacamole, though, did you have it dipped in the guacamole, of course, mini chimichu a mini chimney with a dip. I would like to personally meet the person who said because this somebody thought of an invention. Well, these are popular caterings.

So who invented these was the was the mini chimney invented after the big chimney yeah or is it a does? It precede the chimichanga? No, this is named after the chimichanga yeah, but it could have been something else, though it could have been just like a deep-fried rolled taco. You know we should reenact what we think all right guys. These are like very common at parties - oh man, the ultimate snack food yeah. I think this is amazing.

I've never been to a party with anything this good. I got ta come get you some more often bro. Oh, if this is a party food in tucson, yeah, adam invited us to a party yeah. The guacamole is amazing.

Okay, everyone mexi dance one, two three, oh man! Oh it's delicious! That's so good! Before i had the green chili version. Now i'm moving into the the red chili chimichanga and just i wan na i wan na just tear into that. So you can see the the oozing carneseka coming out of it mix in a little bit of the pico de gallo. Some of that guacamole even serve guacamole on the side of your plate here, the red sauce and the green sauce, both with totally different flavors with the sauce, is excellent and really good.

But i think just the straight deep, fried chimichanga is the best, because that's when you really notice the textures, you get the crispiness, and for me i mean when you have the sauce on it. You taste the sauce, which is a good thing, but it's also a good thing. When the you have that direct contrast of the crispy tortilla straight into that salty dried beef, i mean to be honest: you can't go wrong a platter or something, and that guacamole is just fantastic. Yes, yes, exactly you do not! That chunkiness is what's key.

The texture, you don't want it to be too pureed, too smooth the larger flavor depth of flavor. The complexity that continues to stick up is truly something special. Do oh, and that is wonderfully refreshing to to end the meal, but overall just a fantastic meal at el chado cafe again the history, the the heritage, the preservation that they invented the chimichanga and it's so good, and then that karneseka that dried beef is just what Will put you over the edge come here when you are in tucson make a pilgrimage here. This is a place that you'll remember.

This is a place with so much character, so much heart and outstanding food. Thank you. We'll see you tomorrow. Okay, definitely there.

In the morning also just want to say a huge thank you to adam the tucson foodie. He has the best food website and food information. All about tucson i'll have his link in the description box below, but he's a great guy uh check out his stuff, and so that completes an amazing meal at el charo. Cafe it the classic heritage, the - and i probably said that, like 20 times in this video, the quality of the food, the depth of flavor from that carne seca, that dried beef, the deep-fried invention of the chimichanga, this is a destination of a restaurant.

Ah, it's so good huge thank you to el chado cafe for having us, and i also want to say a huge thank you to you for watching this video. Please remember to have a thumbs up if you enjoyed it, leave a comment below i'd love to hear from you and if you're not already subscribed, click subscribe and also click the little bell icon. That way, you'll immediately get notified of the next video that i publish. I'm just loving the food in tucson, thanks again for watching and i'll see you on the next video.