Pati’s Mexican Table Season 9 explores one of Mexico’s largest states: Sonora. Pati travels the rugged, stunning terrain of the Sonoran desert to the sparkling, bountiful Sea of Cortez. She meets the inspiring and creative chefs behind Sonora’s bold cuisine along the way. Sonorans say they’re Mexico’s best-kept secret. Join Pati as she shares their secret bite by delicious bite.

If you’re fighting a war, how do you cook food on the run? What sort of meals can you make around ranches, porches, and rustic bonfires? What might Pancho Villa or Emiliano Zapata have eaten? This episode looks at the culinary legacy of the Mexican Revolution.

This episode shows us how to pick and prime the perfect Mexican avocado, then walks us through three great recipes. As a bonus, she learns how to make an avocado martini from one of the top bars in Mexico City.

Meet the tomatillo–this small, plump, green fruit was a favorite of the Aztecs and stars in any number of Mexican dishes today. Its tart flavor is worlds apart from the taste of tomatoes, but is just as juicy and unforgettable. This episode will show you where to find tomatillos, how to cook with them, and tips and tricks for creating amazing dishes.

Aren’t convents supposed to be austere, dull places? In Mexico, everything’s a little more colorful–including the food of Catholic nuns. Delicious, labor-intensive mole is probably the most well known food to come out of the convents, but this show will explore some slightly easier, but just as tasty.

In Mexico, it’s not uncommon to find both food and water deliciously flavored with hibiscus flowers. Commonly known as Jamaica, it has an intensely herbal, fruity taste. This episode will show us some of the places you can buy it in the US, then share recipes that include it.

What’s on the menu at a typical Mexican picnic? Are some foods, like hot dogs and hamburgers, universal? Turn your backyard into a little slice of Mexico by tweaking some old standbys. Learn how not only Mexican food has been adapted outside of Mexico, but also how American dishes have been transformed in Mexico.

A Mexican brunch is the perfect way to ease into the weekend. What kinds of recipes are truly Mexican but truly inspired, too? This episode will look at what a late breakfast/early lunch in Mexico might look like, and what recipes you can prepare in your own home.

Who doesn’t love sausage? Chorizo, the Mexican version, is a deep-burnt-reddish explosion of fresh, moist, exotically seasoned flavor. When it’s fried, it becomes crisp and incredibly savory. This episode will look at the difference between Mexican chorizo sausage and its Spanish, Central American and South American cousins.

Mexico is now the largest importer of cinnamon in the world–but how do they use it that’s so special? Just how different is the Ceylon or True cinnamon used in Mexico from the Cassia cinnamon of Southeast Asia?

Immigrants from Lebanon, Syria and Israel have left a tasty influence on Mexican cuisine over the years; this show will look at how they came to such a far-flung (but fascinating) country and what kind of legacy they’ve contributed–other than Frida Kahlo and Salma Hayek, of course.

Vanilla only comes in a bottle, right? Oh, it’s a bean!? Where on earth do I find vanilla beans and then how do I cook with them? Do I crack them open? Wait, vanilla comes from Veracruz, Mexico–not Madagascar!? This episode will explain all of that, plus share a few amazing vanilla-infused recipes.

Mexicans have been wrapping and cooking food in leaves for a long time, and this episode will look at the reasons why. It will also share three scrumptious dishes you can make in your own kitchen with the wrapping method and with three different kids of wrappers! We’ll also look at some shortcuts and tips for cooking wrapped foods in your own kitchen, as opposed to the traditional method of digging a pit or steaming them in an enormous pot.

Jump into a Lucha Libre ring and experience the kind of fighting spirit that fuels a great love of Mexican food. These classic recipes provoke heated discussions in Mexico, but are perfectly tasty regardless of which twist on ingredients you prefer.

The same foods that parents pack into a hearty school lunch in Mexico are perfect for school lunchtime in America. These dishes are so tasty and filling, even grownups will want to take them to work.

A tasty look at the way French cuisine has historically influenced modern Mexican cooking, and simple techniques any American cook can manage with impressive results.

Simple, easy, home-style cuisine that you’d find in just about any Mexican home, recreated for the American kitchen. This meal was my favorite “everyday” meal growing up in Mexico, and one I regularly make for my own family today. I am proud to share the steps so that you can enjoy it too.

Fun, kid-friendly and (mostly!) finger-food that you’d find at a children’s party in Mexico, adapted for American parties at home.

These home-style dishes are a staple at the small restaurants known as “fondas” in Mexico — and delicious inspiration for busy cooks in American homes today. Make them once, and they’ll become easy to make but special treats in your own kitchen.

The breakfast of your dreams, prepared by Pati and her sister Alisa. This episode includes both quick, simple dishes and ones meant for a deliciously messy morning feast.

This episode puts a twist on tequila by using it in a number of tasty, savory and sweet recipes sure to impress special guests. Mixologist extraordinaire Derek Brown shows Pati how to make one of his signature cocktails, and she uses tequila to ignite a main dish.

Pati takes you to Xochimilco, the legendary floating gardens of Mexico, and sprinkles a few flowers into some impressive but easy Mexican recipes.

By adding a few key Mexican ingredients to what you’d normally find in an all-American pantry and fridge, you get these to-die-for, lip-smacking dishes.

Travel with Pati to the state of Puebla to see why it isn’t just the site of the legendary Cinco de Mayo battle — it’s also home to some of Mexico’s most luscious, delectable culinary treats.

This episode explores three very different, very authentic and very simple twists on Mexican tacos, one of Mexico’s most iconic foods.