NOEL KING, HOST:
A new Mexican cooking show has turned into a smash hit. It features a grandmother cooking simple recipes in her kitchen. In a little over two months, she's gotten more than a million subscribers on YouTube. NPR's Carrie Kahn has the story.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHICKEN SQUAWKING)
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: The cook is 69-year-old Dona Angela. And her YouTube show, "From My Ranch To Your Kitchen," is shot at her farm home in Michoacan, Mexico - complete with chickens, fruit trees and a rustic kitchen.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONA ANGELA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: Every video starts with her sweet saludos - "hello, my people. Good morning." This day, she's making breakfast. She starts with sweet coffee - cafe de olla - brewed in a clay pot on her fire-fed stove covered with a traditional griddle, or comal.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANGELA: (Speaking Spanish).
(SOUNDBITE OF POURING WATER)
KAHN: Into the pot goes water, a cinnamon stick, unrefined sugar chunks, or piloncillo, and instant coffee. Next, she roasts chiles and tomatoes for a spicy sauce served over scrambled eggs and fresh hot tortillas she makes by hand in many videos.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANGELA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: Dona Angela reminds many of their Mexican abuelita, or grandma. Her jet black hair is tied in a long ponytail. You never see her without her apron on. And her cooking style is unpretentious, like in this video making chicken and mole sauce.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANGELA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: "I don't use measurements. I just grab with my fingers," she says, while also apologizing for the loud rain. "My house is covered with a tin roof," she says.
(CROSSTALK)
KAHN: Dona Angela's simplicity has endeared her to many, like 50-year-old Teresa Rodriguez stepping out of a busy Mexico City Metro station.
TERESA RODRIGUEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: "She cooks with care and with love - food cooked without it isn't any good," she says. Rodriguez's niece turned her on to the YouTube videos. Since last August, the cooking show has racked up more than a million and a half subscribers. Some of her videos top 2 million views. Despite her internet fame, though, she shuns publicity. NPR tried for weeks to reach her through her social media accounts without success. She does respond to critical comments, though, like those claiming she's being manipulated by greedy family members or that her kitchen is dirty with soot from the burning firewood.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANGELA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: "Don't pay any attention to those criticizing out there. It's all just gossip," says Dona Angela. She says her daughter and son-in-law shoot and upload the videos, and she's having a great time.
PATI JINICH: Oh, my gosh. I think she's amazing.
KAHN: Pati Jinich, who hosts "Pati's Mexican Table" on PBS, loves everything about Dona Angela's style.
JINICH: And I love that she has a blender.
KAHN: Jinich says she's often criticized about using a blender, like it's only authentic when a sauce is pureed in a traditional molcajete, the Mexican stone mortar and pestle.
JINICH: We Mexicans love our blender. And it's just as authentic and delicious, (laughter) you know?
KAHN: Nobody is accusing Dona Angela of not being the real deal.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANGELA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: As she tastes her eggs and chile sauce, the video catches her viejo, as she refers to her husband, also chowing down.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANGELA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: "This is so good," she says, as she signs off with her signature adios.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANGELA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: "I made you all this simple but delicious food from my ranch to your kitchen."
Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Mexico City.
(SOUNDBITE OF RODRIGO Y GABRIELA'S "NEW ONE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
