uh my -- my grandmother still cooks in them. >> anthony: oh yeah, oh yeah. >> leonardo paixao: if youlot of those. >> anthony: chef leo paixao is also asking that question. born and raised here, he grew up cooking traditional mineira cuisine and went on to study in france under the likes of joel robuchon. now he's back with his own place -- glouton. >> leonardo paixao: so we are up at the central market at bello horizonte. mineas gerais is a central state and we share with every other state around. it's very democratic up here. uh, the people come here -- they can have a haircut, they can buy like living chicken or good cheese from france. >> anthony: if mineas is the heart of brazilian cooking, then the mercado central is the heart of mineas. it's the place where everybody shops, including chefs like leo, who are focused on giving mineiras products the attention they deserve. this is a country where there is a lot of fruit that i've never seen outside of brazil. >> leonardo paixao: yeah. >> anthony: a lot of it is super perishable too. like even if you wanted to export it, it just do