Grandma’s cooking. For many, those two words conjure up memories of good days with family, where grandma might make her secret-recipe menudo or chicken soup or apple pie. It didn’t really matter what she brought. It was grandma’s food – it was comfort food.

Jean Petit and his parents, Veronica and Paul Petit, are now sharing grandma’s cooking – real Mexico City cooking – with the Rio Grande Valley. Pies by Petit began in May delivering their pies – similar to pot pies in looks – through word of mouth and their website (piesbypetit.com).  They began simple enough, with five flavor-packed pies to choose from; picadillo, ham and cheese, mole, tuna and the vegetarian rajas. The pies, baked inside a golden brown shell and topped with the same savory pastry, come in four sizes – appetizer (sold by trays of 24 for $30), personal size for $5, a two-person size for $8 and family size for $20. They have since expanded to the South Padre Island Farmer’s Market and a market in Harlingen.

The work is done in a rental commercial kitchen, Mi Cocina By The Hour, in McAllen.  Veronica said that they work like an assembly line, each with different responsibilities. “We complement each other very well,” she said. “I work on certain things like pastries and the mole recipe and we both work on the fillings.”

Veronica’s mom had made the delicious pastries and brought them for family gatherings. There was no special name for them – just a special taste to go with fond memories. “All of the savory dishes are ones my mom would prepare for us when I was a kid and I learned how. The sweet ones I came up with on my own.”

While Veronica and Paul are not new to the entrepreneur world, this is Jean’s first step into it, other than helping his dad with his valet parking business. “I’ve always enjoyed cooking and was interested in making different foods,” said Paul, a 19-year-old student at South Texas College, studying business. “We moved to the United States when I was 2 so this is also a good way for me to remember my Mexican roots and bring some true Mexican cooking to the Valley. It’s something different to try.”

The three-person operation has watched its business steadily grow in a rather short period of time, both in sales and in variety of pies. The rajas pie wasn’t on the original menu, but customers were continually asking for a vegetarian dish. The mixture of poblano peppers, onions, corn, Mexican cream, salt and queso panela (a Mexican cottage cheese) has grown to be a consumer favorite.

The two latest pies have taken the business into a different area – the sweet side of cooking. Pies by Petit offers a Mexican apple pie (with dulce de leche instead of caramel) and a pineapple cheesecake for those with a sweet tooth.

Of course, it all  means more work for the Petits, and that’s fine. Jean has taken culinary arts classes at South Texas College, although they focused more on European and especially French dishes. He wants to take more culinary classes on Mexican food and would like to expand the business enough to have what’s a rapidly growing business venture – a food truck.

“I think that would be just a really cool thing to do,” Jean said. “Right now I’m learning that there’s really not a lot of free time for me. I’m either in school or studying or working. I work six days a week and Saturdays are my only day off – until we start selling in Harlingen.”

“The process takes about an hour to complete a pie,” Jean said. The filling is done in advance, which cuts down time on group orders. “And people have been suggesting other types of pies, like using chicken for the picadillo one.”

Pies can be ordered by either by phone or on the website. See piesbypetit.com. 

This story by Henry Miller appears in the November 2016 print edition of Valley Business Report.