0:00:04 > 0:00:08It was 1968, when I first came here to San Francisco.
0:00:08 > 0:00:13I wanted to do my own road trip from the United States to the Mexican
0:00:13 > 0:00:15border and beyond.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18My dad had just died, I'd finished school,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27It was the year after the Summer of Love, and things like enchiladas,
0:00:27 > 0:00:32burritos, guacamole I'd only heard of from the radio,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34but they sounded wonderful.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40But it wasn't just the food, I wanted to live a little bit dangerously.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42And I did.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15I can still remember how excited I was when I crossed the border into
0:01:15 > 0:01:17Mexico, 50 years ago.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22Looking back, it was a rite of passage.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24As a chef-to-be, it was invaluable.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28It influenced the way I have cooked ever since.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31So this time, I crossed the border at Tijuana,
0:01:31 > 0:01:35home of course of the famous Caesar salad,
0:01:35 > 0:01:39and legendary fish tacos.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43And a famous drink, allegedly invented in this bar,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47and named in the 1940s, after a very attractive woman,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51the daughter of a German diplomat - it's the margarita, of course.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57I'm now making my way to the centre of the country,
0:01:57 > 0:02:02and eventually on to Mexico City, but first, in the region of Jalisco,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06there is a city I had to revisit, Guadalajara.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15I'm not a great one for crowds,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19but in a country that's got 130 million people,
0:02:19 > 0:02:21it's pretty hard to avoid them.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23I had to come back here.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28It's the place that gave the world the image of Mexico, the big sombreros,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31tequila, mariachi bands, and, of course,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35the classic meat stews like carne con chilli
0:02:35 > 0:02:38and never ever chilli con carne.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Oh, no, that would never do!
0:02:56 > 0:03:00I love mariachi bands, I think there are so romantic, so joyous,
0:03:00 > 0:03:05the music is infectious, and there are mariachis in Spain, Latin America,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Germany, I'm told, and in Japan.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Japan!
0:03:18 > 0:03:20I really like Guadalajara,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23first and foremost because I love saying "Guadalajara",
0:03:23 > 0:03:27it makes you feel very Mexican and Spanish.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Actually, the name comes from a town in Spain, north-east of Madrid,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35and in fact, it's not Spanish at all, it's Arab.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Guadalajara means valley of stones.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44Or maybe I like Guadalajara because my name in German means stone.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46So here I am, in the valley of stones.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51I think the other reason I really like it is that I remember Mexico City
0:03:51 > 0:03:57as being terribly, terribly frenetic, terribly busy, massively impressive,
0:03:57 > 0:03:58but a little overwhelming.
0:03:58 > 0:04:04Whereas Guadalajara is on a human scale, this part is just lovely,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07it reminds me of a European city.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10In some senses...
0:04:10 > 0:04:15I saw this little sign down the road that said "Jalisco is Mexico," and I
0:04:15 > 0:04:20think actually, more than Mexico City, Guadalajara is Mexico.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34I was 21 years old when I first came here.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Mexico to me then seemed exotic, warm and romantic.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Almost like some part of the southern Mediterranean.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45I spent a couple of months travelling through the country,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47and my love for Mexican food was born.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53It's Sunday morning in Guadalajara, that means only one thing,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56a trip to the Barratio market.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Barratio means "cheap goods"...
0:04:59 > 0:05:01If this market was a brand,
0:05:01 > 0:05:05they would say it's probably the biggest street market in the world.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09I've never been in a street market like this before.
0:05:09 > 0:05:15Apparently, it's 50 blocks big and 10,000 stalls.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19It's like every flea market you've ever been to.
0:05:19 > 0:05:20In one place!
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Here we have spanners.
0:05:22 > 0:05:23And pliers.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Over there we've got toys.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Over there we've got guitars, over there we've got speakers,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31not like in cabinets, but just on their own.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33We just passed tyres,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37and we've got sofas over there and I haven't even got to the food yet.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45It's so hot here, and time for a drink. Too early for a beer,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47and no tequila until sundown, of course.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52But the Mexicans do really refreshing drinks,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56agua frescas are popular but this is something else.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03I had to try this, probably the most famous drink in Guadalajara.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07It is called Tejuino and it's actually made with fermented corn,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10so it is probably a little bit alcoholic,
0:06:10 > 0:06:15but only tiny, and piloncillo, hard cane sugar,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18boiled down until it goes really hard and they sell it in cones.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22It's bit like jaggery which you get in India and Africa.
0:06:22 > 0:06:23It's interesting, actually,
0:06:23 > 0:06:28that this cane sugar in Mexico is a very well-known soft drink which you
0:06:28 > 0:06:30might have heard of.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34And in California, in the smart places in California,
0:06:34 > 0:06:39they only drink this very well-known soft drink from Mexico because it
0:06:39 > 0:06:42contains real cane sugar.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46This is then finished, as you probably saw,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50with some lime juice and a lime sorbet, now,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54I haven't met anybody in Guadalajara that doesn't absolutely adore this.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56So, here we go.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02I know I go on too much about stuff but it is really, really nice!
0:07:03 > 0:07:06The thing I have found, I have already tried a drink called horchata,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09which is often made with corn or rice.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13But these drinks that are slightly thickened and chilled and sweetened
0:07:13 > 0:07:17with things like corn and rice are very, very refreshing, as is this.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20With the lime juice and cold,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24and with this really nice man that has been making it, it is fab.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38When the Conquistadors first arrived here in the mid-1500s,
0:07:38 > 0:07:43they would have noticed tribal villagers gathering to barter goods -
0:07:43 > 0:07:47squash in exchange for corn, tomatoes for chillies,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50a turkey for a hand plough, and so on.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53I'm just beginning to discover this, but avocados,
0:07:53 > 0:07:58we all have avocados all over the world but Mexican avocados are a
0:07:58 > 0:08:02different matter, they have this soft creaminess,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07richness, which I've tasted nowhere else and this is a really good example
0:08:07 > 0:08:12of them, they are big and fat and I'm beginning to taste in all the dishes
0:08:12 > 0:08:14that when they put slices of avocado on the top,
0:08:14 > 0:08:19it is a bit like putting a dollop of Cornish clotted cream on the dish.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21It has that same sort of effect.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30When Hernan Cortes first encountered Mexico's markets,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32he remarked on their vast expanse.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37The Spanish introduced many of their traditional dishes,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40especially the slow-cooked meat stews.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44They're a perfect marriage between the livestock introduced by the
0:08:44 > 0:08:49conquerors, like pigs, for instance, cooked with local herbs and spices.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Guadalajara's stews take a lot of beating,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58and there was one particular dish which I was very keen to try.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03This is really a first for me.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06It's called birria, it's a goat stew,
0:09:06 > 0:09:11very typical of Guadalajara. First time I have ever tasted it.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16That is really good, you would have sworn it had some red wine in it.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18It's so deep in flavour.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Putting a few bits and bobs in it now.
0:09:21 > 0:09:22A bit of chilli.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Excuse the noise in the background,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29there is some knock-off videos going on on the counter behind us.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32They're probably not knocked off... But they might be...
0:09:34 > 0:09:38That is lovely. The goat is just cooked and is really, really tender
0:09:38 > 0:09:40and then pulled off the bone.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Sometimes they serve it, I'm told, shredded up to put
0:09:43 > 0:09:47in tortillas but this is in pieces and it's really, really nice.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Back home in Padstow, I wanted to cook one of Guadalajara's famous stews,
0:09:57 > 0:10:01and the most popular one, without any shadow of doubt,
0:10:01 > 0:10:05is the carne con chilli, and not the other way round,
0:10:05 > 0:10:06thank you very much!
0:10:09 > 0:10:13So first I'm toasting these chillies, it is normal in Mexico,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16with any of the dry chillies, like guajillo, pasilla or chipotle,
0:10:16 > 0:10:21to toast them first, not for too long, because if you burn them at all,
0:10:21 > 0:10:25it gives a bitter flavour to whatever sauce you are making.
0:10:25 > 0:10:26just turning those over.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31This is carne con chilli not chilli con carne. The difference -
0:10:31 > 0:10:34chilli con carne is a Tex-Mex dish.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38It's made with mince and it always has red kidney beans with it,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40and made with tomato, of course.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45Carne con chilli is Mexican and is made with chunks of beef but sometimes
0:10:45 > 0:10:48pork as well, and it never has beans with it,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52they serve the black beans separately, so you can take the choice,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55you can either have a bowl of chilli,
0:10:55 > 0:11:00which you get in places like Los Angeles, which is just mince flavoured with chilli,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04or you can have this, which is the real Mexican deal.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06Out go those chillies, into some boiling water,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08to soften for about 20 minutes.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15Next, I'm using the hot pan for a very important process in Mexico,
0:11:15 > 0:11:19to actually char tomatoes and garlic, sometimes onions as well.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Now this may be just a convenient way because they have always got
0:11:22 > 0:11:27a hot plate to actually take the skins off things like garlic
0:11:27 > 0:11:31but also I think it adds flavour to the finished sauce.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35So I'm just turning these tomatoes over and you can see they are beginning
0:11:35 > 0:11:38to burn on the skin and the garlic similarly.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43And now I'm just transferring them over here
0:11:43 > 0:11:47to quarter the tomatoes and I'm not going to take the skins off the
0:11:47 > 0:11:49tomatoes - I don't think it matters
0:11:49 > 0:11:51because I'm going to whiz everything up in a blender.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55Tomatoes, then the garlic, and then this sote,
0:11:55 > 0:12:00you can see the colour has come off the guajillos now.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03And a little bit of the juice from the guajillo
0:12:03 > 0:12:06to help things along in the blender. Lid on.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13I was reading through some of the research for this, back in the 1800s,
0:12:13 > 0:12:18some Spanish priests regarded chillies and chilli sauces in particular as
0:12:18 > 0:12:22aphrodisiac, describing them as the soup of the devil.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26Well, that's probably made the dishes even more popular!
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Those are now blended into a really nice sauce.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35That is so good, it's sort of smells like the heart of Mexico,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39I think it's such a good idea to toast everything, tomatoes as well,
0:12:39 > 0:12:44before blitzing them, it's got a lovely charry overtone to the sauce.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Now, lard in the pan, just melt that a little bit and then add the beef.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52This is cubes of chuck steak.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54My, that is a little bit hot.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57OK, there we go! Just browning that nicely.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02I was just thinking about putting lard in the pan...
0:13:02 > 0:13:06I had this guy from Padstow, Richard Bate. I'd say,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09"How do you cook salmon, Richard?"
0:13:09 > 0:13:11And he'd say, "Get your pan, get it really hot...
0:13:11 > 0:13:15"Put a bit of lard in the pan, and fry your salmon and then it's lovely."
0:13:15 > 0:13:17And I'd say, "How'd you cook rabbit?"
0:13:17 > 0:13:19He'd say, "You get your pan, put a bit of lard in the pan,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21"you fry it up lovely."
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Everything he cooked in lard in the pan.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26I've only just remembered that since being to Mexico,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28because they use lots of lard in the pan.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32So, that's looking really nice and brown, that beef,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35so now I'm going to add about one onion, chopped up,
0:13:35 > 0:13:40I'm not a great believer in adding bits in stages in a stew like this.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42You can add most of it all at once.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47Now, just for some very Mexican spicing, first of all, oregano,
0:13:47 > 0:13:52about a teaspoon, and now some cumin, very important in this chilli dish, cumin.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Very strong flavour.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57And now some allspice, they use a lot of allspice.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Squish the allspice berries a bit, in that goes, that's really nice.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06A bay leaf. And now this wonderful zapped sauce with the chillies, tomato, garlic,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10stir that in. Look at that, that's looking absolutely lovely already.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15And now this is my sort of secret ingredient, this is chipotle in adobo.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20It's like a sauce that I've made up by whizzing up chipotle chillies
0:14:20 > 0:14:22with garlic and tomatoes and a bit of vinegar.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26It's one of those essentials in a Mexican kitchen,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30I'm just going to top that up with some of the juice from soaking my
0:14:30 > 0:14:33guajillo chillies
0:14:33 > 0:14:35and now a bit of salt.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40You might think there's too much salt, I couldn't possibly comment.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43There we go. I'm going to leave that to simmer that for an hour and a
0:14:43 > 0:14:45half, with a lid on.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49I'm going to take it off towards the end just to reduce the sauce.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56People told me in Guadalajara that this is something they love to eat any
0:14:56 > 0:14:58day of the week, and any time of the day.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03I think it tastes even better cooked ahead of time and then at the table
0:15:03 > 0:15:08you add sour cream, mature tangy cheese that's easy to crumble,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12fresh coriander, and thin slices of radish.
0:15:13 > 0:15:19I think if I was from Guadalajara this would be my ultimate comfort food,
0:15:19 > 0:15:23my roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. It's lovely.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33This building is affectionately known as the Hospicio,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and it's a true landmark in the city.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40It's famous because it contains a series of frescoes from one of Mexico's
0:15:40 > 0:15:44most renowned muralists, Jose Clemente Orozco,
0:15:44 > 0:15:48and it depicts the darkest moments of Spanish rule.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55Orozco's embellishment of the chapel in the 1930s is seen as one of the
0:15:55 > 0:15:58greatest masterpieces in Latin America.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02And it doesn't shy away from the tyranny unleashed by the Spanish invaders.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05And the suffering of the masses.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12I always look for little details like a bowl of food or a view
0:16:12 > 0:16:17of some peasants eating. But these are just glimpses from hell.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24I must say, when you first come in here,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28you start looking up at these murals, it's quite shocking.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33Orozco said himself that the things that he saw in the Mexican Revolution
0:16:33 > 0:16:40were too horrifying, bestiality of man, the hypocrisy, the lies,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44the terror. And all of that is up there.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49They have called that dome the Sistine Chapel of the Americas and if you
0:16:49 > 0:16:53think about the fact that Orozco lost his arm
0:16:53 > 0:16:56in a gunpowder accident when he was about 20,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00and he painted 16 metres up from the ground, also with a dicky heart,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03he painted those murals, it is quite special.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12This was a hospice, and coming here really makes you think.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Although most of what you see is to do with the Spanish occupation,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17it's also, to me,
0:17:17 > 0:17:22a reminder that Mexico is still a place of tragic undertones.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30I was just jotting down a few notes about the Mexican muralists,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Rivera and Siqueiros were the other two famous ones,
0:17:33 > 0:17:38but I think Jose Clemente Orozco says it all in this little piece here,
0:17:38 > 0:17:40"the highest, the most logical,
0:17:40 > 0:17:45"the purest and the strongest form of painting is the mural.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50"It is also the most disinterested form, for it cannot be hidden away
0:17:50 > 0:17:53"for the benefit of a certain privileged few.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55"It is for the people.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57"It is for all."
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Orozco was not all about doom and gloom.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10There is a little gallery nearby featuring some of his other works
0:18:10 > 0:18:12and there is one famous painting,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16rather pertinent to a curious travelling chef.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24I saw this mural in a guidebook, La Buena Vida.
0:18:24 > 0:18:25I had to have a look at it.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30I make it a bit of a thing of mine to find works of art that contain
0:18:30 > 0:18:32lots of food. This one contains lots of food.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37You got lobsters, pig's head, prawns, crabs, chickens,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40loads of wine and cheese and pineapple.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44A happy-looking fish being held up by the chef, and some flying chickens.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48It was painted in 1945.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50What astounds me,
0:18:50 > 0:18:55having seen other Orozcos, is this is a little bit jolly.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59But I do notice, down in the bottom, sort of shadowy figures,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03like some Hogarthian men with wigs.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05And up on the left here,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08she looks a bit like Sally Bowles in Cabaret,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye To Berlin.
0:19:11 > 0:19:17So, it just has that little tincture of not being totally fun,
0:19:17 > 0:19:21but for Orozco it is a bundle of laughs.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32I think it's true to say that Guadalajara's heart beats for tradition,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35but in a city passionate about its food,
0:19:35 > 0:19:40it's not surprising to hear about chefs using that legacy to create
0:19:40 > 0:19:42something even more spectacular.
0:19:44 > 0:19:50This is Alcalde, a must-try restaurant, if you happen to be in town.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Not necessarily because you will try dishes that can be easily cooked
0:19:53 > 0:19:55at home - it's not that -
0:19:55 > 0:20:00but because Guadalajara has produced a young talented chef who is taking
0:20:00 > 0:20:05familiar Mexican ingredients and turning them into some very tasty dishes.
0:20:07 > 0:20:13For his efforts, Alcalde is now in Latin America's top 50 restaurants,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and his name is "Paco" Ruano.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18You describe your cooking, I have read it,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21you describe your cooking as a bit weird...
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Well, let's define weirdness.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29I would define it as not like other people's food
0:20:29 > 0:20:34- and therefore a little, you know... - I try to...
0:20:34 > 0:20:37..take references, and what I learnt and
0:20:37 > 0:20:40what I like to eat and what
0:20:40 > 0:20:43has influenced me as a cook...
0:20:43 > 0:20:47as a Mexican, and I just try to do it my way.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52Sometimes it means to put ingredients that are not supposed to be in
0:20:52 > 0:20:54traditional preparation.
0:20:55 > 0:21:01For me, it's important to put a little piece of myself into what I do.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03We are selling food, so it's important...
0:21:03 > 0:21:04You want to feel personal about it.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09Yeah. It's very important that every single dish tells a little bit about
0:21:09 > 0:21:12- me...- I feel the same way.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14When I'm cooking, it's like,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18I want them to enjoy eating it because I eat it and I enjoy it so much.
0:21:18 > 0:21:24It sounds like a very overdone speech and but it's the way it is, you know.
0:21:24 > 0:21:25It's the truth.
0:21:25 > 0:21:26Yeah. It is.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Paco is making one of his most popular dishes.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34He calls it a gordita dumpling.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39It's made from the traditional paste used to make the famous tamales.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42You often buy them on street corners wrapped in corn husks.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45And as the famous blues singer Robert Johnson said,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49hot tamales and they're red-hot, yes, she's got them for sale.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56It's basically ground corn paste, curd cheese,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59melted butter and milk that's cooked for half an hour.
0:22:03 > 0:22:04Now, the base of the dish.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08It's spinach cooked with finely chopped onions and garlic
0:22:08 > 0:22:10in a little butter.
0:22:10 > 0:22:11Then, the juice of half a lemon.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16And now finely chopped tomatoes.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23Paco is adding a couple of ladles of stock to a sauce that is already
0:22:23 > 0:22:29pre-made, and it's made with anaheim chillies, more ground corn, butter,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31cream and lemon juice.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39Now, for the plump tamale dumpling, the gordita, the little fat one.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47So, this is what you get on your plate, here.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52A bed of spinach and tomatoes, then the famous gordita,
0:22:52 > 0:22:53the chilli butter sauce,
0:22:53 > 0:22:59and a sprinkling of some unlikely bedfellows - toasted macadamia nuts,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03dehydrated mushroom powder, and corn ash.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09Ash is becoming a really popular accompaniment in lots of restaurants.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12It's very nouveau vague.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16That looks fab. Can I take a picture of it?
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Yeah. Please. Go ahead.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Lovely, I love the dish.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26The plate, it looks like volcanoes, it looks very Mexican.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28But what you've got there is pretty adventurous.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30Because you've got the ash from the corn.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33It's one of the tools that Mexican -
0:23:33 > 0:23:35the young Mexican chefs are using.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37- Yeah, yeah.- Right.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Try to take a bite with all the spinach and sauce.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Do you like it?
0:23:44 > 0:23:47I love it. Cos, what, to me is...
0:23:47 > 0:23:52It's modern cooking, but it unmistakably Mexican.
0:23:52 > 0:23:58For me, it's very important that food tastes like the food that
0:23:58 > 0:24:01mark my life, makes me want to be a cook in the first place.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05- So...- You know, you're in the top 50 Latin American restaurants,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07and I can understand why.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Because you get... A lot of chefs, they say,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13it's rooted in the traditions, and it's not,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16you've just got lots of sort of bits all over the plate.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19I'm not Mexican, but I can taste a lot of traditions in that.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23- Thank you, Rick. It's a pleasure.- Cheers.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33I'm told this plaza is very important.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37It was the spot where the Spanish first pitched their tents all those
0:24:37 > 0:24:42years ago. I can't help thinking that they must have done their homework,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44or they just might have been very lucky.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Because this place was surrounded by enormous silver mines,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52which would have pleased the folks back home - ie the King and Queen -
0:24:52 > 0:24:54very much indeed.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59Not to mention the pirates they would undoubtedly have met on their way back to Spain.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05The French took over the place for just three years,
0:25:05 > 0:25:09enough time to stamp their culinary mark with the baguette.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17I heard about this bakery on the back streets of Guadalajara,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19just outside the city centre.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25Such is the love of this bread here that it's about to be awarded
0:25:25 > 0:25:26its own denomination of origin.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32It happens to be named after a Belgian baker in the French army,
0:25:32 > 0:25:37Camille Pirotte, who arrived here in 1863.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42He managed to produce a type of sourdough perfect for this climate,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46and gave away day-old scraps, not favoured by the French troops,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50to the poor. And this is where the locals got their taste for it.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58I've finally managed to get my first...
0:25:58 > 0:26:01..hold of my first birote that's cool enough to handle,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05because they're baking them all the time. So...
0:26:05 > 0:26:07it is wonderful.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09It's got a true sourdough taste to it.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Now, I've been sitting here,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14waiting for this bread to come out and thinking about this bakery.
0:26:14 > 0:26:20Because, as you can see, it is so easy on the eyes. You just think,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24great bread would have to come out of a bakery like this and that doesn't
0:26:24 > 0:26:26come from industrial processes,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29it comes from families working doing the same thing,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32day after day for generations.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Long may it last. Just looking round here,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38I was thinking rather cynically that all of this -
0:26:38 > 0:26:41the tables and all of the planks that they are making the bread on,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45in Britain would probably turn up in antique shops, now.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49Bought by middle-class people for lots of money.
0:26:49 > 0:26:50What do you think of that?
0:26:52 > 0:26:54This isn't where the story ends,
0:26:54 > 0:26:59because the birote helped invent Guadalajara's favourite street food, torta ahogada.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03Basically, it's a birote baguette packed
0:27:03 > 0:27:05with slow-cooked pieces of pork
0:27:05 > 0:27:10and topped with an explosive chilli sauce, freshly chopped onions,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14which Mexicans seem to put on practically every dish,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18and then literally drowned with spicy tomato salsa.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24This hole in the wall, the oldest in the city, incidentally,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27was started by Don Jose,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29who began selling the sandwiches from a bicycle.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36I must say, I'm beginning to get rather peckish.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Although wet, soggy, bread?
0:27:38 > 0:27:39Hmmm.
0:27:45 > 0:27:46Do you need this? Gracias.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49HE SPEAKS IN SPANISH
0:27:49 > 0:27:52"Pierna" means the leg meat of the pork.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56Media means I only want half chilli, I don't want it blindingly hot.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00I wonder what they did before plastic bags came along?
0:28:04 > 0:28:05Well, this should be interesting.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13I don't know how I'm going to eat this without it going all over my shirt.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16I've been watching other people, there's different techniques,
0:28:16 > 0:28:20but thank God for the plastic bag.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25I tell you what is really good about this, it's the fresh tomato.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29It's actually raw tomato, coupled with the chilli.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31It's slow-cooked leg of pork.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33One more attempt...
0:28:37 > 0:28:39It is heavenly.
0:28:39 > 0:28:40It's really, really lovely.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46But I may not eat any more with the camera onto me,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49because I look a complete idiot covered in tomato sauce.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01I love our drives in the crew van,
0:29:01 > 0:29:05especially the all-encompassing conversations,
0:29:05 > 0:29:10covering subjects like beer, tacos, who's got control of the CD player,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13what we want for dinner that night, and of course,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17for some inexplicable reason, Plymouth Argyle.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22I noticed this football stadium at the top of the road.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Pete, the sound recordist, who knows everything about football,
0:29:25 > 0:29:29said he wondered whether this, in 1970,
0:29:29 > 0:29:34was the stadium of the famous World Cup loss
0:29:34 > 0:29:37between England and Brazil.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42We love, we love claiming fame to just one thing,
0:29:42 > 0:29:50and actually it was the most spectacular goal save by Gordon Banks from a header from Pele.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53Pete says, "Of course, you wouldn't know anything about that because
0:29:53 > 0:29:57"you're a rugby man". "Wrong", I said, "I do watch the World Cups!"
0:30:07 > 0:30:11I'm after something sweet that can only be found in the evenings,
0:30:11 > 0:30:16specifically at a stall outside Guadalajara's famous sanctuary
0:30:16 > 0:30:19dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23These crispy discs of sweet batter are called bunuelos.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26The sugary syrup is flavoured with guava.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30It reminds me of a dish that was very popular when I was little.
0:30:30 > 0:30:35It was Yorkshire pudding with syrup poured over it, served as an after.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40I never had it because I was too posh,
0:30:40 > 0:30:45but I always wanted it and this is it, or very much like it.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50It's funny how the memory works and what comes up,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54but with me it's always to do with smell and food.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58It's very satisfying, it's a lovely syrup.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03These bunuelos,
0:31:03 > 0:31:05mispronunciation - don't write in -
0:31:05 > 0:31:09they're popular all over Mexico but only on special
0:31:09 > 0:31:12high days and holidays but in Guadalajara you get them all the time.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18Very Guadalajara thing, I think.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24Once you get a taste for this dessert,
0:31:24 > 0:31:28you just have to make it and that's exactly what I did back home
0:31:28 > 0:31:30in Padstow.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34So, to make the pastry dough, I've some flour in this bowl here,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36adding some caster sugar, not a lot,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39just an edge of sweetness to the pastry.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43Some baking powder, about a teaspoon of baking powder.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45Just mix that around.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Forgot the salt! A little pinch of salt always a good idea in a pastry.
0:31:51 > 0:31:57Now, just going to make a well in the centre and break an egg in.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01There we go, and just a little bit of melted butter.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05A teaspoon of vanilla essence.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10And now to add the water to bind all the pastry together.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14In with my hands now.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18And now it's coming away from the bottom of the bowl,
0:32:18 > 0:32:22so out onto the pastry board and now to knead it.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25Fold that over a bit.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33Nice Mexican towel to let it rest, and there we go.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Now we'll make the syrup and poach the fruit.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40So, I've got a pan with some boiling water in it and I'm going to make a
0:32:40 > 0:32:42really fragrant stock syrup.
0:32:42 > 0:32:47So first of all I'm adding a star anise and four allspice berries
0:32:47 > 0:32:49and then a large piece of cinnamon stick.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52Just going to bring that to the boil and let it simmer.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57And here we go with some orange zest, about four pieces of orange zest.
0:32:58 > 0:33:03And now some brown sugar, to give it a nice deep colour.
0:33:03 > 0:33:09You may be surprised about the amount of brown sugar but it really needs to be sweet, this sauce.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11Mexicans love sugar.
0:33:14 > 0:33:15And now some lime juice.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20Waste not, want not...
0:33:20 > 0:33:25Just squeezing the juice out of that orange that I took the zest off.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30And now there's just a little thing I always do, a tiny bit of salt in there,
0:33:30 > 0:33:32just brings up the sweetness a little bit.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37I may not be an expert, but this is how I slice a mango.
0:33:37 > 0:33:43Take a flexible knife and then just cut easily right against the stone.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46That's why I'm using a flexible knife.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51See, that comes off in a nice clean piece.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Then just cut the flesh away from the skin.
0:33:55 > 0:34:00Slice that up into bite-sized pieces and in that goes, into my stock.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06I'm just going to leave that to poach for about ten minutes now.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11There's my rested dough,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14I'm just going to roll that out as thinly as I can.
0:34:15 > 0:34:20The whole point is you drop it in the fryer and it all puffs up
0:34:20 > 0:34:22and you want it as fragile as possible,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25so that when you put the syrup and the mango on there,
0:34:25 > 0:34:30it just breaks up and just melts into the juice, but not all of it.
0:34:32 > 0:34:37There we go. I pick that up on my rolling pin, just drop it into the oil,
0:34:37 > 0:34:39like that.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Just leave that for about a minute on one side,
0:34:43 > 0:34:45and then I'm going to turn it over.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47Look at the way that's puffing up,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50that's the baking powder in there really doing its thing.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53It already looks really light and airy and delicate.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03Now to make the dish up I've got this rather pretty Sicilian dish with
0:35:03 > 0:35:07octopus on it. It might have had fruit on it, but it's got octopus.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11OK. So, in that goes my bunuelo.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15Just smack that up with a ladle so that it breaks up a little bit,
0:35:15 > 0:35:21and about three ladles full of this delicious, gloopy, sweet-scented stock.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26There we go. You can see it's already starting to melt the dough
0:35:26 > 0:35:29but there's nice crisp bits left in there, too.
0:35:29 > 0:35:30That is delicious.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34And if you like, a dollop of ice cream on top - vanilla of course,
0:35:34 > 0:35:36in honour of Mexico.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56This is one of those places where people will say, "Oh,
0:35:56 > 0:36:00"you've been to Guadalajara, you must have had the menudo" - tripe soup.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04And I would say, "Well, of course, you'd be crazy to miss it!"
0:36:05 > 0:36:08I know tripe's not to everyone's taste, but, like me,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10the Mexicans love it.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14The soup's prepared in their home kitchen,
0:36:14 > 0:36:16just a few doors up from the restaurant.
0:36:17 > 0:36:22What makes Guadalajara's menudo so distinctive is its reddish broth,
0:36:22 > 0:36:26flavoured with local chilacate chilies and lots of garlic.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Why is it so loved in the mornings, I hear you say?
0:36:31 > 0:36:35Well, I think it's fair to say that the Guadalajarans love to drink,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39and this soup is the perfect antidote for the night before.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47I was tipped off about this place by Raul Hernandez,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50who runs food tours in the city.
0:36:50 > 0:36:51So it's all locals?
0:36:51 > 0:36:53It's all locals, as you can see.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Excellente, gracias.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Let's get stuck in, then.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Let's get started, yeah, before it gets cold.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07So... Well, we have a little bit of... Is this chilli?
0:37:07 > 0:37:11- Chilli de arbol.- OK, tell me what to put in.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13- Oregano.- I've got to have that.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16- Lime.- This is raw onion.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18Is the avocado to go in there too?
0:37:18 > 0:37:21- That's kind of a specialty here. - And this is tomatillos?
0:37:21 > 0:37:23This is tomatillos.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26I like to put a little bit of lime with my onions, sorry.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30And then, you know, the broth is going to give it the last kick.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33- I put a twist.- Well, here we go.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37- Delish.- Knock yourself out with some tortillas.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39You almost have to do one and one.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43- Really?- Well, that's how I like it.
0:37:43 > 0:37:44Now, some people take
0:37:44 > 0:37:49the tortilla and make a taco out of it, or you can just, you know,
0:37:49 > 0:37:51wrap it, like this.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56It's delicious. It's not everybody's cup of tea, tripe,
0:37:56 > 0:37:58but I'm a big fan.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01Nothing beats a traditional, good menudo place.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04Every Sunday, I used to go with my grandfather,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06with my father to the same spot.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08It almost became like a family thing, right?
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Maybe my dad would have a little more spice, a little more kick to it,
0:38:12 > 0:38:14maybe my mum would add a little bit more lime and oregano.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16At the end, you know,
0:38:16 > 0:38:20the colour and the smell and taste of each dish is different.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23- Yeah.- So we'd go around and say, "Oh, my broth is amazing,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26"you should go and try it". And people would just basically compete
0:38:26 > 0:38:29amongst each other, to say, "Oh, that was really good,
0:38:29 > 0:38:31"you really nailed that one".
0:38:31 > 0:38:34So it's a family thing, it's a traditional thing.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37It's something that's really close to your heart.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40It's extraordinary really, because there's nothing...
0:38:40 > 0:38:43When you taste tripe, right, apart from perhaps the smell,
0:38:43 > 0:38:45there is nothing unpleasant about it.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49It's like soft, it's very easy to chew,
0:38:49 > 0:38:52you sort of feel it's good for you, it's not fatty,
0:38:52 > 0:38:56and yet people have this aversion to it.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00My wife, I just couldn't get her to like it, and that's fine, I guess.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02It's not for everybody.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06Yeah, I don't... No, my wife doesn't care for it either.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10She tried some in Greece and then said, "No, I'll have the chicken soup".
0:39:11 > 0:39:14You should bring her to taste menudo.
0:39:24 > 0:39:30I'm heading out on the Ruta del Tequila and it's packed with fields of blue agave.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33They stretch out for miles.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35It's true, when you see them on this scale,
0:39:35 > 0:39:39they do give out a sort of turquoisey-blue haze.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41It's captivating.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46Just an hour out of Guadalajara is the town that put tequila on the
0:39:46 > 0:39:51world culinary map, and, unsurprisingly, its name is Tequila.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58The Aztecs began fermenting agave juice in these parts around 2,000 years ago,
0:39:58 > 0:40:00and when the Spanish arrived,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04their distilling skills created an elixir that's said to have had sent
0:40:04 > 0:40:08your spirit to talk to the gods.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13For that reason, tequila is known today as el Pueblo Magico -
0:40:13 > 0:40:15the magical town.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21Well, here I am in the centre of Tequila.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25I must say, from previous trips to Mexico I just remember these little
0:40:25 > 0:40:29squares in the centre of Mexican towns are sometimes so pretty.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32I must confess, I didn't even know Tequila was a town,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35I just thought it was a sort of generic name for the drink.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38But now I'm here, I'm thinking about little towns.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Every little town needs a reason to be.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44I remember a few years ago,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46I was filming in Mississippi and I came to this town
0:40:46 > 0:40:52called Leland and it said, "Home of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog".
0:40:52 > 0:40:54Maybe not such a big attraction.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58And another time, years ago filming in Queensland, Australia...
0:40:58 > 0:41:01.."Home of the big pineapple", it said.
0:41:01 > 0:41:06And yes, you could climb up this big pineapple and look at the pineapple
0:41:06 > 0:41:08fields all around you.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10But when it comes for reasons for being,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13I think Tequila's a pretty hard one to beat.
0:41:13 > 0:41:18And it's not for no reason that this is perhaps the most perfect little
0:41:18 > 0:41:21Mexican square I've seen.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24There's plenty of money to keep it very, very smart.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Like champagne,
0:41:36 > 0:41:43Tequila has a designated area of origin and produces 60 million gallons a year.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47The Sousa family are veteran producers here at Tequila Fortaleza.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53Like vines, agave plants flourish in adversity,
0:41:53 > 0:41:58and this red volcanic soil is ideal for them.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01The owner is Guillermo Sousa.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03So this is where it starts with the agave, then?
0:42:03 > 0:42:05Yes, these fields are six years old.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09This one's maturing at six years, most of them take 7-8,
0:42:09 > 0:42:14so we have to come in and get the most mature,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17and this one's matured, had a quiote, this one's ready to go.
0:42:17 > 0:42:18- The bloom?- The bloom,
0:42:18 > 0:42:23the bloom's been kind of cut off here and our harvester, jimadore,
0:42:23 > 0:42:25he's ready to harvest.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29So if it was allowed to bloom and flower, it would die then?
0:42:29 > 0:42:31- It would die, yes.- OK, OK.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35We're going to use everything above the ground.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37Right now, he's cutting off the roots.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43So that's what, how heavy's that?
0:42:43 > 0:42:46I think it's approximately 50 kilos.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48And how many bottles would you get out of that?
0:42:48 > 0:42:50We'll make about five bottles out of that.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52- Out of the one?- Yes.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12This distillery opened in 1873,
0:43:12 > 0:43:15and the processes are still very traditional.
0:43:15 > 0:43:21The steam oven can take up to 15 tonnes of agave at any one time.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Heating up these massive bulbs helps to bring out the natural sugars in
0:43:25 > 0:43:31the fibre. It takes nearly 30 hours of cooking to soften the flesh.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35So, it's cooked?
0:43:35 > 0:43:37Cooked agave, yes.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41Here we chip it up and then we stone crush it and then we wash it.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43We're trying to get the pulp off the fibre,
0:43:43 > 0:43:45and that's the step they're on right now,
0:43:45 > 0:43:49washing to get as much of the pulp off, which is the sweet part,
0:43:49 > 0:43:52which we call our mosto in Spanish.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56We drain and we're able to pump up to our fermentation tanks.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00What a smell, what am I smelling, is that just the juice?
0:44:00 > 0:44:01The juice, the sugars.
0:44:01 > 0:44:07Fantastic. And what's the difference between tequila and mezcal, then?
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Well, different agave, there's over 250 agave species.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13- And they're not cactuses, are they? - No, they're not cactuses.
0:44:13 > 0:44:18We only use the blue, the agave weber tequilana,
0:44:18 > 0:44:20is the only one we use for tequila.
0:44:20 > 0:44:26Mezcal can use any of the other 249, approximate, agaves.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31So this is the fermentation, these vats, are they?
0:44:31 > 0:44:34Not many people using wood to ferment any more.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36Would that make a difference to the taste, then?
0:44:36 > 0:44:40In my opinion, it's one of the touches that contributes
0:44:40 > 0:44:42to the flavour profile we have.
0:44:42 > 0:44:43Yeah, yeah.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47This is our old boiler.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50- Yeah.- Call it in Spanish a caldera.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53It was born the same year my grandfather was born.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57- 1903.- So this generates the steam.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01It's for cooking the agave but it also generates for distilling the
0:45:01 > 0:45:04fermented must and making tequila.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08My grandfather closed this distillery in 1968.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11It was too inefficient and it was mothballed.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13We brought it back to life.
0:45:13 > 0:45:14It's been 11 years now.
0:45:14 > 0:45:19Wow! So if he felt it was too inefficient,
0:45:19 > 0:45:21what have you changed to make it more efficient, then?
0:45:21 > 0:45:24Nothing. It's still very inefficient.
0:45:24 > 0:45:29- Yeah.- And I like to make always an example of a baked potato being made
0:45:29 > 0:45:32in an oven versus a baked potato being made in a microwave.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34They taste completely different.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37- Yeah.- So we decided we wanted to take it,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41make everything the old way and that's our unique taste.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43I like your voice.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47- Thank you very much.- Sounds like you've been drinking a lot of tequila.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50I do, yes, I do!
0:45:50 > 0:45:51You caught me there!
0:45:56 > 0:45:59So we're going to try some of your product.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02Yes, you'll love it. We have a beautiful cave here.
0:46:02 > 0:46:03- Oh, great.- It's authentic.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05It's actually got bats in it too.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08- But they won't bite you. - Fair enough.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Well, what a bar.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17It has a touch of a bandito's hideaway or Zorro's hidden cave.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21Perfect in every respect for tasting a precious tequila.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31So this is the Blanco.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35The Blanco is basically out of this still and I like to say it's a true
0:46:35 > 0:46:38fingerprint of a distillery.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41As you can see, it's got a favourable, very nice aroma.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44Very nice aroma.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46- And...- There's nothing quite like tequila, is there?
0:46:46 > 0:46:49It's when you smell it. It just...
0:46:49 > 0:46:52You wouldn't miss it for anything else.
0:46:52 > 0:46:53There really isn't.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Salud...
0:46:59 > 0:47:03It's just such a sort of taste of Mexico, to me.
0:47:03 > 0:47:09It seems a stupid thing to say but I sort of think no wonder it's so
0:47:09 > 0:47:10popular, somehow.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13There's something really distinct about it.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15It is very unique. Two things I mention.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18I had a very famous movie star come here.
0:47:18 > 0:47:23He asked me to make tequila for his brand and I told him, I'm sorry.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26We don't make tequila for anybody and he's a very famous guy.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32But that told me that we were at a point where people are coming to us
0:47:32 > 0:47:37and they see us as the pinnacle of the products that are out there.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39You know, I'm very, very fortunate and very,
0:47:39 > 0:47:43very humbled to be able to walk in the footsteps of my abuelo,
0:47:43 > 0:47:46my bisabuelo, and my tatarabuelo.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50I'm the fifth generation in my family to make tequila and I'm very,
0:47:50 > 0:47:52very fortunate to walk in their footsteps,
0:47:52 > 0:47:55very few people get to do what their great-great-grandfather
0:47:55 > 0:48:01got to do over 100 years ago and I get to do it.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03Plus, I have a nice bar!
0:48:12 > 0:48:14That cave was very seductive.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19I could have stayed chatting to Guillermo for hours but I suspect
0:48:19 > 0:48:24we'd already had a few sips too many and I was keen to get back on the road and
0:48:24 > 0:48:29head posthaste towards a personal favourite holiday destination,
0:48:29 > 0:48:30Puerto Vallarta.
0:48:34 > 0:48:35Life on the road.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38Our support vehicle's broken down.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40We're trying to start it with the other one.
0:48:41 > 0:48:47But so far, not so good and I was just noticing, actually, behind here,
0:48:47 > 0:48:53there's a little tacos el pastor place so we won't die of hunger,
0:48:53 > 0:48:58except it says "malos pero baratos".
0:48:58 > 0:49:00It says bad but cheap!
0:49:00 > 0:49:03So they're obviously not going to be too good.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08Well, we've got some sort of solution.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11We're all going to have to cram in the one vehicle, like little mice,
0:49:11 > 0:49:13with equipment on our knees!
0:49:31 > 0:49:36It's quite incredible to think that less than four hours out of Tequila's
0:49:36 > 0:49:37desert landscape,
0:49:37 > 0:49:42you end up in a tropical paradise on the Pacific West Coast.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47What started once as a humble village for fishing folk and pearl divers
0:49:47 > 0:49:52has ended up as one of Mexico's top tourist destinations.
0:49:52 > 0:49:56This area, Gringo Gulch, as the name suggests,
0:49:56 > 0:50:02became a magnet for Americans wanting to live here in the 1950s
0:50:02 > 0:50:07and this house was rented by film director John Huston, but its claim to fame is as
0:50:07 > 0:50:12the romantic hideout of Hollywood's golden couple,
0:50:12 > 0:50:14Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
0:50:16 > 0:50:21Huston had brought Burton to Puerto Vallarta to star in his movie,
0:50:21 > 0:50:23Night Of The Iguana.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27This wasn't long after the famous Burton/Taylor love affair on the set
0:50:27 > 0:50:30of Antony and Cleopatra.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35Local hotels clearly had no appeal for Hollywood's highest-paid star
0:50:35 > 0:50:37and shortly after her arrival,
0:50:37 > 0:50:40Huston received this message from Burton.
0:50:40 > 0:50:45"My friend, if we don't find suitable accommodations for Elizabeth,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48"I'm afraid I won't be able to star in your film."
0:50:49 > 0:50:54So without further ado, Huston moved out and the Hollywood stars moved in.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02They loved the house so much that Burton bought it as a birthday gift
0:51:02 > 0:51:06for Elizabeth and the house opposite for himself,
0:51:06 > 0:51:09to show a bit of respectability, so to speak.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Well, that was Richard's house and I'm just walking into Elizabeth's,
0:51:15 > 0:51:20and he built this bridge so that the two houses could be connected.
0:51:20 > 0:51:21There was a lot of scandal,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24because they were both married to other people at the time.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26But the sort of thing that occurs to me,
0:51:26 > 0:51:28because I remember seeing around the same time,
0:51:28 > 0:51:30Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
0:51:30 > 0:51:34And it was Richard and Elizabeth virtually playing themselves,
0:51:34 > 0:51:36rowing all the time and I sort of think,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39maybe this was a bit of a bolthole for Richard.
0:51:43 > 0:51:48The house is now a hotel and serves some Burton/Taylor favourites.
0:51:51 > 0:51:56That is a chocolate martini, Elizabeth Taylor's favourite drink.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03Basically, it's a martini glass dipped in orange juice and chocolate
0:52:03 > 0:52:09powder and filled with a cocktail made with two measures of vodka,
0:52:09 > 0:52:13one measure of chocolate syrup and one measure of creme de cacao.
0:52:15 > 0:52:21I didn't come here to Puerto Vallarta when I was first here in Mexico in 1968,
0:52:21 > 0:52:25I went to Acapulco instead but I'd certainly heard of Puerto Vallarta,
0:52:25 > 0:52:29but what really put Vallarta on the map, Puerto Vallarta,
0:52:29 > 0:52:35was this sort of scandalous but amazingly romantic relationship between
0:52:35 > 0:52:37Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40Elizabeth Taylor at the time was,
0:52:40 > 0:52:43just to give you an idea of the enormousness of this relationship,
0:52:43 > 0:52:48she was the richest star in the world so the whole thing was, well,
0:52:48 > 0:52:53I think it virtually started the whole idea of paparazzi and they
0:52:53 > 0:52:56came here slightly to get away from all that.
0:52:59 > 0:53:04It would be a bit fanciful to say that Rich and Liz would have cooked
0:53:04 > 0:53:08this dish for themselves, but Eduardo, the head chef at Casa Kimberley,
0:53:08 > 0:53:10told me I simply had to try it.
0:53:11 > 0:53:16It's called chillies en nogada, chillies with walnuts.
0:53:16 > 0:53:17So to make the filling,
0:53:17 > 0:53:22Eduardo is combining a pre-sauteed mirepoix of celery,
0:53:22 > 0:53:27carrots and onions to which he adds fried minced beef and minced pork.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30Next, a good slug of sweet sherry
0:53:30 > 0:53:33and a generous helping of candied fruit,
0:53:33 > 0:53:38apples, raisins and citrus, some beef stock to loosen the sauce,
0:53:38 > 0:53:43a handful of flaked almonds and the same amount of chopped pecans.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47This dish is a particular favourite on Independence Day,
0:53:47 > 0:53:51because the colours of the finished dish reflect the Mexican flag.
0:53:52 > 0:53:57Now come the final flavours - thyme, oregano, and cinnamon,
0:53:57 > 0:54:00some salt and pepper and that's the filling done.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07Next, the pepper itself.
0:54:07 > 0:54:12Eduardo is using fresh poblano chillies rubbed with olive oil and he chars
0:54:12 > 0:54:14them on a naked flame,
0:54:14 > 0:54:17to give the finished dish its characteristic smoky flavour.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24He then lets the peppers sweat under clingfilm to make the peeling easier.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30And now the sauce that gives the dish its name -
0:54:30 > 0:54:34into a blender goes milk, pecan nuts, the walnuts,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36or nogada as they're called,
0:54:36 > 0:54:40and then a mix of both cream cheese and fresh curd cheese.
0:54:44 > 0:54:49To finish, the charred pepper has been deseeded and is now filled with
0:54:49 > 0:54:51the minced stuffing.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56A generous helping of that creamy walnut sauce and last but not least
0:54:56 > 0:54:59comes the final essential ingredient,
0:54:59 > 0:55:03and the reason it can only be made in the cooler months,
0:55:03 > 0:55:06a glistening garnish of pomegranate.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10Well, I've just been watching this being made quietly in the corner,
0:55:10 > 0:55:14taking some notes but with interest.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17But I didn't realise it's actually served at room temperature.
0:55:17 > 0:55:18I thought it would be hot.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20I think it's quite a good dish to take home,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23because you can make a lot of them,
0:55:23 > 0:55:25probably put them in the fridge overnight,
0:55:25 > 0:55:28and then just bring them up to room temperature.
0:55:32 > 0:55:33Yum!
0:55:33 > 0:55:35Yum, yum.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39It's really very nice and I'd just like to congratulate you.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42Also, he's got a lovely kitchen.
0:55:42 > 0:55:43I've just been looking around.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56It is a lovely spot.
0:55:56 > 0:55:57Actually, truth to tell,
0:55:57 > 0:56:02this has become one of my all-time favourite holiday destinations.
0:56:02 > 0:56:04I wish I'd known it in the '50s,
0:56:04 > 0:56:08when it was changing from a sleepy fishing village to the place it is now.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11But when I think of Puerto Vallarta,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14I don't think about food exactly but this coffee,
0:56:14 > 0:56:17that all after-dinner coffees should be measured by.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23I'm just about to have a Mexican coffee.
0:56:23 > 0:56:25It's going to be a flaming wonder.
0:56:25 > 0:56:30I've seen pictures of it all happening and it's just spectacular.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37Naturally, it's made with tequila,
0:56:37 > 0:56:41kahlua or a similar type of coffee liqueur,
0:56:41 > 0:56:44cinnamon, caramelised sugar,
0:56:44 > 0:56:45and Chantilly cream.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51I've never had much luck sampling flaming drinks before.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55There's been more than one occasion I've gone home with a fat blister
0:56:55 > 0:56:57on my top lip.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59However, I feel I'm in safe hands here.
0:57:00 > 0:57:05Now most important, wait, wait for it to cool!
0:57:05 > 0:57:08That's the mistake I made.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10The impatience of youth.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27Wow! That is really special.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31I mean, all that theatre and the taste is just wonderful.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35I just have this bit of a problem with these hot after-dinner coffees.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37The crew love them.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40You know, Irish coffees, a bit of warm whisky and some cream,
0:57:40 > 0:57:42whatever it is. I always say no.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45I just think they're a bit sort of down-market, really.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48But this is spectacular!
0:57:51 > 0:57:54Well, salud, Puerto Vallarta.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56I'll be back again soon.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01Next week, Mexico City.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09I try the famous pulque, a working man's drink.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15I go to the serene chinampas,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18the floating vegetable gardens of Mexico City...
0:58:19 > 0:58:26..and in Puebla, I discover the joys of Mexico's most iconic dish, the mole.