0:00:04 > 0:00:09It was 1968 when I first came here to San Francisco.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13I wanted to do my own road trip from the United States
0:00:13 > 0:00:15to the Mexican border and beyond.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17My dad had just died.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20I'd finished school and I had no idea
0:00:20 > 0:00:22what I wanted to do with my life.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25It was the year after the Summer Of Love
0:00:25 > 0:00:29and things like enchiladas, burritos, guacamole
0:00:29 > 0:00:34I'd only heard of from the radio but they sounded wonderful.
0:00:34 > 0:00:35But it wasn't just the food.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38I wanted to live a little bit dangerously.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40And I did.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Oh!
0:01:14 > 0:01:17This is great. I've heard that the Mexicans,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20anything for a bit of a fiesta in the street.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22This is a wedding.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25I'm in Oaxaca, and, on our first day,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28we stumbled across this wedding dance.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Well, it's more like a carnival, really!
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Once upon a time, this turkey would have been a live one
0:01:40 > 0:01:43and revellers would have passed it from dancer to dancer.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46And if the turkey's feathers stayed on,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49and it was still breathing after a couple of hours of this,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51then that would be a good omen for the marriage.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Just love those figures.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00There's something curiously prophetic about marriage,
0:02:00 > 0:02:03I think, the way they're bobbing and weaving aimlessly.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07But anything for a bit of festival, and Mexicans just love it.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12It's not my first time in Oaxaca.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16They say this southern state is the culinary heart of Mexico,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18so I had to come back
0:02:18 > 0:02:19and make it part of my journey.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24I can still remember everything I tasted the last time I was here.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Fabulous beef, really good cheese,
0:02:27 > 0:02:32mezcal of course, and tlayuda, Mexican crispy pizzas.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37The first thing that draws me like a magnet is the market
0:02:37 > 0:02:39and grilled beef for breakfast.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43This is sensational!
0:02:44 > 0:02:47I mean, you could call it a sort of meat-lover's nirvana.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52Just everywhere, it's mostly beef, it looks like skirt to me,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54but there's just so much of it.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57I mean, if you love your beef, you've got to come here
0:02:57 > 0:03:01because this is what every beef-lover dreams.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Beef on charcoal, simply cooked.
0:03:05 > 0:03:06Perfection.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13The speciality of this part of the market are these semi-dried
0:03:13 > 0:03:14sheets of pork and beef.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21What I'm looking for is the tasajo,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25and that's this very thinly sliced beef, and I'd like...
0:03:25 > 0:03:27MAN SPEAKS MEXICAN SPANISH
0:03:27 > 0:03:31That one. It's got more fat in it, hasn't it? Para me.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32MAN SPEAKS MEXICAN SPANISH
0:03:32 > 0:03:34OK.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38So, this, I think it's cut from the leg very, very thinly,
0:03:38 > 0:03:39and salted, pre-salted.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41And, originally, it was because
0:03:41 > 0:03:44they didn't have any refrigeration, so they preserved it like this.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48But then it's going to be grilled over charcoal and with those onions
0:03:48 > 0:03:52and the chillies and everything, and they'll give me some tortillas, too.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58There can't be a meat lover watching this who doesn't think
0:03:58 > 0:03:59"When can I get to Oaxaca?"
0:04:07 > 0:04:08Fabulous.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Wow. So, tear off a bit of meat...
0:04:18 > 0:04:21..maybe add a little bit of chilli. They don't look that hot.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23We'll soon find out.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Obviously, an onion.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28You're going to get yourself quite...
0:04:28 > 0:04:30..quite dirty in this,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34definitely a bit of salsa roja,
0:04:34 > 0:04:35a little bit of lemon.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Incidentally, this is lemon, limon, it's not lime.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44And then roll it up.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Excuse me.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07It's really wonderful, absolute heaven.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10I think this is why Mexican food is becoming so popular in the UK,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15it's dishes like this. It's just so fresh and so impromptu.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19You make up whatever you want in these tortillas to make your tacos.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21With this beautiful beef, it's fabulous.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31That lovely taco has got me thinking - I can map my trip
0:05:31 > 0:05:35so far through the tacos I've had, funnily enough.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40First, from Tijuana, a Baja Med special with seared venison.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43This is going to be a religious experience.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Then shrimp ceviche in Ensenada.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55In Puerto Vallarta, there was goat - the birria taco.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02Tacos al pastor in Mexico City, with pork shawarma.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07They might all look the same but they're not.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11The taco, like Mexico itself, is full of variety.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16As well as the fabulous beef, there's another very famous
0:06:16 > 0:06:20speciality of Oaxaca - insects.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22They're a big part of the local diet,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25and we're told they're the food of the future.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Yes, I know what you're thinking but, honestly, they're OK!
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Whenever you say to somebody that you've been to Oaxaca, if they've
0:06:32 > 0:06:34been here, they'll always say,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36"Did you try the grasshoppers, the chapulines?"
0:06:36 > 0:06:38Well, I have tried them before, last time I was here,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40but I tried those ones,
0:06:40 > 0:06:45and they're all very little and they just taste like rather crisp legs.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49So, this time, I'm going to go for some big ones. Oh, that's good.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51Right.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Without further ado, one with a big thorax.
0:06:58 > 0:06:59They're really nice.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02Salt and lemon, I can tell that. Now, there's a big one.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05They've got a sort of...almost a sort of vegetable taste,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09funnily enough. Slightly leafy. They're not unpleasant.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Well, I don't think I'm going to eat all these.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15- I know who will want them. The crew. Would you like some?- No, thank you.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Grasshoppers, any of you? Oh, well, suit yourselves.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24When DH Lawrence stayed in Oaxaca,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27he wrote evocatively about this very market.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32"Most extraordinary is the sound
0:07:32 > 0:07:37"that comes out. It is a huge noise but you may never notice it.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41"It sounds as if all the ghosts in the world
0:07:41 > 0:07:43"were talking to one another.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48"It's a noise something like rain or banana leaves in the wind."
0:07:59 > 0:08:04He was here on what he called his "savage pilgrimage",
0:08:04 > 0:08:07a period of self-imposed exile after World War I.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14This is room 218, I think this is where DH Lawrence stayed
0:08:14 > 0:08:15when he first came to Oaxaca.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19I know it's a bit sort of pathetic but I actually really do like
0:08:19 > 0:08:22standing in a room where a hero of mine stayed.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27Obviously, it's changed, it's been done up but it still feels right.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30The floor feels right, the doors feel right.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34And, actually, the view would have been virtually unchanged
0:08:34 > 0:08:37from the 1920s. I mean, that church is massively old.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39So, I'm looking at what DH Lawrence was looking at.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Now, what would he be thinking about, I wonder?
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Well, probably The Plumed Serpent, Quetzalcoatl,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49probably some thoughts about the Mexican Indians.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54He had a lot to say about them. Mornings in Mexico. The light.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59And what I really love about DH Lawrence is
0:08:59 > 0:09:02he tries to get to the truth about men and women.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05I also like the fact that he knew my grandparents.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Yes, they were neighbours in Cornwall
0:09:09 > 0:09:11where he wrote Women In Love.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14His wife, Frieda, was German, like my grandparents.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Unlike them, she was thought to be a spy.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Probably because her uncle was the famous Red Baron.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24The Cornish claimed she sent signals to the German U-boats
0:09:24 > 0:09:27by the way she hung up her washing on the cliffs.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31I think it's unlikely but that's why they were travelling -
0:09:31 > 0:09:33because they were kicked out of Cornwall.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Although he was very ill with TB and malaria while he was here,
0:09:40 > 0:09:45Lawrence described Oaxaca as a place of sun and roses.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48He was a great observer of Mexican life.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53Much is unchanged since he was here in the 1920s.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56There would have been the shoeshine, oranges pressed on the street,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00and the women making brooms from dried grasses.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09I must say, I'm really fond of just sitting, drinking a bit of limon and
0:10:09 > 0:10:13coffee in a central plaza like this, with the cathedral just opposite.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17And I think, in a way, this is what Mexico's like.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21It's a country where, if you look into the dark side,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23it doesn't bear looking into.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27But a place where you can sit on a sunny morning like this with
0:10:27 > 0:10:30some lovely music, with the jacarandas in bloom,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33and feel so happy with your life.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Driving north through this parched landscape,
0:10:47 > 0:10:51it's hard to believe how much grows in the state of Oaxaca.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55But this region produces foods loved all over Mexico,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59particularly Oaxacan cheese, the finishing touch to burritos,
0:10:59 > 0:11:03tacos and tlayuda from Tijuana to Tulum.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Some say the method of making it
0:11:07 > 0:11:09was brought to Mexico by Dominican monks.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13Another theory is it was the creation of a young girl
0:11:13 > 0:11:16who let the curds boil dry out of carelessness
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and rapidly added hot water to retrieve the situation,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23hence the Oaxaca cheese.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27I think that sounds like a true story. Why?
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Because it's got a mistake in it!
0:11:29 > 0:11:32And in cooking, well, cooking is about mistakes
0:11:32 > 0:11:34and learning from them.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38What everyone does agree about is where it was invented,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42less than an hour from Oaxaca in a town called Reyes Etla.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46On this farm, run by Lorenzo Reyes,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49it's made from the milk of Jerseys and Friesians.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54I must say, I love being amongst cows.
0:11:54 > 0:11:55I was born and brought up on a farm
0:11:55 > 0:11:58so milking is not strange to me whatsoever.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02The smell of fresh cows is lovely.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06And Don Lorenzo here is milking by hand, and it's really
0:12:06 > 0:12:10important to him that everything that the cows eat, he grows.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14So, first of all, they're feeding them today alfalfa,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18but he also feeds them maize silage and oats.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Now, I suppose if you think about making really good wine,
0:12:21 > 0:12:25you would want to have control on all the growing.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27It's just the same with Don Lorenzo.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39The first part of the process is very familiar.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Milk, buttermilk, rennet,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46and salt are stirred together and heated into curds.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49But that's where it gets interesting.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53Lorenzo adds hot water and pulls and stretches
0:12:53 > 0:12:57until he's made long ribbons of elastic cheese.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01I must say, it is the most fascinating process.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04The way he rolls it up, ties it up like that,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07almost looks like some sort of Aztec symbol.
0:13:07 > 0:13:08You could imagine it in stone.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13There's a Mexican expression for chaos,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16"More tangled than a Oaxacan cheese."
0:13:16 > 0:13:19But I don't know why. It's as neat as a ball of wool.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24DON LORENZO SPEAKS IN MEXICAN SPANISH
0:13:24 > 0:13:25Gracias, Don Lorenzo.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Well, my first impression is this delightful toughness of it.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37It's so sort of pleasant to bite through the teeth. It's salty.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40It's got a lovely tartness to it. Utterly delicious.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43And I can sort of understand, because it's so versatile,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46why it is the most used cheese in Mexico.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50DON LORENZO SPEAKS IN MEXICAN SPANISH
0:13:55 > 0:13:57The only cheese I can think that's sort of anything like it
0:13:57 > 0:14:01in Europe is probably mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05A good buffalo mozzarella has that sort of taste of pastures,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09which this does as well. It is really, really good cheese.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Queso Oaxaca is fantastic to cook with.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17And, back home in Padstow, it's given me the idea of making
0:14:17 > 0:14:21quesadilla with courgette flowers, cheese, and jalapenos.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27So, now, my first opportunity of making my own tortillas,
0:14:27 > 0:14:32and I've got blue masa harina, that means blue maize flour,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34and that's from a type of blue corn.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36I'm just going to add some salt in there.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38And then some water.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41Now, it's very easy to make tortilla dough
0:14:41 > 0:14:44because there's no gluten in maize flour, and, therefore,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47you don't need to stretch it, you just mix everything together.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49So, there we go.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Just beginning to gather that up from the bottom,
0:14:51 > 0:14:55maybe a little bit more water here, just mix that into a ball,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57and out onto my chopping board.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Cut it up into pieces, like that.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09And just mould each one into a round ball.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Now, here is my tortilla press.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19Note I've got two sheets of polythene here,
0:15:19 > 0:15:21just a freezer bag, as it happens, cut open.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24And that's because you never, not even in Mexico,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27put the corn straight on to the press, because it sticks too bad.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32And see, it's come out quite nice and round.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34You're never going to get like Mexican-style round,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36but that's not too bad.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40So now here I have a double comal,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42because I want to cook two at a time.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44Very important not to get it too hot.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47You don't want it to burn, you just want to cook the tortilla.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49So just making the other one.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55So just get your spatula, and if it goes underneath very easily
0:15:55 > 0:15:56then it's ready to turn over.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58And now the other one.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Yep, there we go.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Now then, I'm just going to take those off and put them into
0:16:03 > 0:16:07my neat little warming bag, very, very lovely, this.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10I've got two, one with a Mexican hat on and the other one
0:16:10 > 0:16:12with a Day Of The Dead skull.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15And that just keeps it for about an hour,
0:16:15 > 0:16:16not only warm but also moist,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19so you can see the steam coming out of there.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Good. Now to make the filling.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25First of all, obviously, corn oil in the pan. Just add some onions
0:16:25 > 0:16:27and sweat them down a bit,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29and then add some garlic.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Just let that cook down a bit. Now, I've got a whole jalapeno chilli.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Just pull the end off and cut that up very, very finely.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38Well, quite finely.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Now look at these.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44I got these from my son Edward's garden this morning,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46or he brought them in.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49I mean, just... This is what fillings are all about, you know.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Beautiful. So I'm just going to chop up these tiny courgettes
0:16:53 > 0:16:54and add those
0:16:54 > 0:16:57and just let them fry for a little bit, just to cook down,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00cos otherwise they'll be a bit too lumpy.
0:17:01 > 0:17:02And now the flowers.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05I just love courgette flowers, especially
0:17:05 > 0:17:07when they're as young as this, they're so sweet.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09So in they go, too.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16A good pinch of salt from the salt pig.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18And that's the filling now done, it's just...
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Leave that just to cook down a little bit more.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24And now to make up my quesadillas.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27The tortillas go back on to the comal
0:17:27 > 0:17:28for a moment, to warm up.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33The best alternative to queso Oaxaca is mozzarella, it's obvious.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37And instead of the fresh curd cheese, queso fresco,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40I'm using lovely, crumbly Lancashire.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44Now for the filling, just on one side.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46God, that's smelling nice. Very, very nice.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Fold them over like that. As you can see,
0:17:49 > 0:17:51the cheese is already beginning to melt.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Press them down, just to let the cheese cook a little bit more
0:17:55 > 0:17:58and then flip them over the other side.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Let that go a little bit.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Then on to my chopping board, and chop in half.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08And eat with great pleasure.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13OK? Totally delicious.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16I know I'm not the best tortilla maker in the world,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18but delicious.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20You can buy them, of course you can buy them online,
0:18:20 > 0:18:21corn tortillas now.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24But as I always like to say,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26a sweet disorder in the dress
0:18:26 > 0:18:30kindles in clothes a wantonness.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32That's the way I feel about my tortillas.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35They may not be perfect, but I love them to bits.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Mexicans call Oaxaca the Green City,
0:18:46 > 0:18:47but I couldn't see why
0:18:47 > 0:18:50until I looked at it in this light.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52It's built from cantera stone,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55which is almost glowing in the morning sun.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58And, yes, it really is pale green.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03I'm going to the museum to see a painting. It's about corn.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07It's the work of Arturo Garcia Bustos,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09who studied under Frida Kahlo.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13Later, he became one of Mexico's great mural painters.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16This one's very important, I think.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19I mean, you've got this wonderful god up there in the clouds,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22the god of corn, I suppose, with an ear of corn,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25about to drop it down, pick up the water.
0:19:25 > 0:19:31And there you've got the hand of, clearly, a manual labouring peasant
0:19:31 > 0:19:35holding this ear of corn up, just showing how important
0:19:35 > 0:19:38to the Mexicans corn is.
0:19:38 > 0:19:39It's the centre of life.
0:19:39 > 0:19:45And there's a very, very wonderful Mexican slogan, I suppose,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48that says "Sin maiz no hay pais."
0:19:48 > 0:19:52In other words, without maize, you don't have a country.
0:19:54 > 0:20:00This region is where corn was first cultivated 7,000 years ago.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03That's before the Ming dynasty,
0:20:03 > 0:20:04the ancient Greeks
0:20:04 > 0:20:06or even the pyramids.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10And corn is still a major part of the local diet,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13as shown by that favourite dish, pozole.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17To see how it's made, I'm going to visit Nora Valencia,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20an expert in Oaxacan cuisine
0:20:20 > 0:20:22learned from her mother and grandmother.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26- Hello, very nice to meet you. - Welcome to Oaxaca.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28- Thank you, thank you. - You want to cook?
0:20:28 > 0:20:30- Let's go cook pozole.- OK!
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Pozole is a corn-based meat stew
0:20:34 > 0:20:38and one of the oldest and best-loved dishes in Mexico.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42She shows me how to nixtamalize the maize,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45a process that goes back to the earliest cooking in Mexico.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51She makes an alkaline solution - in this case, chalk, lime and water -
0:20:51 > 0:20:53and adds the maize.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56She boils it until the husks are broken down
0:20:56 > 0:20:59and the maize inside softens and swells.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03OK, so now you can see
0:21:03 > 0:21:05how this, you know,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09dark yellow, and you can take one of these ones... Ah. It's hot.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12- So you just can take it like this. - Yeah.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15And now we have the big difference, you know,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17in between this one and this one.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19- It's swollen up, hasn't it?- Yeah.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23- Yeah.- It means the corn is ready and now we can wash it.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32She starts again with clean water.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36She adds poached chicken to the pot to enrich the stock.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Then she makes a bouquet garni -
0:21:38 > 0:21:42an onion, a whole head of garlic split in half
0:21:42 > 0:21:44and herbs and spices,
0:21:44 > 0:21:49oregano, thyme, cumin, cloves,
0:21:49 > 0:21:50and adds it to the pot.
0:21:50 > 0:21:55A couple of ladles of chicken stock. It's smelling wonderful.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59And a good sprinkling of salt.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Then she makes pipian verde.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05This is a spicy green paste
0:22:05 > 0:22:08made from toasted pepitas, pumpkin seeds,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10red and green chillies
0:22:10 > 0:22:13and tomatillos.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18Then there's a herb. I've only had it in Mexico, hoja santa.
0:22:18 > 0:22:24It's fresh and zingy. A bit like tarragon or perhaps fennel.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27She blitzes them all to a thick paste.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Meanwhile, she takes the chicken out to shred it.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35The paste is fried in hot oil, a very Mexican touch.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38And that is added to the pozole.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44To serve, the shredded chicken first,
0:22:44 > 0:22:45then the pozole.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49And it comes with lettuce, radishes,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52jalapenos and raw onions,
0:22:52 > 0:22:54and a wedge of lime on the side.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59- Enjoy!- Thank you very much indeed, Nora.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02- And you can make accompaniment with some tostadas.- Oh, yeah.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05I just want to try this, but I'd love tostadas in it.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08- Yeah.- I'm loving that corn,
0:23:08 > 0:23:09I don't think I've ever tasted it
0:23:09 > 0:23:11like that before, it's sort of...
0:23:11 > 0:23:14I mean, obviously it's the most popular way of having it,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17but I only have sort of sweetcorn on the cob or tortillas.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19- Yeah.- But this is really good!
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Well, now they are absorbing all the flavours
0:23:22 > 0:23:24from the green pipian.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27It's a bit like a sort of pesto, it's sort of slightly thickened it
0:23:27 > 0:23:29and given it a bit of richness and a lot of flavour.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32With the tomatillos and the pepitas, you know,
0:23:32 > 0:23:33make it a really good flavour.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38Pipian. I thought this was going to be really quite heavy, quite rich.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Well, you have three plates, probably, you know,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42but this invites you to keep eating.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Oh, right, fair enough, fair enough!
0:23:45 > 0:23:46I like it lots.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52This is my last evening here in Oaxaca City,
0:23:52 > 0:23:57and I find myself caught up listening to marimba music.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01To be honest, before I came here,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04I didn't know what a marimba was.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Of course, it was the Dean Martin song Sway that we of a certain
0:24:09 > 0:24:11age know so well that made it famous.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15I know it's nothing to do with food, but to me,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17it's equally important.
0:24:17 > 0:24:18APPLAUSE
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Last time I was in Oaxaca, I must confess I stayed in the city,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34because it was so fabulous, so much to see.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Churches, art galleries, the museum,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41lovely squares to have drinks in the evening. Great restaurants.
0:24:41 > 0:24:47There was no need to get out of the city. But this time I have,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and I do think that if you've got a chance, it's worth it,
0:24:50 > 0:24:52because it's an agricultural region
0:24:52 > 0:24:55and there's plenty of good produce to go and look at.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58And also, great atmosphere in the country.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00It's a really special part of Mexico.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09It's Sunday morning, and I've come to see the ruins
0:25:09 > 0:25:11of the ancient capital of this region,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Monte Alban.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Perched on a high hill above the city,
0:25:16 > 0:25:18this is the work of the Zapotecs,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22who were every bit as advanced as their more famous rivals,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24the Aztecs and the Mayans.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28After all, they had the technology to cut the top off the mountain
0:25:28 > 0:25:30to create this enormous plateau
0:25:30 > 0:25:32so they could build the city here.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Over 17,000 people once lived here,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39and because I'm a cook,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41I imagine the air would have been full of noise
0:25:41 > 0:25:45and thick with the smells and sounds of Zapotecan life.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47Corn tortillas toasting on griddles,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50beef sizzling, smoke everywhere,
0:25:50 > 0:25:51chillies roasting.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Lovely!
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Trouble is, this is all guesswork.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59I mean, that is just a beautiful view.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02I don't mind that I don't actually know
0:26:02 > 0:26:05what was happening here in Zapotec times.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08I mean, was this a forum? Was it part of a marketplace?
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Are these religious buildings? Nobody actually knows.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17But it doesn't sort of matter to me, because I think architecture for me
0:26:17 > 0:26:20is about sort of framing space in some way,
0:26:20 > 0:26:21or framing landscape.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25And if you think about the just fantastic view there,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27it would be so much the less without these wonderful
0:26:27 > 0:26:29buildings in front of me.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38Despite what you might think,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42the Zapotec civilisation hasn't completely vanished.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47Almost a million Mexicans still identify as Zapotec,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and Oaxaca is the centre of their culture.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09I'm going to a town with one of Mexico's oldest open-air markets.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12It's known here as a tianguis,
0:27:12 > 0:27:16and ethnic Zapotecans from all the surrounding villages come here.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32What is wonderful about this market is there is
0:27:32 > 0:27:35a sort of sense of innocence about it. There's lovely smells
0:27:35 > 0:27:38in the air of watermelon
0:27:38 > 0:27:41and roasting corn and
0:27:41 > 0:27:43grilling chickens.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47And everybody looks sort of pleasant and charming
0:27:47 > 0:27:49and colourful. It's lovely.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Ha! I've finally tracked down mamey.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00I've been told about this, I've been looking for it all day.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Could I have a slice?
0:28:02 > 0:28:05I'd heard that mameys taste like a cross between
0:28:05 > 0:28:07a pear and a melon,
0:28:07 > 0:28:08and that's exactly right.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Oh, that is good.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17It's really, obviously, sweet-scented,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19got a lovely mouth feel,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22to use a common expression,
0:28:22 > 0:28:23because of the sort of fattiness.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26It actually has the same feel in the mouth as avocado,
0:28:26 > 0:28:28but it's deliciously sweet.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34Now, the first chillies ever to be cultivated
0:28:34 > 0:28:35came from northern Oaxaca,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38and, like corn, have been part of the Mexican diet
0:28:38 > 0:28:40for thousands of years.
0:28:41 > 0:28:46There's something truly wonderful about the aroma of dry chillies.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49I'm just going to run through four here.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Just for my own memory, almost.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53First we have guajillo,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55which is a very common dried chilli,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58then guachon, which I've never heard of before.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02Mulato, which I have heard before, lovely black,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05lovely smell, sort of liquorice-y smell.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07And, finally, ancho.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11It's sort of fruity and slightly smoky
0:29:11 > 0:29:15and very, very, "I must have more of this" sort of smell.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20In some ways, a few bits of plastic apart,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24not much has changed since the glory days of the Zapotecans.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27There's still a big market for these metates,
0:29:27 > 0:29:29grinding stones as big as tables.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33I'd love to take one home, but they weigh a tonne.
0:29:33 > 0:29:34Literally!
0:29:43 > 0:29:48Not far from here is the village home of the five Mendoza sisters,
0:29:48 > 0:29:51Zapotec cooks of international fame.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54They are mistresses of the metate,
0:29:54 > 0:29:56and I want to watch them at work.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00I've seen it used before, of course I have,
0:30:00 > 0:30:04but this is advanced level metate in Zapotec.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06- Metate in Espanol?- Yeah.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09In Zapoteco is guitz.
0:30:09 > 0:30:10- Guitz? ALL:- Guitz.
0:30:10 > 0:30:11OK.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15SHE SPEAKS HER OWN LANGUAGE AND RICK REPEATS
0:30:15 > 0:30:18LAUGHTER
0:30:21 > 0:30:24The sisters give cooking demonstrations all over the world,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28speaking a mixture of Spanish, Zapotec and English.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32- No mas fino.- No mas fino? You don't want it fino?
0:30:34 > 0:30:35So good.
0:30:35 > 0:30:40Just thinking you could do these in a food processor, in a food grinder.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42SHE SPEAKS HER OWN LANGUAGE Oh, yeah.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44But, um...
0:30:46 > 0:30:48Oh, fab!
0:30:48 > 0:30:50But you just wouldn't have the control. I mean, um,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52they're saying that, um,
0:30:52 > 0:30:57that Abigail's actually grinding it quite softly, quite carefully,
0:30:57 > 0:31:02um, just to achieve the right grind that she exactly wants.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06Rosario's grinding really hard
0:31:06 > 0:31:09so that the chilli now has become all like a tomato puree,
0:31:09 > 0:31:11like, so, so fine.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14But I think it's about getting exactly the right results.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20They combine the corn and the chilli paste in a rich, aniseed-y sauce,
0:31:20 > 0:31:24thanks to more of that uniquely Mexican herb, hoja santa.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28This is a seguesa, often made with rabbit,
0:31:28 > 0:31:29but in this case, chicken.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31Seguesa de pollo.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Delicious!
0:31:40 > 0:31:41Lovely!
0:31:42 > 0:31:45I love that herb, it's fab.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50And there's a final toast in mezcal, the spirit of Oaxaca.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53We offering a little mezcal,
0:31:53 > 0:31:56to say to them, welcome.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58To say to you, welcome.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00- Now...- So how do I drink this, then?
0:32:00 > 0:32:04- You have to sip it with a little orange.- OK.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07And salt, with chilli.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10So I put the orange and the chilli...?
0:32:10 > 0:32:12There we go.
0:32:15 > 0:32:16- Mezcal.- Mezcal.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18Mmm!
0:32:19 > 0:32:21- Very good combination.- Mm-hmm.
0:32:21 > 0:32:22Lovely mezcal.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24Very nice.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29That seguesa has made me think about chilli sauce.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32I actually think about chilli sauce quite a lot.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35I've had so many chilli sauces in Mexico,
0:32:35 > 0:32:37and they're delicious.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40So I've decided to come up with one of my own.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44I'm using two types of chilli.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49First I chop the ends off all of them
0:32:49 > 0:32:51and shake out the seeds.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57To develop the flavour, they need to be toasted a little on a comal.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03These big ones are guajillos, and they are a medium heat.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05I'm using about four of them.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08Then about 15 of these little arbols,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11sometimes called birds' beak chillies.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14They're hotter and they'll give this sauce a real kick.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19They go into a pan with hot water
0:33:19 > 0:33:20and three cloves of garlic,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23where they'll simmer for about 15 minutes.
0:33:23 > 0:33:28Practically everything I've tasted here has a red hot chilli sauce,
0:33:28 > 0:33:32this is my Mexican store cupboard essential.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36I should say at this point, it's a good idea to keep the windows open,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39because of your eyes. It's very spicy.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43Into a liquidiser with the cooking water,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46A handful of fresh chopped tomatoes,
0:33:46 > 0:33:49and oregano, cumin, allspice,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52brown sugar and cider vinegar.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57A good teaspoon full of salt,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00and it's all whizzed up while it's still hot.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03Now, this is the last stage,
0:34:03 > 0:34:05and it's an important last stage.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09It goes back into the pan for a few more minutes
0:34:09 > 0:34:11so the sauce reduces and thickens,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14which in turn intensifies the flavour.
0:34:17 > 0:34:18Crikey!
0:34:19 > 0:34:22I have to think of a name. I have to bottle it, call it,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24Rick's...Rage.
0:34:24 > 0:34:25Rick's Rage.
0:34:26 > 0:34:27It's that hot!
0:34:30 > 0:34:32I've noticed, as a chef would,
0:34:32 > 0:34:35that people seem to like things hotter and hotter all the time.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38This sauce of mine, I think, would make them very happy indeed.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46About an hour south of Oaxaca,
0:34:46 > 0:34:47through semi-desert,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50lies a farm belonging to one of Mexico's top chefs,
0:34:50 > 0:34:52Alejandro Ruiz,
0:34:52 > 0:34:55where he grows vegetables for his restaurant.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Today, he's having a family party there,
0:34:57 > 0:34:59surrounded by aunts and cousins,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02and he's invited me to come along.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07There's a huge vat of rabbit stew underway,
0:35:07 > 0:35:08there's beef on the griddle,
0:35:08 > 0:35:11and great piles of garlic being crushed.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14Vast quantities of food in progress.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27- We have beautiful nopales over here as well, so...- OK.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29..I think that will be good for our salad.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32I notice you're handling them a bit carefully.
0:35:32 > 0:35:34Yeah, because they have these...
0:35:34 > 0:35:36I know, I don't want to touch them at all.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39It's the prickle, and you don't even notice where you have them.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42- You just feel like... - Argh, itch, itch!
0:35:42 > 0:35:46Yeah. You have to be... You have to have a special skill
0:35:46 > 0:35:48to claim these nopales.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50Gosh, I think you do.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56Alejandro is gathering the last few ingredients from his vegetable plot.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00The garden is abundant, brimming with fruit and vegetables
0:36:00 > 0:36:02of all shapes and sizes.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13That is really good rabbit. Oh!
0:36:13 > 0:36:16It's just salt, maybe a bit of lemon juice...
0:36:17 > 0:36:20..rabbit, bit of oil. Oh.
0:36:22 > 0:36:23Sensational.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Alejandro is famous for his salsa molcajete
0:36:31 > 0:36:33made fresh at the table.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36The molcajete is a massive pestle and mortar.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40I've heard it described as a pre-Hispanic food processor.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47For me, doing this, it's an excuse to have a good meal, no?
0:36:47 > 0:36:51- Enshrined in our culture, our way of life.- Yeah.- Our way of eating.
0:36:51 > 0:36:57So I always put, like, raw onion in here, and lots of raw cilantro.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00- When did you start cooking? - Uh, my mother died when she was 21.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02I am the oldest of five kids.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Two girls and three boys.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06- Yeah. - And I had to take over the kitchen.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11- Wow.- And I never, I was never taught to cook, I was only watching her
0:37:11 > 0:37:13doing what my aunts are doing back there.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15And learning by doing.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18- When she asked me for cilantro I always got...- The parsley.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20..parsley, and she went, like,
0:37:20 > 0:37:23"Silly boy. Now, go back and get the right thing."
0:37:23 > 0:37:28I always like to put, like, a touch of sourness to this sauce.
0:37:29 > 0:37:30This is enough.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37If there's one recipe I really wanted to get right in Mexico, it's this.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39Guacamole.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42Alejandro makes it very simply,
0:37:42 > 0:37:44with ripe Hass avocados,
0:37:44 > 0:37:46onion, coriander and salt.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49No unnecessary additions. No chillies,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52no tomatoes, no lime juice
0:37:52 > 0:37:54or indeed anything else.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59There you are.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01- Muchas gracias.- De nada.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11Before I came to Mexico, I was sort of wondering,
0:38:11 > 0:38:13what is the right recipe for guacamole?
0:38:13 > 0:38:15And that is it.
0:38:15 > 0:38:16And it tastes fabulous.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21Enjoy! Now we can make a perfect taco.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23- Yeah, yeah.- OK, let me get a tortilla.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26- I always take the one in the bottom.- OK.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29Then, for a true taste of the region,
0:38:29 > 0:38:34he makes me a taco with grasshoppers and flying ants.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36- Chapulines.- Little chapulines.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42- There you go.- Would you try some agave worms?- I'd like some agave worms!- Very good.
0:38:42 > 0:38:47This would be a taco de insectos. Let me just roll it for you,
0:38:47 > 0:38:49please, let me do the whole thing.
0:38:49 > 0:38:50- There you go.- Fab.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58- Different?- Delicious!
0:39:00 > 0:39:01- Hot!- Yeah.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Thoroughly... Really nice, actually.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08It refreshes the experience, no?
0:39:08 > 0:39:10With the salsa in there.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15Um, the... The crunchiness is nice,
0:39:15 > 0:39:18there's a lovely sort of vegetable flavour from them.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23May I recommend
0:39:23 > 0:39:26grasshoppers, worms
0:39:26 > 0:39:27and ants?
0:39:31 > 0:39:35But all this was just a foretaste. Now it's time for lunch,
0:39:35 > 0:39:37a long, slow meal
0:39:37 > 0:39:42where every dish looks fantastic and I want to try them all.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45- Some beans?- Oh, some beans? - Yes, sir.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53I tend to be inordinately fond of people that
0:39:53 > 0:39:55love their food.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59- If you don't love food then life doesn't make any sense, I think.- No.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01I think so.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04Salud. Welcome.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06- Lovely.- Not bad! - Well, thank you very much.
0:40:13 > 0:40:18Next, an adventure. I'm going to Veracruz,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21but there is no easy road, so it's a big loop round.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25On the way I want to drive up into the mountains. Why?
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Well, it's an area full of fabulous products
0:40:28 > 0:40:30which I can't see anywhere else.
0:40:30 > 0:40:35And it makes me think about the Spaniards who discovered the riches here in Mexico.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39So many new tastes and flavours, fruit and vegetables,
0:40:39 > 0:40:42they must have thought they'd hit the jackpot.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48The Chinantla mountains are right in the centre of Mexico
0:40:48 > 0:40:53and actually separate the state of Oaxaca from Oaxaca City on the west
0:40:53 > 0:40:55to Tuxtepec on the east.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57And there's virtually no roads through it,
0:40:57 > 0:40:59which means that it's actually
0:40:59 > 0:41:02virgin tropical forest, one of the few places
0:41:02 > 0:41:04left in Mexico that is.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16And right in the middle of nowhere we come across a village
0:41:16 > 0:41:19with an astonishing number of bakeries.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21This one, El Tio Tono,
0:41:21 > 0:41:23is well known all across the region.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29Tio Tono himself is no longer with us,
0:41:29 > 0:41:32but his family want to keep his legacy alive
0:41:32 > 0:41:33and carry on with the business.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37They make about 20 types of bread, cakes and biscuits,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40most of them to local Mexican recipes,
0:41:40 > 0:41:43but with a few croissants thrown in, too.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45Well, why not?
0:41:51 > 0:41:53Before I get a chance to taste anything,
0:41:53 > 0:41:57Mrs Tono gets me to help making the cinnamon rolls.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00INAUDIBLE
0:42:08 > 0:42:10I bet you I don't do it well enough, though.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13I bet they'll quietly go and do them again.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15It's funny, cos I get really nervous
0:42:15 > 0:42:17about when they ask me to join in like this.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20HE SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE Ah, OK.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25And then when you start doing it you actually enjoy it much more.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27- I'll just do that bit.- Yeah.
0:42:27 > 0:42:28OK.
0:42:28 > 0:42:29You see how easy is it?
0:42:29 > 0:42:35I feel... Always feel quite relaxed when I'm working with my hands.
0:42:35 > 0:42:36Really? One more?
0:42:36 > 0:42:37Uno mas?
0:42:37 > 0:42:41So you can put this one up on the top.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43- So, like that.- Oh.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45I say!
0:42:45 > 0:42:46What's the paste?
0:42:48 > 0:42:49The paste.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52HE SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:42:52 > 0:42:55Flour, sugar, cinnamon. I can't do now cos I've been
0:42:55 > 0:42:58licking my fingers, so I'll leave you to it.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09I think I'm just going to nick one, hope they don't mind, try it.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15It's really nice, very, very moreish.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18I can well understand why, um,
0:43:18 > 0:43:23everyone's beating a path to Tono's bakery. It's fab.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29What I've noticed driving through here is there's lots of other bakeries.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33And I've discovered that they haven't set up in opposition,
0:43:33 > 0:43:37it's just that Tono was such a far-sighted person
0:43:37 > 0:43:43he encouraged all his apprentices to move out and open other bakeries
0:43:43 > 0:43:47because he saw that, actually, the village itself could
0:43:47 > 0:43:50sell the idea of brilliant bread, not just one bakery,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54which I think is a very, very good idea.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07Two companion plants, coffee and vanilla,
0:44:07 > 0:44:09are grown in these mountains.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13This story is interesting because it's a perfect
0:44:13 > 0:44:15demonstration of how the food industry works,
0:44:15 > 0:44:20and how our tastes can change lives in a tiny village
0:44:20 > 0:44:21right in the middle of Mexico.
0:44:23 > 0:44:28Raoul and Hector Antonio and their families grow both coffee and vanilla
0:44:28 > 0:44:30like their parents and grandparents before them.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36Hector and his wife, Patti,
0:44:36 > 0:44:37are the coffee growers.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39They've already harvested their coffee berries.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43The way they process it here at home is very charming,
0:44:43 > 0:44:45a bit Heath Robinson.
0:44:46 > 0:44:47Muchas gracias, Patti.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51Well, I'm going to say this, aren't I?
0:44:51 > 0:44:54You need to come here and smell this, because it is just so
0:44:54 > 0:44:57truly delightful, so deep,
0:44:57 > 0:45:01so oily, so aromatic, so nutty.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05I mean, it's... it's inspiring, I have to say.
0:45:05 > 0:45:10It's worth travelling the world to find great things to smell and eat.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19Just next door, and now this is what really excites me, is the vanilla...
0:45:20 > 0:45:24..which only Raoul and one other villager still harvest.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27This handful of straggly old vanilla pods
0:45:27 > 0:45:29is worth a great deal of cash.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32But it's not the easiest crop to grow.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36Raoul, just tell me why you're cultivating vanilla here.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41HE SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:45:41 > 0:45:44He said his grandparents, who founded this village,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47used to cultivate both vanilla and coffee,
0:45:47 > 0:45:51but coffee proved much more profitable,
0:45:51 > 0:45:55so the practice of growing vanilla died out.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57But Raoul thinks it is so important,
0:45:57 > 0:46:01such an important part of their culture and their tradition
0:46:01 > 0:46:04that he's bringing it back for those reasons.
0:46:04 > 0:46:09HE SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:46:11 > 0:46:12Oh, it's delicious.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Can't stop. That is...
0:46:14 > 0:46:16..fab.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21I didn't realise, but vanilla is a member of the orchid family,
0:46:21 > 0:46:25and, like other orchids, grows in hidden locations.
0:46:25 > 0:46:26Very shy.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33It's a rough trek up into the forest to find it.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44Raoul has just said we've got some vanilla here,
0:46:44 > 0:46:48I suppose I'm a bit excited. It's a bit like finding a rare bird,
0:46:48 > 0:46:52I suppose, I just love finding food that I've not seen in the wild.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02HE SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE Can I pick them?
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Why this is important to me is that this is actually
0:47:11 > 0:47:14the only place in the world, in these Chinantla mountains
0:47:14 > 0:47:16where vanilla grows wild,
0:47:16 > 0:47:17and this is where it came from.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21You might think it comes from places like Madagascar
0:47:21 > 0:47:23or Tahiti, because that's where a lot of it is grown,
0:47:23 > 0:47:25but it's actually from here.
0:47:25 > 0:47:30Raoul's been to Turin to accept an award from the Slow Food movement,
0:47:30 > 0:47:33simply because, I just think it's so important, and so do they.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37And in fact, to know that I'm here, where it comes from,
0:47:37 > 0:47:38as a bit of a foodie myself,
0:47:38 > 0:47:43means a great deal. So he's a bit of a food hero, actually.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04I could smell this roadside stall a mile or so away,
0:48:04 > 0:48:07and so I was really pleased when we stopped for this train.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11I just smelled this wonderful smell of pineapples,
0:48:11 > 0:48:14and just looking at these and I just had to pick one up because...
0:48:15 > 0:48:19..that, surely, for me,
0:48:19 > 0:48:21is the biggest pineapple I've ever seen.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24And, I mean, they are incredibly popular. And of course
0:48:24 > 0:48:26I think it's really indicative
0:48:26 > 0:48:30of how incredibly fertile this region of Mexico,
0:48:30 > 0:48:32we're still in Oaxaca state, is,
0:48:32 > 0:48:35and how it contrasts with the countryside
0:48:35 > 0:48:37around Oaxaca itself, which is really dry.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39This is lush, you've got sugar cane,
0:48:39 > 0:48:41you've got mangos, you've got papayas
0:48:41 > 0:48:43and these fantastic pineapples.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47And now I've just got to have a glass of pineapple juice.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49Mexicans eat pineapple for breakfast,
0:48:49 > 0:48:53but they also have fantastic fruit juices.
0:48:54 > 0:48:55I'll pay later.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06Wish you were here.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15My winding trip through the jungle has got me thinking.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18There's a lot of talk about the gold the Spanish
0:49:18 > 0:49:20raided from the New World,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23but in many ways, the foods they brought back
0:49:23 > 0:49:25had a much more lasting impact.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29The gold is long gone, probably spent on wars,
0:49:29 > 0:49:31but the chocolate is still with us.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37This is the women's co-operative at San Martin,
0:49:37 > 0:49:41and Carolina Pena is taking me to pick some fruit.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45- Listen, it's this way.- Oh, OK. - Let's see the cacao trees.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47- The cacao trees. - So you see the fruit.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50We're at the end of the main cropping period,
0:49:50 > 0:49:53but Carolina's kept one perfect fruit on the tree
0:49:53 > 0:49:54just for me.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58- So we're looking for a lemon-y one. - Yes.- Is that lemon-y?
0:49:58 > 0:49:59Yes, that will be it.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01Yes, like this.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03- Yes, this is it.- Oh, nothing too difficult about that.
0:50:03 > 0:50:04No, not at all.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06It's a good one.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10- It is, is it?- Yes, yeah, it has 40 seeds inside,
0:50:10 > 0:50:12and a good chocolate bar.
0:50:12 > 0:50:13Just one chocolate bar?
0:50:13 > 0:50:17No, you need a lot more, but to begin with it's a good bite.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19- Depends on the chocolate.- Yes!
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Let's go back with our one trophy, unless we can find some more.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25Yes, let's go.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29When I think about it, chocolate's contribution
0:50:29 > 0:50:32to the sum of human happiness is profound.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36It's the ultimate comfort food. Warming, cheering,
0:50:36 > 0:50:38and for me, a little bit addictive.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42Oh, thank you, Martin.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Martin, aged three, already knows more
0:50:49 > 0:50:53about extracting cacao beans from the fruits than I do.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Well, of course he does, he's grown up around them.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02Once the beans are laid bare, they're left to ferment,
0:51:02 > 0:51:04which takes around five days,
0:51:04 > 0:51:06and then another five to dry in the sun.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12I must say, it's very satisfying running your hands
0:51:12 > 0:51:15through these drying beans. I'm just going to...
0:51:15 > 0:51:17..crack one open.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21And you can already see the sort of,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24the chocolate inside the cacao inside.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28And indeed, it's got a flavour like it.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30But it has to be roasted.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33It's quite bitter, though.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Always wonder how on earth anybody
0:51:35 > 0:51:38could think this could turn into something as gorgeous as chocolate.
0:51:41 > 0:51:46After drying, the beans are lightly toasted to bring out the flavour,
0:51:46 > 0:51:49which makes the husks go brittle and papery.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53That's a lot easier to get the shells off, now.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57Ah, that's more like it!
0:51:57 > 0:52:01That really now smells like cacao, like...
0:52:01 > 0:52:03..you can smell the chocolate bar in that.
0:52:03 > 0:52:07And, actually, it tastes much more like chocolate.
0:52:07 > 0:52:08It's still very bitter.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12It's got a lovely aftertaste, a lovely aroma, too.
0:52:16 > 0:52:17At the co-operative,
0:52:17 > 0:52:20they make little patties from cacao, cinnamon and sugar.
0:52:20 > 0:52:26And to my surprise, the most popular way for locals to consume cacao
0:52:26 > 0:52:28is as a rather bitter drink.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32This is for drinking, it's not for making into chocolate bars.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36But it's really nice, I love the way they put just
0:52:36 > 0:52:38a little bit of cinnamon in with the chocolate,
0:52:38 > 0:52:43sort of, almost every time I taste that I think, "That's Mexico."
0:52:43 > 0:52:44It's lovely.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51Do you know, if there's a chocolate dish on a menu,
0:52:51 > 0:52:53it outsells any other dessert
0:52:53 > 0:52:55by about two to one.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58It's an extraordinary fact, but what does it mean?
0:52:58 > 0:53:02It means that back in Padstow, there's only one contender.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05I'm going to make chocolate fondant truffles
0:53:05 > 0:53:07with pasilla chillies.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11So I'm just adding some double cream to this hot pan
0:53:11 > 0:53:13and I'm just going to heat it up.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Not to boiling, but just heat up enough to melt the chocolate.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18And now I'm adding some pasilla chillies.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Now, I've taken the seeds out of these chillies
0:53:20 > 0:53:23and then I've lightly toasted them just to bring out
0:53:23 > 0:53:25the fruitiness. And when I say fruitiness,
0:53:25 > 0:53:28I mean fruitiness, because chillies technically
0:53:28 > 0:53:29are fruit, not vegetables.
0:53:29 > 0:53:34OK, and then I ground them up in my blender, and there they go.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Lovely, deep reddish-brown colour. It's wonderful.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41Now, they're not very hot, and I do want a residual heat in this dish.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44So I'm just going to add a bit of cayenne pepper there.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47Just stir those all in.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50Now take them off the heat and stir in the chocolate
0:53:50 > 0:53:52and allow that to melt.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57I'm just going to add a little bit of salt to this,
0:53:57 > 0:53:59it's always a good idea in a chocolate sauce.
0:53:59 > 0:54:00Not a lot, just a pinch.
0:54:00 > 0:54:05I was really attracted to this dish when I first tried it.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07I mean, essentially they are what we call petits fours,
0:54:07 > 0:54:10but they're deep-fried, and that's quite tricky to get right.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13What I like is this idea of putting chilli with
0:54:13 > 0:54:15something like chocolate.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19So this just goes into the fridge... Oh.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23There we go. Goes into the fridge for about two or three hours.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26My wife's always complaining about my fridge,
0:54:26 > 0:54:28I don't really understand why.
0:54:28 > 0:54:29It's fine!
0:54:33 > 0:54:37A couple of hours to chill, and then it's ready to form into caneles,
0:54:37 > 0:54:38which are rugby ball shaped,
0:54:38 > 0:54:41and then dropped into cocoa powder.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Mexico gave us so much, if you think about it.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47Avocados, tomatoes,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49corn and chocolate!
0:54:49 > 0:54:52I mean, where would we be without chocolate?
0:54:52 > 0:54:57The most wonderfully sinful ingredient known to man, I say.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59And now just to mould them up.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01There we go, that looks really nice.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03I'm quite enjoying this!
0:55:07 > 0:55:10So, they need to go into the freezer now,
0:55:10 > 0:55:14because the point is, I'm going to deep fry them, and if they're not frozen in the middle they'll melt.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17But if they're frozen they'll be just right.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23Now to make the batter. Mix flour, baking powder,
0:55:23 > 0:55:25caster sugar and salt.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29Then an egg and a little milk.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33And I want a reasonably thick batter,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35so it'll cling to the chocolate balls,
0:55:35 > 0:55:40about the consistency of double cream. And I fry them long enough
0:55:40 > 0:55:43not just to brown the batter, but to melt the middles.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45Well, that's the plan!
0:55:45 > 0:55:47It only takes a couple of minutes.
0:55:47 > 0:55:48There we go.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53Coat well, and now straight into my hot oil.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57Don't leave them in there too long, cos what's really good
0:55:57 > 0:56:01if the chocolate in the middle is still a little bit cold.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04One of the crew said, "Does it taste like fried Mars bars?"
0:56:04 > 0:56:06I'm not against fried Mars bars,
0:56:06 > 0:56:08but this is just a little bit more subtle,
0:56:08 > 0:56:10with all that lovely chilli in it.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13Lifting them out of the oil on to my kitchen paper,
0:56:13 > 0:56:14and that's it.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16They're ready to go. I would add here that
0:56:16 > 0:56:19if you don't want to go through all that batter process,
0:56:19 > 0:56:23just those balls are lovely rolled in cocoa powder
0:56:23 > 0:56:25as a petit four.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38Well, I know you're wondering, is it melted in the middle?
0:56:40 > 0:56:42Of course it is.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44Still a little bit cool, you've got that hot batter,
0:56:44 > 0:56:46you've got the cool centre.
0:56:46 > 0:56:52It's very luxurious. A real taste of Oaxaca, where this dish comes from.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03It was a long drive into the mountains,
0:57:03 > 0:57:05with lots to see on the way.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09Finally, we arrived at our overnight stop, the Etla cabins.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13And it turns out it's glamping, Mexican style!
0:57:13 > 0:57:17We got here late, I was exhausted,
0:57:17 > 0:57:21and it was only this morning that I saw how beautiful it is here.
0:57:21 > 0:57:25Last night I slept the sleep of the just,
0:57:25 > 0:57:29just went out, really with the murmuring of the river
0:57:29 > 0:57:31and just a lovely scent in the air.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34This morning I woke up and looked out and just thought,
0:57:34 > 0:57:38"Why would you need anything more deluxe?"
0:57:38 > 0:57:39I mean, this is, really, you feel
0:57:39 > 0:57:42part of nature in a way, in a cabin like this.
0:57:46 > 0:57:51What an oasis, the perfect place to end this part of my trip.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59From San Francisco, I've come two and a half thousand miles
0:57:59 > 0:58:02with another 750 to go
0:58:02 > 0:58:05as I travel on to the Yucatan.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07On the way to Veracruz,
0:58:07 > 0:58:10there's a chance encounter with a Cuban barbecue.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16Mayan ruins at Uxmal.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23And, finally, my journey's end at Tulum,
0:58:23 > 0:58:25the jewel of the southeast coast.