Mexico -- One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless | KCET

Mexico -- One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless

In Mexico -- One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless, the beloved chef and restaurateur seamlessly weaves together techniques, recipes, cultural musings and off-the-wall surprises. This season Rick presents start-to-finish, stress-free, Mexican-inspired fiestas packed with creativity, color and flavor. Throughout the series, Rick translates his Mexican travel adventures into unforgettable parties from intimate fireside suppers and casual backyard cocktails with friends to big, boisterous bashes for 25. Rick also suggests clever and practical ideas to make each party special, like creating signature drinks for the occasion, serving ceviche in glass votive holders and transforming supermarket salad bar items into a hip Mexican crudites platter. And to help set the mood, he offers party playlists featuring his favorite musical finds and gardening tips for growing one's own ingredients.

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Market Inspirations, Local Genius

Everywhere Rick goes, he asks chefs about Mexico's up-and-coming talent. These days, Mexico City's chefs all have the same answer: Pablo Salas. The odd thing? Salas doesn't work in Mexico City - his restaurant, Amaranta, is in Toluca, about an hour's drive away. Undaunted by the trip, Rick meets Pablo at the Santiago Tianguistengo Market to get a look at the traditions that inspire Pablo's modern Mexiquense cooking - from the myriad of chorizo choices to the pasilla chiles and vegetables. The chefs also visit a local carniceria for a peek at Toluca's famed chorizo.

2017-08-01T04:00:00-07:00

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Mexican Chocolate: The Next Chapter

Mexico and chocolate go together like salsa and chips. But if you hear "Mexican chocolate" and think of something to dip churros into, you're only getting a part of the story. A few Mexico City chocolatiers see more potential for Mexican chocolate - they see single-origin chocolate bars, beautiful hand-formed truffles, even ambitious sculptures made of the stuff. Hector Galvan of La Casa Tropical talks with Rick about the cultural importance of chocolate in Mexico and why he is working so diligently to save ancient varieties of cacao.

2017-08-08T04:00:00-07:00

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Building a World-Class Cuisine Starts with a Sound Foundation

As the restaurant scene in Mexico City has exploded, so, too, have the culinary schools. Rick takes us to the Coronado Cooking School where the mission is to educate the next generation of chefs. Rick talks with students in the traditional Mexican kitchen classroom as they make a pipian sauce for shrimp. The school's outdoor live-fire kitchen includes tortilla lessons. In the "Dave" Creative Kitchen we see a beautiful presentation of pork loin with vegetables and huaximole. Coronado's students also help run Raiz, one of Mexico City's top destination restaurants.

2017-08-15T04:00:00-07:00

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It All Begins with Beans

Chefs can get excited over the littlest thing. For Josefina Santacruz, that thing is beans. She believes every cook should know how to cook beans and rice before venturing any further in Mexican cuisine. For an example of beans done right, Rick and Josefina head to Nico's Restaurant, which has been cooking perfect beans since 1957; their bean soup proves a thing of beauty. Rick and Josefina likewise admire the perfect barbacoa made daily by Chef Moises Rodriguez Vargas of Hidalguense restaurant in Mexico City.