Rick Stein's Road to Mexico

Rick enjoys sitting on the dock of the bay in San Francisco, tasting legendary dishes like Hangtown Fry (oyster pancake). This dish was a by-product of the Gold Rush creating (arguably) the most famous Chinatown in the world. San Francisco is the home of sourdough and where America's love affair with seasonal cooking took hold through ground breaking restaurants like Chez Panisse, run by the legendary Alice Waters, who Rick is keen to meet. But it's also where he got his first taste of Mexican food. Enchiladas, Guacamole and Burritos were no longer names he had only heard of on the radio. The food of Mexico, so much part of his culinary imagination, was about to become real.

Rick Stein continues travelling down the Californian coastline immortalised by Steinbeck, past citrus groves, vineyards that inspired one his favourite movies, 'Sideways', and into the city of dreams, Los Angeles. There, movie icons of old like Charlie Chaplin enjoyed eating Lambs Kidney with Bacon alongside the perfect Martini on Hollywood Boulevard and where the A-Listers of today opt instead for Chopped Salad off the avenues of Beverly Hills. On the edge of Downtown LA Rick discovers Olvera Street where the Hispanic origins of the city took root. Then onwards, south to San Diego where he meets 79 year old Peter Halmay, the oldest sea-urchin diver in town and where a local fishmonger cooks him the best Fish Chilli he's ever had.

Breakfast being the most important meal of the day, Rick enjoys a hearty Steak and Eggs American diner special and bids a fond farewell to his trusty Ford Mustang as he heads across what is reputed to be the busiest border crossing in the world - San Diego to Tijuana - the start of his Mexican adventures. He follows the Pacific coastline down to Ensenada with fabulous flour tortilla Burritos; fresh fish landed, marinated and cooked on Popotla Beach and the Valle de Guadalupe - Mexico's best kept secret for fabulous wines and the jewel in its culinary crown for Baja Med Cuisine.

Leaving the Baja Peninsula, Rick explores the western mainland. He lands in the town that placed Tequila (and probably Mexico) on the world map and the metropolis that gave us Mariachis and dishes like Carne con Chilli - a city so loved by its people they insist on repeating its name twice - Guadalajara Guadalajara. But Rick is no stranger to Mexico and for family holidays he often flies to the tropical beaches of Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's Pacific coast. Nothing matches the view from these picture postcard beaches as waiters create theatre with the famous Mexican Flaming Coffee, its flames blending with the evening sky as the sun sets over the Pacific. Being a hopeless romantic, he can't resist a visit to Casa Kimberly, bought by Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor and where they still serve her favourite cocktail - a Chocolate Martini as well as Mexico's favourite celebratory dish, Chiles en Nogada.

And so to the capital, the melting pot that encapsulates a country that, despite its narrow stature, crosses three time zones. For that simple reason, locals casually refer to the city as 'Mexico'. Not much has changed to the food that fed the former seat of the Aztec Empire. Scenes captured by Diego Rivera in his murals still come alive in the city's bustling markets and working men's taverns offer Pulque, the alco-pop of the ancients. But the most precious Aztec legacy are the criss-crossing intersection of canals south of Mexico City - the Chinampas - floating vegetable gardens that are an inspiration to the city's top chefs including Eduardo Garcia, endearingly known as Chef Lalo. Further south to the city of Puebla where history comes alive with scenes of Cortez and the Spanish conquest of Mexico, a city with impressive European architecture, Talavera pottery and of course home to Mole, Mexico's most famous meat stew. Finally, to the deserts of Oaxaca where small palenques produce one of Mexico's most iconic drinks, Mezcal.

For Mexicans, their most revered dishes come from the south and their Mecca is undeniably Oaxaca, where locals still dress in traditional costume bringing to life the enduring descriptions of writers like D H Lawrence who fell in love with the area. This is the land that coined the phrase 'people of the corn', the desert empire of the Zapotecs and home to Mexico's national cheese Queso Oaxacana. Totally off the beaten track and across the Chinantla Mountains, the muggy breezes of the Mexican Gulf transform eastern Oaxaca from desert to a tropical paradise. Rick delights in exploring this hidden land where you can smell the tropical fruit from roadside stalls long before they come into sight, where vanilla still grows wild and cacao orchards are harvested to make superb chocolate.