Original subtitles

Paul Hollywood is on another culinary voyage of discovery...

My God!

...to a country that is as yet a mystery to him — Mexico.

That does not look like any clam I've ever seen.

Mm!

Cheers!

I've never been to Mexico but I love Mexican food.

Well, at least, I think I do.

It's hugely popular in the UK,

but I've got a feeling that real Mexican food isn't going to be

what I might expect.

Do you know what this tastes like? Sea water.

THEY CHUCKLE

I know there'll be chillies.

HE SPLUTTERS

I can't feel my tongue.

I know there'll be tortillas.

They're the best tacos I've ever had. Yeah?

And I know there'll be tequila.

Taxi for Hollywood. THEY CHUCKLE

But that's pretty much where my knowledge ends.

I think I'm gonna need help.

Paul's about to discover a very surprising country.

What a way to get around.

I know you're happy, but your face doesn't know you're happy.

HE CHUCKLES

This is making me very nervous. This...

THEY YELL

He'll eat some very surprising food.

You've still got some of the meat, the guts.

Yeah, don't say that, please.

Being Paul, he'll obviously be sniffing out every bread,

pastry and cake he can find...

That's delicious. It is.

You should open up a shop in Cornwall.

...and of course there will be a mariachi band.

THEY CHEER

Having spent his first week in Mexico City completing

a sort of Mexican food foundation course...

Oh, that's delicious.

0h!

...Paul is now setting off on a road trip

to eat his way across as much of the rest of the country as possible.

Mexico is huge —

more than eight times the size of the UK

and straddling four time zones.

Paul's starting off on the very long,

thin Pacific peninsula known as Baja California.

And it appears our boy has found a toy.

Welcome to Rancho Mogor, Baja California.

What an incredible place.

His chauffeur is Michelin—starred chef Drew Deck man.

I'd come to visit Drew

to learn why Baja California has developed a worldwide reputation

as a must-visit destination for all food lovers.

Drew's giving Paul a quick tour of the estate,

where he sources a lot of the food for his restaurant,

Deck man's.

"Quick" being the operative word.

So this is part of the Mogor Ranch.

Our restaurant is basically the bottom part.

The owner of the ranch, this is where her sheep are,

where her cows are.

We come up here, we collect wild herbs.

What a way to get around.

After the gentlemen have stopped their engine,

Paul's tour continues on foot.

What's all this, then? Is this all yours as well?

And then this is vineyard.

I have heard of Baja wine, I haven't had a chance to try it.

We're gonna change that today. Let's keep walking,

we'll show you the garden. Absolutely.

The ethos of Baja cuisine is very Mexican.

It's about using what's available around you.

Drew either grows what he cooks or tries to source it very locally.

This is one of the farms that, er, provides for the restaurant.

This style of cuisine is now widely known as Baja Med,

although Drew doesn't like that term.

So fingers crossed Paul doesn't mention it.

So is this what they call Baja Med? Oh.

OK, here we go.

I don't mean that in a derogatory way.

No, but it's a word that's used a lot,

but I don't need to compare myself with another place in the world.

Well, no. We're Baja food.

This has got nothing to do with the Mediterranean —

it's Baja California.

Drew is from the States and has worked all over the world

in Michelin—starred restaurants.

So why has he made his home in Baja?

Before I got here I never really knew what I wanted,

but I knew what I didn't want.

I don't want to live there. I don't want that kind of a situation. Mm.

And I... It took me a couple years being here...

...before I really was able to say I didn't have any complaints.

You found the garden of Eden in the middle of Baja.

It's very special.

Of course, it's tricky to grow your own seafood,

but with the Pacific Ocean just over the hills,

Drew can take his pick of that morning's catch.

Wow, that's an impressive haul today.

All sustainably caught, all Pacific.

So, Ramon, what have we got today?

We got yellow tail.

That's a beautiful fish.

This, Paul... This I want to cook for you.

Have you ever had geoduck before?

No. Quite phallic.

Er, without a doubt. PAUL CHUCKLES

Finally, it's time to cook.

So, we write our menus every day, Paul,

based on what the fishermen are bringing us,

what we have in the garden.

And not wanting to be left out, Paul's doing his thing too.

I saw that in his amazing outdoor kitchen Drew had a bread oven.

Well, it would've been rude not to knock up a focaccia

with tomatoes, thyme and olives — don't you think?

I love the taste of focaccia. I make this a lot at home.

I think with plenty of well of olive oil,

good ingredients, you end up with a nice loaf.

And remember that phallic clam?

Sorry, that does not look like any clam I've ever seen.

Well, Drew swiftly turns it into a ceviche chef snack.

And so I just slice it up just a little bit. Give it a try.

Mm. That lemon with it's nice.

That's incredible. I've never seen anything like that before.

I think it's about time to eat. How's the bread going?

Yeah. I'm gonna give it another five minutes.

Yeah. That oven is sort of a dinosaur.

If it stays in one spot for too long,

this is very scorched and dark.

And this is raw. Yeah, don't say that. I'm gonna check it now.

Yeah. You better check it.

All of Drew's food, except the bread,

is cooked on wood fires and the smell in the kitchen is amazing.

After more chopping, checking, grilling and...checking...

Happy with that.

...it's time for Paul to find out just how good Baja cuisine can get.

The moment of truth.

I'm looking forward to this.

First, a glass of wine made from the grapes

in the field in front of them.

Salud.

That's delicious.

This is sort of designed to go with what we're about to eat.

We had fish.

So this is that big yellow tail that came off the truck. Ah.

So it's just sliced up.

Mm.

Beautiful. It's almost got a smokiness to it.

So it's funny — everything we do is wood fired. Mm.

So when we make anything, even a cup of coffee...

It's got a smokiness. It's got a smokiness.

We had my bread.

Yeah, if the TV thing doesn't work out, you know... I've got a job.

...we're always... We're always looking.

Listen, I'll be over next week, I'll be honest.

And the main course was ribeye steak,

Drew's number-one best seller.

So what I'd like to do is take the bone marrow

and just scrape it right on top of the ribeye.

You definitely have to visit the cardiologist when you leave.

Yeah, obviously.

I love you, Drew. I want you to know that.

THEY CHUCKLE

Feeling's the same, brother.

Cheers, buddy. Thank you. Salud.

Paul Hollywood — that's him with the eyes —

is eating his way across Mexico.

Absolutely incredible.

And after falling in love with Baja California...

I love everything about this place.

I'm very jealous. OK, got it.

...Paul's leaving the countryside

to visit the mean streets of Baja's capital city,

Tfluana.

MUSIC PLAYS SIREN WAILS

And Tj, as it's known, is quite a contrast

to what he's seen of the state so far.

It's very street isn't it, Tijuana, very earthy?

It's gritty. Yeah.

This is the melting pot of all of Mexico.

Paul's off on a street-food tour

with chef Claudette Zepeda, who grew up in Tj.

What do you think of Tijuana?

SHE SIGHS

Tijuana is one of those migrant towns

that everyone from Mexico gravitates towards.

Tijuana is the busiest land border in the Western hemisphere.

120,000 people legally cross

between Mexico and the States here every day.

And that means there are people and foods here from pretty much all of

the regions of Mexico.

As a chef, Claudette reckons she gets some of her best ideas

from eating the regional dishes sold on Tijuana's streets.

And she wants to show Paul some of her favourites.

Well, I'm guessing this is chicken. Yeah.

We had fabulous grilled chicken from the state of Sinaloa.

A lot of people don't connect Mexico with a rotisserie chicken

or charcoal-roasted chicken.

It's become part of our culture. But when you taste it,

you taste the smoke, you taste the charcoal, it's...

The chicken is really delicious.

The simplest things are the best things.

We had amazing birria tacos from the state of Jalisco.

Birria is one of those classic Jalisco-style dishes.

You have it, er, for festivities, birthdays, weddings.

My God!

It's the best hangover cure. The pro move is to...

Oh, really? The broth will give you superpowers if you need them.

I just can't believe how much juice comes out of it.

We had restaurant-standard Sonorense seafood

from a trailer that wouldn't have looked out of place

in a UK lay-by selling dirty burgers.

It's a mixed sauce of, like, Clamato with, er...

I'm gonna butcher this so I apologise, Wor-sester-shire sauce.

What, sorry? We call it English sauce in Spanish.

No, say that again. Wor-sester-shire.

Say that again? I can't!

We have to say the whole word but we butcher it when we're saying it.

THEY CHUCKLE I think this is delicious.

Finally, Claudette takes Paul

to taste a dish from Tijuana,

and it's quite possibly the most famous dish

to come from Mexico that most people don't know is from Mexico.

So... SHE CHUCKLES

...I'm guessing this is Caesar salad.

It's a unorthodox Caesar salad.

You've got to do it yourself.

It's called a Caesar salad

because it was created at Caesar's Hotel,

which is all rather posh inside.

But we were on a street food tour, so we got a takeaway — classy.

This is hearty meal. This is a meal.

I mean, these are big pieces of lettuce.

Not sure how easy this is gonna be, but I'll have a go.

You know what, Paul? This is when we do this.

Just fold it up and eat it?

It's delicious. Cheers.

Cheers.

So, how did this come about?

We all know the famous prohibition era and alcohol,

liquor, spirits were all banned in the States.

What is an American left to do

but head south of the border?

And Gls wanted to meet girls

and drink booze, and you came to Mexico.

One night during prohibition, the hotel's owner,

Caesar Cardini, found himself with

a bar full of hungry American soldiers.

He cobbled something together

with the few ingredients he had left and — hey presto — he'd invented

the Caesar salad. At least that's one story.

It's delish.

Back when Caesar came up with his salad,

the border between Mexico and the USA was pretty much non—existent.

And within the stone's throw of San Diego lies another land —

Mexico.

This is an easy trip, too.

You may cross here from country to country with no passport problems.

Sadly, things have changed a bit since then.

The north edge of Tijuana now stops dead at a metal border wall,

which famously runs for 700 of the 2,000—mile Mexico-USA frontier.

Our translator Cath grew up in Tijuana

and, unsurprisingly, she's no fan of the wall.

So here we are, Cat. This is THE wall.

The wall. I mean...

...ironically it's painted in bright colours, but...

...it's quite an imposing wall, isn't it?

Yeah. I don't live in Tijuana any more,

but being a border girl has been quite shocking for me

because I didn't even realise how important this sad monument is,

er, until I left it. It gets me very emotional.

I can see people that come and just stand here.

Like the guys on my left,

their families are already there.

Some of them got, er, permission to be there. Some of them didn't.

So the family is split all the time, just to be in the US.

It is amazing looking through and seeing San Diego over there.

And... And it's literally just there.

Of course, the wall became even more controversial

when Donald Trump became president.

When Trump arrived,

and he started talking very, very bad things about the Mexicans,

he decided that he wanted to point out

that they were bigger and stronger than us.

They're bringing drugs. A lot of drugs.

They're rapists. They're bringing crime.

We will build a great wall.

Impenetrable. Keep out criminal...

It's getting built one way or the other.

Mexico will pay for the wall. Mexico will pay for the wall.

We didn't — it was them.

And it was with their taxes, also.

Embarrassingly, a recent lawsuit

said that contractors building Trump's wall

were found to be bringing Mexicans illegally into the States

to work for them at the wall.

This door here was very interesting.

They built a friendship park where people from the other side,

er, could come and see their families here.

To have a picnic together, one on one side, one on another? Yes.

What's happened? It doesn't seem to be well used.

Well, not any more because...

Well, Trump.

Despite spending $15 billion,

Trump only added around 50 miles of new wall.

His only lasting achievement appears to have been

a damaging deterioration

in the relationship between Mexicans and America.

It should be like, you know, friendship and we're neighbours.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Neighbours are supposed to be helping each other.

On his next mission, Paul is going to a party...

...in the almost-unpronounceable town of Tequixquiac,

two hours north of Mexico City.

He's been asked to bring a cake,

and so has stopped off en route

to buy one at pretty much the poshest bakery in the country,

Pasteleria Ideal.

That's the biggest palmier I think I've ever seen in my life.

It's where the capital's sweet—toothed baking connoisseurs

have been coming for over 100 years.

I see a lot of people going round with these trays

and we're not talking about a doughnut and a croissant,

we're talking a doughnut, a croissant, a massive cake.

They're huge amounts of food.

Ideal's speciality is celebration cakes,

which is lucky because Paul needs his cake for a birthday party.

Not just any birthday party though.

It was a quinceanera, a girl's 15th.

And in Mexico, that's a really, really, REALLY important day.

Incredibly, proud parents splash out over $49 billion

on quinceaneras every year.

There are processions, big dresses, expensive gifts,

a church service, fully choreographed dances.

And, of course, massive cakes.

The father of Esmeralda,

whose quinceanera I was going to,

had asked me to be godfather of the cake,

which basically meant buy a big fancy cake,

present the big fancy cake,

then watch everybody else eat the big fancy cake.

Paul's gone VERY fancy.

Four tiers with roses to match Esmeralda's dress.

It's an interesting way of doing the flowers.

I've seen it done with sugar paste before,

where you sort of knock 'em out, then push 'em together.

But to pipe it, it looks quite effective.

And it's a nice colour as well.

After Paul's added a sprinkling of star dust,

his four—tier quinceanera masterpiece is finished.

It's quite hot out there at the moment.

And it's about an hour and a half to two hours to where we're going next.

And this butter cream...

I'm genuinely worried

about how this is gonna appear when it actually gets there.

The cake spending two hours in the back of an unrefrigerated van,

though, proves to be the least of Paul's problems.

Wow, the traffic's bad, isn't it? It's just never-ending.

Mexico City traffic is horrific.

After a full hour on the road, we'd only gone two miles.

And, as you'll hear our director, likes to vocalise his stress.

Come on!

Ugh! BLEEP sake!

While Paul and his cake are still crawling out of the city...

...Esmeralda is already leaving the church

and heading for the party.

And the 400 guests are starting to arrive...

...presumably looking forward to seeing Paul's cake.

It wasn't an easy or relaxing journey.

If this guy would actually pull out we could still make it, you know.

But, as in all the best movies,

we did make it just in the nick of time.

As Esmeralda arrives at the front door,

Paul's cake sneaks in around the back.

I'm really surprised it made it, actually. Yeah.

Those roads are treacherous.

It's arrived in one piece and it's all good

and it's on a trolley and all I've do is take it out. So...job done.

And then it's Paul's big moment.

FAN FARE PLAYS

El Padrino de Pastel reveals his offering to the birthday girl.

Hola. Happy birthday.

It's a great pleasure and an hon our for me

to be here at your birthday,

to bring you your very special cake.

Congratulations!

APPLAUSE

And with that, the party proper begins.

Quinceaneras date back to the Aztecs,

but modern Mexicans have added

a few of their own contemporary rituals

to this coming-of-age celebration.

There's a crowning ceremony,

Esmeralda swaps trainers for her first high heels

and is given her last-ever doll.

I had no idea how big occasion this is today.

TRANSLATION:

For the rest of the night, I hope you enjoy yourselves.

Have a fantastic birthday.

And this is from us, a little gift.

Thank you.

And then, just when everything was going brilliantly,

the director decided we should all sing Happy Birthday in English.

CREW: # Happy birthday to you... #

One problem — he didn't tell the crew Esmeralda's name.

# Happy birthday dear... # THEY MUTTER

Esmeralda! THEY LAUGH

# Happy birthday to you. #

Brilliant!

"Mortified" is probably the right word.

NARRATOR: After that excruciating moment,

a costume change and another tradition.

Mordidia!

Everyone chants "mordida", which means "bite it".

And as Esmeralda leans into Paul's cake...

...wallop.

Then more gifts, feasting, drinking,

costume changes and dancing carry on late into the night.

And, finally Esmeralda is declared an adult.

CHEERING

The morning after the night before,

Paul is apparently back in Mexico City.

You see, officially, this is part of Mexico City,

but look at it. If this is a city,

I'll eat one of those cactuses.

Although, actually, that would be fine —

because this is Milpa Alta,

famous for its crops of the edible cactus...

...no pal.

For me, this is the real Mexico.

When you think about old Mexican movies, black and white,

you think about this.

Paul's come on a day out to the cactus fields

with two of his best new Mexican friends,

comedian Carlos Ballarta, and food writer and An a is Martinez.

We need a burrito, like a donkey somewhere else.

I need a massive hat.

I know, a sombrero.

THEY CHUCKLE

They've come to meet chef Jorge Corcegas.

Hi, guys. Jorge, hello. Nice to meet you. Hello. Hello.

He's the owner of this particular cactus field.

So, cactus is your thing?

Yeah, this is my kingdom.

Jorge will now show the three amigos how to take

the cactus from the field to the plate.

Step one, harvest a cactus paddle.

I'm nervous, cos I've seen the thorns on these are big. OK.

Don't worry. Really? It's safe.

Er, I don't know which one to go for.

Take the bottom. Yeah? And twist.

The young paddles are the tastiest, apparently,

and take just six or seven days to grow.

Go on, Carlos, your turn. All right.

I'm gonna twist the BLEEP out of this. Yeah.

There you go. Well done.

Step two — clean off the prickly bits.

I remember seeing old ladies at the market doing this.

Really? ANAIS: You make it look easy.

Yeah, but it's hard, man. What are you doing Carlos?

Um, I didn't do it right. So... You're the one's gonna eat it.

I'm gonna die if I eat this.

So embarrassing.

NARRATOR: Step three — cook it.

I mean, if it wasn't hot enough,

we're standing next to a fire. Yeah.

Is this the sort of thing you guys have eaten all your lives?

Yeah, you grow up with this — it's what your mom gives you.

ANAIS: It's really good, high in fibre and in vitamins.

It reminds me of my childhood.

NARRATOR: And step four — eat the cactus.

OK, guys, it's time to make tacos.

We have the blue corn tortilla.

Take...one paddle.

OK, we add some fresh cheese, some salsa.

OK. ANAIS: Careful with the salsa.

When, when the salsa is really, really hot

you ask the one who, who made it,

"Were you angry when you were making this?"

Were you angry when you made this? No, no, no, I'm happy now.

Happy now, but you were angry when you made it?

Good. No thorns?

It's actually beautiful. It's a bit like asparagus. Mm-hm.

It's delicious. Yeah, we picked 'em five minutes ago,

trim it off, stick it on the fire —

done. It's just brilliant, isn't it?

NARRATOR: Mexico is the world's biggest

producer and consumer of no pal.

The no pal is so important for us.

Like, there's a legend, how Mexico City was founded.

Aztec people were in a migration from the north.

Whenever they would see an eagle standing on a cactus,

eating a snake...

...that would be the sign for them to found the city.

We love this so much it's in our flag. It's in your DNA.

Yeah, exactly.

900,000 tonnes are grown in Mexico each year,

most of it around here.

ANAIS: You know that we don't only eat it.

We use it for so many other things now. Like what?

NARRATOR: The real magic of no pal is its versatility.

Every single product now being put on the table

is made from no pal cactus. What?

There's crisps, soap, dietary supplements,

face cream, granola, tea, energy drinks,

sweets, detangler, brushes — even marmalade.

I mean, I can't believe that.

Tha... That's amazing.

From that, you make that.

It's also good for people with a lot of style, man. Absolutely.

I like that, that suits you.

And that leather — BMW is using it as,

you know, a vegan alternative for their car interiors.

That's incredible. And when you look at that,

it looks like normal leather. So you're gonna be sitting on a cactus,

which I think is quite funny.

So when people come here in Mexico and they get an upset tummy,

you can have some of the supplement and that helps a lot.

Have you got any here? Our director has got a really dodgy stomach.

Poor guy. I think it's this stuff.

You think that's gonna be enough?

Yeah, that'll probably going through the night. OK.

There you go, Ewan.

ANAIS CHUCKLES

PAUL CHUCKLES

That's Paul Hollywood. He likes his food.

Tick. Next.

And that's lucky

because he's come to Mexico for the first time ever

to explore this amazing country through its food,

which so far is proving to be a brilliant idea.

I love you, Drew. I want you to know that.

Paul's just arrived in the city of Oaxaca,

known as the food capital of Mexico, to try some local fare.

His guide in the city is Ford Quarterman.

And that is his real name.

Ford's a self-confessed gringo,

who moved here from the USA and says he wants to stay forever.

So, Ford, can you explain your love affair with Mexico?

DOGS BARK Calm down now, kids.

I love, er, all the noises. Yeah.

Er, I love the... The beautiful chaos you can find in this country

and I love the culture, the history,

the people, the landscapes, the food.

I agree. And it needs to be shouted from the rooftops, really.

Being from where I'm from, there's negative stereotypes in my country.

And I work to try to change that.

So, Ford, you're gonna introduce me to a little bit more traditional

Oaxacan food. That's correct.

Such as?

Well, today we're gonna try some insects.

You like bugs? You know,

I usually step on 'em but today we're gonna eat 'em...

Oh, don't.

When he was in Mexico City,

Paul did attempt to eat a scorpion and a tarantula.

So grub grub is not completely new to him.

Although that was really a bush—tucker—trial—type thing

for tourists.

Muy bien. Here we go.

Guacamole looks good.

Whereas today he's trying proper

Oaxacano cuisine prepared by

talented local chef Thalia Barrios Garcia.

Grab a tortilla and we make our tacito.

Mexico has over 300 species of edible bugs,

more than any other nation on Earth.

And they've been an important part of the diet

for thousands of years.

So, we'll put some guacamolito

and we're going with a chapulines first.

Delicious.

Chapulines are grasshoppers,

sold on every street corner in Oaxaca.

They are the most common edible insect in Mexico.

Yeah, I actually do quite like chapulines.

Have you had these before? No.

A little bit of garlic and onion they put on 'em. Mm. How was it?

I mean, the overriding flavour — you get a little bit of garlic,

you do get the guac and you get the wrap, the tortilla.

You can't really identify what else is in there. It's just a texture.

It's kind of crunchy, right? Yeah, a bit crunchy. Yeah.

There's a lot of talk about insects being

the future food for the human race.

But it's interesting that in Mexico

they've been eating insect for hundreds of years.

Perhaps they've set the blueprint for the future, you know?

Yeah. What's the next dish?

Moskita is kind of corn taken off the cob

and it's like a soup, you know what I mean? It's like a kaldo.

It's like a maguey in there.

The worms are already in there. Ah, right, OK.

Yeah, quite a bit.

Maguey worms or gusanos de Maguey

are butterfly larvae, which burrow into the agave plant.

See, to me, these gusanos have a more exotic...

They have a stronger buggier taste than the chapulines, no?

It's quite a heated dish — there's chilli in there? Mm-hm.

Works quite nicely. I like that.

Next, pork ribs with one of Mexico's most expensive insects,

chicatanas, or giant flying ants, at £40 per kilo.

They're ground up in the salsa. The meat is so beautifully cooked.

What are we looking for?

Cos, obviously I've never had an ant before? So...

...you're trying to hunt round for that flavour of ant.

Earthy. Is that it?

Yeah. It tastes really good.

The meat and the sauce was delicious.

As to whether the flying ants contributed anything

to this deliciousness, I really couldn't tell.

I think the thing that puts you off insects is the way they look.

Cos you associate it with dirt.

The ground and crawling.

Yeah, and it's not clean.

But actually they will be cos they've been cooked.

They've got garlic, they've got onion —

it's the way they've been treated.

And I really like the insects here

because they cook them the way they should be cooked.

They've still got some of the meat in there, so to speak,

the guts instead of just deep... Yeah, don't say that, please.

For Paul's final treat,

Thalia has lined up a really rare Oaxano delicacy,

a wasp hive full of live larvae.

To be honest with you, Paul, this is the first time I'm seeing this.

Mm. You don't really look at it and go, "Delicious."

I definitely don't try to get closer.

So, Ford, are you totally at home now eating bugs and stuff?

I'm comfortable with it.

I'm extremely comfortable eating gusanos,

you know, worms and the grasshoppers.

So you'd see one in the field and go, "Mm, delicious, that's dinner"?

I've, er... I've done it. Just ate it?

Just put it down the hatch. Wow, fair enough.

THEY CHUCKLE

So, what are we looking for?

What flavour are we looking for? Is it honey, is it sweet, what?

Is it venomous? ls our tongue gonna swell up? Exactly.

So, apparently, wasp nests taste a little bit sweeter. OK.

And a little bit sour as well.

It's a little bit like, um... You know that...

When you eat a grapefruit, initially it's quite sweet

and then sourness comes? Mm-hm. It's like that.

Yeah, I can see that.

This was a lot less painful than I expected.

Thalia's cooking was brilliant,

but honestly I think most dishes would've tasted exactly the same

with no insects in them.

The wasp larvae was a standout, though. I ALMOST like that.

WQW!

I never thought I'd be eating, er, wasp larvae. That's interesting.

Welcome to Oaxaca. Absolutely.

Next stop for Paul is the Yucatan Peninsula

and the resort of Cancun.

With perfect beaches, a fabulous climate

and mile after mile of luxury hotels,

it's maybe not surprising that Cancun was this year named

as the top beach destination for us Brits.

Paul's come for a nose around,

with comedian Myriam Ramirez riding shotgun.

So, Myriam... Paul... Cancun.

Hot as hell itself. Isn't it?

Have you been to Cancun before? You must have been before.

Yes, a lot of times I came and do stand-up and failed.

This doesn't look like the Mexico I've seen. Yeah.

Is this Mexico to you or is this holiday?

Well, of course not. Holiday.

It's holiday Mexico.

It was a bit of a culture shock, to be honest.

DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

I was coming off two weeks travelling around the country

and was, I think, starting to get a feel for Mexico, then THAT.

Now, that doesn't look very Mexican, does it? Senor Frog's!

That's American, innit?

Yeah, of course.

Oh, I spot a Hooters.

Objectifying women since the '70s...

...with an owl.

Hard Rock Cafe — I mean, that's pretty big.

It was just a big, homogenous hot place with beaches.

And that's pretty much what Cancun was designed to be.

In the 1960s the Mexican government paid consultants $2 million

to find the ideal place for a resort

to bring in cash-rich American tourists.

They designed an algorithm

factoring in things like sandiest beaches, least rainfall,

lowest threat of hurricanes and shark attacks.

Their algorithm put a pin in Cancun and building began.

It has been a huge, huge deal. Ever since there are

almost everywhere hotels, not apartments or where people live.

So it's... It's thought out to attract a bunch of tourism.

50 years on, this place brings in billions of US dollars every year.

I guess you can call that a success, but it ain't Mexico.

If someone said to me,

"I've been to Mexico — yeah, I did Cancun,"

I would argue with that person and say

"You've seen nothing of Mexico." Yes.

Cos this could be anywhere.

Any hot country with palm trees and big hotels.

I do not like all-inclusive hotels

because you are submitted to what they tell you

you can eat and drink

and you're not really getting to know anyone or anything.

Yeah.

On the upside, the Yucatan peninsula is the home

of the ancient Mayan civilisation.

And if you're prepared to venture out of your all-exclusive enclave,

you can visit some of the most incredible monuments

and ruins on Earth.

I walked up a 1,000—year—old pyramid.

Not a bad view, is it?

And on the culinary upside,

a very strong tourist industry does mean

that the Yucatan peninsula has some fabulous high-end restaurants.

Near Merida in the five-star Chablet Resort is |xi'im,

arguably the best restaurant in Mexico, where traditional

Mayan foods become haute cuisine — and Paul's been invited for lunch.

This place is incredible. I mean, proper luxury.

So I'm looking forward to this.

Executive chef Luis Ronzon

is cooking personally for Paul,

the lucky boy, and has put together a menu

designed to show just how good posh Mayan food can get.

Hello. Luis, hello.

How you doing? I'm good, thank you.

Our first course.

This is a salad of tomato, cactus, corn and beans,

all indigenous to Mexico, served with toasted corn tortillas.

It's different to the street food I've tried.

Those same familiar flavours underneath it are on another level.

That's nice, that.

Next.

Pace yourself, Paul, or you'll fill up too quickly.

How's it going? Oh, brilliantly.

As he enjoys a dish of scallops, a Mayan staple...

It's magic.

Mm!

...Paul's next course is being dug up.

Luis regularly uses a Mayan oven called a pib —

basically, a metal box that's buried under a fire

to slow-cook whatever's in it. In this case, a cabbage.

Beautiful flavour — the cabbage is so soft.

It's a bit like an English roast..

WHISPERING: "but better.

I never thought I'd say that.

I'll just be stuffed if I go through all this.

Halfway now, Paul — chin up.

And you'll love the next course —

suckling pig cooked overnight in the pib.

This dish has several sides

and a little bit of brioche bread.

So, really, I ask you to make, like, a kind of little sandwiches.

Suckling pig sarnies — that's right up Paul's pathway.

HE CHUCKLES CONTENTEDLY

It's smoky. It's delicious.

The last two courses come together and are both puddings.

Sorry, desserts. Forgot we were doing posh.

You're heard of Two jag Prescott — I'm Two Puddings Hollywood.

Oh, OK, we're going with puddings.

The first is all sweet variations on corn,

the most important crop in Mexico.

That is ingenious. Very clever.

The star of the other pudding is melipona honey

from |x'im's own melipona bee colony.

They're rare bees found only in Latin America,

stingless, which presumably makes them easy to keep,

but they produce only teeny amounts of their honey.

The honey is delicious. Got a lovely depth of flavour to it.

Wow! I love ice cream. Oh, they're nice.

Yeah, you guys can leave me alone now.

I'm just gonna stay here and have some ice cream.

This is very good.

So we will.

And as dear old Two Puddings carries on munching away,

I shall tell you that his tour of Mexico is about

to get even better for him

as he heads directly for his comfort zones — baking...

Trying to get me fatter, aren't you? I know you are — you're a feeder.

...and judging food.

THEY CHANT IN SPANISH

What an incredible place.

Paul Hollywood is roaming the regions of Mexico,

exploring the country through its food.

Obviously, I've never had an ant before.

Right now he's heading into the mountains

for a quite bizarre and incongruous taste of home.

His destination is

the small mining town

of Mineral Del Monte in Hidalgo province.

A charming town — colourful, vibrant, and beautiful —

but walking around the place,

one thing stood out above everything else — Cornish pasties!

It's true. And this is brilliant.

Mineral Del Monte is home to around 40 bakeries

making and selling Cornish pasties,

or pastes as they're known around these parts.

The town is so famous for its pastes

that tourists come here especially for them,

chomping through tens of thousands of them every week.

Paul's first stop is, of course, one of the bakeries.

Well, it's his safe place.

I want to see how the Cornish traditional pasty has turned into

the Mineral Del Monte paste.

Rosa Marquez has been making pastes for most of her life.

So is this the, er, mixture? It is cooked?

And there's the link. Thank you, Rosa.

In 1824, 130 Cornish tin miners

travel led 5,000 miles to Mineral Del Monte,

to revive its failing silver-mining industry.

And they never went home.

It's funny, cos the last time I made pasty, I was in Cornwall.

Yeah, I remember them all watching me very carefully.

HE CHUCKLES

Of course, being proper Cornwall born and bred,

the miners couldn't live without their pasties.

They taught the locals how to make them

and soon the whole town became a little bit pasty obsessed.

Do you ever make the traditional with the jam in one end?

Ah.

So, what do Mineral pastes taste like?

The flavour is beautiful. There's a lot of meat in there.

With the flaky pastry, it's delicious.

And then the little bit of chilli just lifts it.

You should open up a shop in Cornwall.

Encouraged by his enthusiasm,

Rosa decides Paul should try some other flavours.

Yeah.

Ah.

I'm not having all those, no.

I know what you're doing — you're trying to get me fatter, aren't you?

I know you are — you're a feeder.

You're a feeder.

Despite Paul's protestations, Rosa's not giving up.

She insisted that I tried ALL of her pasties.

And she makes a lot of them.

Gracias. SHE SPEAKS SPANISH

Mm-mm. OK. You're gonna make me, er, fatter. Like a balloon.

Yes. THEY CH UCKLE

Grad... Gradas. She says,

yeah, I look like a balloon.

I love you too. Unbelievable!

I didn't want to be ungrateful to Rosa,

but I knew I had a lot more pasty eating to get through that day.

He has. And that's because when the pastes makers of Mineral Del Monte

heard a world-famous baking judge was coming to town,

they decided they must hold a competition.

It reminds me of the traditional way she's doing.

It's very neat. Gracias.

They want Paul to judge the best pastes in the town

and are all now busy baking their signature specialities.

And while everyone's busy baking, we can do some more history.

Many of the original miners are buried in

an English graveyard above the town,

laid to rest facing Cornwall.

Mineral Del Monte is now twinned with Red Ruth in the real Cornwall

and some direct descendants still live in the town.

For example, Julieta Tejeda lslas and her son, Carlos.

Your family —

you go back to the original miners

that came here in 1820. Is that correct? Si.

Wow! And the gentleman you have in your lap, the picture —

is this your...

I'm guessing great—great—great-grandfather.

That is incredible.

That's mine manager Absalom Noble. Looks familiar, doesn't he?

So, er, you could be a distant cousin to me.

I'll take this home and show my mother.

Right, back to the main event.

With all 40 pastes baked and laid out beautifully in front of

an impressive monument to the Cornish miners,

the competitors line up to watch judge Paul do his thing...

...and decide who will win his rather lovely Golden Pasty trophy.

As I said, Paul's got 40 pastes to work his way through.

So this could take some time.

I was repeatedly and endlessly impressed.

There wasn't a bad pasty in there.

An amazing range of flavours — spicy beans,

salmon, shredded chicken, mole, guava,

apple and cheese, even rice-pudding pasties.

And not a soggy bottom in sight.

Finally, Paul is ready to give his verdict

and, understandably, he's found it impossible

to single out any one baker.

It's not fair for me to pick one person in this place

because every one of these pasties was fantastic.

Much as gracias.

CHEERING

THEY CHANT IN SPANISH

Well, that decision went down well.

Paul's brought a Cornish tea towel

with the original pasty recipe on it for every bakery

and presents the Golden Pasty to the whole town to share.

A brilliant day,

brilliant pasties and the perfect end with tequila,

smiles, dancing and a mariachi band.

Salud, Mineral Del Monte.

THEY CHEER

Next time, Paul hits the bottle, the cup,

the glass, the bowl, and the mug

as he explores Mexico through drinks...

We like our drinks big.

Oh.

You OK?

...and somehow ends up at the most insane firework festival on Earth.

Whoa-ho-ho!

Imagine that thing going towards your face.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media