Mexico: One Plate at a Time
Season 11: Yucatan
Rick Bayless, the beloved chef and restaurateur, seamlessly weaves together techniques, recipes, cultural musings and off-the-wall surprises. 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.
Where to Watch Season 11: Yucatan
13 Episodes
- The Hunt for Caribbean LobsterE1
The Hunt for Caribbean LobsterDeep in the Sian Ka'an nature reserve is a remote village named Punta Allen, Rick and Chef Juan Pablo join a team representing the local sustainable lobster fishing cooperative for an afternoon at sea. The day's catch? A Caribbean lobster. - Tour of TraditionsE2
Tour of TraditionsAsk anyone about traditional cooking in the Yucatán and you’re bound to hear the name Miriam Peraza, a grandmotherly dynamo who knows every nook and cranny. She brings Rick to the bustling Mercado de Lucas de Galvez in Merida for a quick tour that includes a rare look at the making of recado spice pastes. Flanked by villagers in the remote town of Yaxunah, Miriam and Rick drop in to watch the making of pit-cooked cochinita pibil, the Yucatán’s iconic dish of achiote-smothered, pit-cooked suckling pig. At Manjarblanco restaurant in Merida, Miriam shows us her take on classic panuchos, sopa de lima and queso relleno. Then, Rick brings some of the Yucatán back to Chicago, where he cooks papadzules and shows us how to make cochinita pibil at home — banana leaves and quick-pickled onions included. - Off the Beaten Path Playa del CarmenE3
Off the Beaten Path Playa del CarmenRick brings you out of the plush resorts and into the streets of Playa del Carmen, where street vendors and roadside stands serve real-deal Mexican food. Rick heads to Antojitos Yucateco for cochinita pibil tortas, then to nearby Las Karnitas for tacos of golden, crispy carnitas with spicy salsa. Then Rick follows the smoke to a little roadside cart, where crowds gather for cecina estilo Yecapixtla, thin-cut seared beef with grilled onions and nopales. At Le Chique, a modern dining room between Cancun and Puerto Morales, Chef Jonatán Gómez Luna dazzles Rick with feats of Mexican molecular gastronomy. Back in Chicago, Rick shows you how to execute the perfect taco party of your own, complete with slow cooker carnitas, summer squash and guero chile and grilled achiote catfish with spicy habanero mayo. - Cerviches Gone WildE4
Cerviches Gone WildThe fertile waters of the Caribbean Sea provide exquisitely fresh fish, a bounty perhaps best translated on the plate through ceviche. Or sometimes you don’t even need a plate, like when Rick and Chef Juan Pablo Loza make a ceviche of freshly caught lobster on a boat in the Sian Ka’an nature reserve. At Catch, the Thompson Hotel’s swanky rooftop restaurant in Playa del Carmen, Chef Pedro Abascal teaches us to make a Peruvian-inspired mandarin, carrot, habanero and ginger ceviche with leche de tigre broth. Then, it’s off to nearby Axiote with Chef Xavier Perez Stone, who shows Rick how to make outrageously good coconut-shrimp ceviche. A delightful ferry ride brings Rick to picturesque Isla Mujeres, where young Chef Diego Lopez builds an absolute stunner of a dish, a ceviche of pargo with an herby green “mojito” broth. At Rick’s new Chicago restaurant, Lena Brava, he makes a deceptively simple aguachile in a cocktail shaker and teaches us to make a “Bloody Maria” coctel. - Splendor of Yucatan Enchanting MarketsE8
Splendor of Yucatan Enchanting MarketsRevered by his Mexican peers, Federico Lopez is one of Mexico’s most affable and talented chefs. He joins Rick at the enchanting Mercado Municipal in Valladolid to extol the virtues of unique Yucatecan produce. After that, the pair head to Temozón, to a decades-old meat market where they smoke pork in rustic ovens behind the store. With a basket full of market produce and smoked meats, the chefs return to Federico’s sleek catering kitchen in Cancun, where Federico artfully recreates the market in a salad of local beans, squash, heirloom tomato and chile dulce. Federico also makes pork tenderloin with longaniza sausage and beans. Back in Chicago, Rick makes lima bean soup with ham hock, plus pork lomitos. - A Place of Deeply Rooted InnovationE9
A Place of Deeply Rooted InnovationIf you could define the singular challenge facing Yucatecan chefs, it is about honoring the past while pushing forward. Perhaps no one is more emblematic of the effort than Pedro Evia, co-owner of Ku'uk, a molecular fine dining palace. - Dreaming of Sustainable AgricultureE11
Dreaming of Sustainable AgricultureRick discusses Chef Pedro Abascal's reliance on local farms to supply his hotel restaurants, before visiting a lamb farm in Tizimín, and C-Grill restaurant. In Chicago, Rick heads to the outdoor Green City Market to gather ingredients. - Examining the Yucatans Natural ResourcesE13
Examining the Yucatans Natural ResourcesThe salt marshes of Celestun and a seaside octopus farm are unlikely places for a chef to get inspired. But Chef Roberto Solis’ approach to food has always been a little different — just see the menu of his revered restaurant Nectar in Merida, which continues to charm and dazzle. In Nectar’s kitchen, Roberto shows Rick how to make three of his restaurant’s favorite dishes, cebollas negras, poc chuc de pulpo and deeply satisfying crispy, seared pork belly with grilled pineapple and tomatillo. At home, Rick makes tostadas of charred octopus with escabeche, plus a succulent slow cooker red chile pork belly with braised kale. To finish it off, Rick makes manjar blanco, a traditional Yucatecan coconut dessert.
