Chiles Rellenos de Frijol con salsa de aguacate
Poblano chillies stuffed with refried beans served with a guacamole sauce.

Mole Poblano
Mexicos National Dish - Turkey with chocolate chilli sauce.

Vanilla and Lime Flan
A delicious dessert using Mexico's native spice, complemented with zesty citrus.

Huachinango a la Veraruzana
Veraruz Red Snapper in a chili, garlic and tomato sauce.

Tyler Florence gets away from the traditional notions of Americanised Mexican food and travels around Mexico to find the real heart and soul of Mexican cuisine. The country has a number of regional variations and eating is a way of life.

Tyler starts his journey in Mexico City, once the culinary gateway between Europe and the America's. Here he explores the vibrant markets and discovers the just how hot chillies can really get.

A quick sip of tequila takes him to the cactus heartland of Oaxaca where he finds out how tequila's sister drink, mezcal, is made. Tyler samples some excellent chocolate, another favourite of all Mexicans and an ingredient that the world over has a lot to than Mexico for.

In the beautiful city of Puebla, Tyler learns how to prepare the national dish, Mole, turkey with chocolate sauce, originally invented by a local nun, by accident. The Mexicans love to celebrate and Tyler's happens upon a seven-day festival totally dedicated to vanilla.

His journey ends on the east coast where Mexican flavours blend with the Caribbean sea.

Chocolate
The world has Mexico to thank for the gift of chocolate. The Olmecs who lived on the Gulf coast were the first to discover the process of extracting the dark rich substance from the cacao beans.

Mezcal
Mezcal is the drink made famous by the worm that appears at the bottom of some bottles and is similar to Tequila, but with its own distinctive, smoky taste.

Vanilla
Vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world after saffron and is grown in the state of Veracruz on the gulf coast of Mexico.

MORE INFORMATION

Listings of where to stay, where to eat, food shops, things to do and how to get there as recommended by the Planet Food crew.