Mexico: One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless

Wading through the surf at Guayabitos, a charming fishing village on Mexico's Pacific coast, Rick sets off in search of the ultimate catch - the Mexican seafood dish that captures everything that is perfect about a day at the beach.

Standing amid the excavated layers of ancient civilizations in the Templo Mayor, right in the heart of modern Mexico City, Rick points out that Mexican cooking has always been a product of diverse cultural influences.

Rick cannot resist the kind of well-seasoned, simple food grilled over a live fire that he has enjoyed at thousands of markets, kitchens, and restaurants all over Mexico where cooking comes down to fresh ingredients and flickering flames.

With more than 20 million people, and a dazzlingly rich cultural and culinary history, Mexico City is like its own planet-and these days, it's a younger, hipper planet than ever.

Tequila has come around-from "lick the salt and suck the lime" firewater, to chic drink of connoisseurs and hipsters alike.

When Rick wants to get away from the frantic pace of life in the restaurant world, he heads South. Join him as he sets out to find the kind of ultimate serenity he has always sought out in his favorite "secret gardens" of Mexico.

Rick and his daughter, Lanie, check out Mexico's real-life superhero subculture: the surreal, splashy world of Lucha Libre. The beloved masked wrestling phenomenon captured all of Mexico's imagination and became embraced by its' culture.

Sure, there are great male chefs in Mexico. But women are the true mothers of this cuisine. From market cafes to hip new white-tablecloth restaurants, the cuisine of Mexico comes from a rich tradition of hearth, home, and women's hands.

Chilling out in Puerto Vallarta, the jewel of the Mexican Riviera, Rick gets thinking, not surprisingly, about food.

We find Rick somewhere in the jungles of Mexico, pondering the great questions of the ancient world-like, "what was for breakfast?"

Over a beautiful plate of food in the kitchen of his white-tablecloth restaurant, Topolobampo, Rick muses on the idea of culinary muses.

In Mexico, salsa is neither a dip nor an afterthought. It's an integral part of eating.

Rick heads for Jalisco, the place where mariachi music originated, to investigate the history and mystery of this "national soundtrack" of Mexico.