Chuck's Week Off

Chuck Hughes arrives in Cabo San Lucas where he makes a mouth-watering lobster omelet and then heads for the ocean for some catch and release deep-sea fishing. Wanting to know how the local’s like to cook their fish, he is invited to a barbeque in the middle of the desert, but first he has to get his hands on a disca – a traditional Baja cooking tool.

Chuck Hughes makes the most of his time in one of Mexico’s coolest cities. He sinks his teeth into the city’s famous Torta Ahogadhas, pork sandwiches literally drowned in chili sauce. He tries to get the Chololo brothers to reveal their super secret recipe for Birria, and learns all about Pozole, a corn and pork soup, from a Mexican wrestling legend’s mom before he has to get into the ring himself!

Mexico is known the world over for its festivals, and in Huamantla thousands of people come into the town for just one night – to see the streets turned into a carpet of flowers that is almost 5 miles long!  In the lead up to the big event, Chuck Hughes attempts to make his own ice cream, goes bull fighting at a nearby lamb festival to try and win over the locals and then works in the kitchen with a family who cooks Pollo Pipian and Tamales for the many incredible ‘carpet’ makers.

In the town of Loreto, Chuck Hughes figures out what goes into El Rey Del Taco’s famous Fish Tacos, learns to make Ranchero cheese and a kind of beef jerky with some Mexican cowboys before he dives for chocolate clams and takes part in a traditional Mexican clam bake.

Mexico City is home to, well, almost everything! Chuck checks out Tacos al Pastor, delicious pork tacos, and meets Indio Reyes, a renowned tattoo artist, who is going to reveal his plan for Chuck’s latest tat! He runs around one of the world’s largest markets with some crazy vegetable suppliers before hooking up with a local chef to get a taste of what the restaurant business is all about in one of the world’s biggest cities!

Chuck Hughes tears into Oaxaca and heads straight for the city’s most popular Tlyuda stand, where they serve up the Mexican equivalent of pizza well into the night. The next day he goes hunting for, and learns to make, Oaxaca’s most popular snack, Fried Grasshoppers, before helping local cake makers work their magic at a 500 person wedding!

In Puebla, Chuck Hughes hooks up with the owner of local juice stand who pulls out some ATV’s and takes him off roading up the local volcano.  There, they help a taco stand owner make Wild Mushroom Quesadillas. Later, Chuck meets a local chef who teaches him how to make Mole before he helps judge a Chili-En-Nogada cook off.

In the Yucatan, Chuck Hughes makes his own bottle of insanely hot, hot sauce using freshly picked habaneros, gets a crash course in Mayan cuisine, faces his fear of heights at a giant sink hole and tries to keep up with Mexico’s hardest-working man - a cab driving, Conchinita Pibil making, whirlwind known as Walter.