Having chowed his way through Japan’s culinary delights in 2020 the Great British Bake Off judge is back on our screens to gobble everything Mexico has to offer in Paul Hollywood Eats… Mexico (Channel 4, 10 July, 9pm).

“I’ve got a feeling that real Mexican food isn’t going to be what I might expect,” Hollywood said.

He was right. He met Mexican foodie Anais Martinez to show him the best tacos in the city. First stop – a car repair shop. At lunch time up goes a shutter on an outlet specialising in tacos al pastor – doner meat, pineapple and salsa – the city’s most popular street food.

“The best tacos I’ve ever had,” said Hollywood. “That’s a big statement,” Martinez responded.

Elsewhere – from a market that claimed to sell lion and tiger meat – Hollywood tried a tarantula. “It doesn’t taste of anything” was his insightful review.

An interesting discovery was made over and over. What the UK knows as Mexican food isn’t really. Rather an Americanised Tex-Mex version. Sour cream, cheddar cheese, chilli con carne, chimichanga, yellow nachos – none of it is Mexican.

In between all the eating, Hollywood had various cultural experiences. Bashing a piñata. Visiting an exotic fruits market. Hitting the road with a women’s biker gang. Compared with the sensitive and cerebral foodie travelogues from Stanley Tucci and Anthony Bourdain, Hollywood’s version had a Brit abroad quality to it.

But when it focused on the food, this scoff on the hop show was enjoyable enough.

Topics