Rick Stein revisits Mexico and finds the beer really is as good as he remembered

Retracing a foodie journey he took in his youth

The 70-year-old, usually synonymous with Cornwall's Padstow ("Padstein" to the locals), retraced a journey he took as a hungry 21-year-old in 1968, through Mexico and into California. Although this time, instead of hitchhiking, he travelled in a rather lovely, powder blue convertible Ford Mustang.

He remembers how, despite tucking into the odd batch of Indian food in 1960s England, on his original trip, Mexican food "was the first truly foreign and exotic food" he'd ever tasted. "The chilli, the sourness and the freshness of everything I tried there really struck a note with me," Stein recalls. "It's so in-your-face."

The appeal of returning to California was to see how it had moved on and changed, he explains: "I was there in the hippy days, although I wasn't a hippy myself, I hasten to add."

Why not? "Why not indeed? It's funny," he says, recalling a trip to the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, "I'd been nervous about smoking acid or taking anything. My wife [Sarah Burns] later said, 'You must have been the only person aged 21 in Haight-Ashbury at that time not to have smoked a joint'. Haha!"

Mexican cuisine is more varied and complex than you might expect

Stein's enthusiasm for Mexican food really is boundless, whether its fresh ceviche ("The way they make it in Mexico is so special"), Wahacan cheese ("They make it by pulling the cheese into longer and longer strands, and then roll it up like knitting wool into a ball"), or stuffed and refried tortillas called panuchos - the best of which he ate at a Holiday Inn in Campeche ("Yeah, they were really nice!").

He says we often misconstrue the cuisine and mistake it for something it's not; nachos and fajitas for instance are Tex-Mex, not Mexican. "There's actually a lot of lighter, fragrant dishes; it's not all about loads of meat, cheese, cream and tortillas. It's much more varied than that."

Stein also finds the ways Mexicans eat fascinating. "Breakfast is a remarkable meal in Mexico – a bit like it is in Britain, actually." He quotes the late playwright Somerset Maugham, who wrote that "the best way to eat in England is to eat breakfast three times a day".

"I love going into a big open courtyard in tropical Mexico, there's birds flying in and out, big tables and Mexican families sitting down to breakfast with lots of lovely cinnamon coffee and plates of huevos in various shapes and forms. Motulenos is my latest thrill, which is fried eggs with peas, ham, and salsa, and chilaqueles, where they chop yesterday's tortillas into segments and deep fry them, and do them with fried eggs and chilli sauce."

You can't beat Mexican street food – especially the tacos

Then there's the street food, which Rick calls "among the best in the world", and describes as hinging on family, history and culture. The tacos in particular.

"They have a bit of meat, a lot of tomatoes, lettuce, onions and often avocado, then there's chilli, salsa and radish in there – tacos are really balanced. The only fattening thing about them is you do tend to eat too many because they're so bloody scrumptious. You say, 'I'll have three', and end up having nine. I just find them a very, very agreeable way of eating.

"A tortilla is a perfect vehicle for holding street food," he adds. "It's an instant wrapper. You don't need boxes, you just pick one up and eat it. That and a beer or two is perfection for me."

It's not just about eating, tequila and beer are crucial.

No, his enthusiasm does not wane on the alcohol front. "Mexican beer is fabulous," Stein buzzes happily. "Our favourites were Pacifico and Victoria, which you don't see over here, but we were obviously quite happy to drink plenty of Coronas as well, and mezcal.

"We tried not to get through too much tequila, but I could go on for some time about margaritas," he adds wryly, before rhapsodising about the rims of glasses being dredged in a tangy mixture of salt, dehydrated lime powder and chilli: "It has this really wonderful taste, and the same seasoning is often sprinkled on fruit."

So, after the blazing colours and heat of Mexico and California, where to next? Rick pauses, then says mildly, "Well, I've got a bit of a hankering just to go back to France."

Fish tacos

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

12 x 15cm corn tortillas

600g cod fillet

100g plain flour, seasoned with pinch of salt and 6 turns from the black pepper mill

1L corn or vegetable oil

For the batter:

200g plain flour

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

275ml ice-cold beer

For the toppings:

¼ small white cabbage, finely shredded

1 avocado, stoned, peeled and diced

Hot chilli sauce, such as Cholula or Huichol

For the Pico de gallo salsa:

2 large ripe tomatoes, deseeded and diced

½ onion, finely chopped

A handful of coriander, chopped

1 green serrano or jalapeno chilli, finely chopped

¼ tsp salt

Juice of ½-1 lime

For the chipotle crema:

2 Chipotles en adobo

3 tbsp mayonnaise

3 tbsp soured cream

Juice of ½ lime

Method

1 Warm the tortillas in a dry frying pan, or in a microwave or in the oven.

2 Get your toppings - shredded cabbage, diced avocado, pico de gallo salsa, and hot chilli sauce - ready. Mix the ingredients for the crema and set aside. Mix the ingredients for the Pico de gallo salsa - starting with the lime - and also set aside.

3 To make the batter, sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a roomy bowl. Using a balloon whisk, incorporate the beer until you have a smooth batter. Set aside.

4 Cut the fish into fingers about 1cm thick. Heat the oil in a large pan to 190°C. Dip a few pieces of fish into the seasoned flour, shake off the excess, then dip them into the batter. Fry for two to two-and-a-half minutes until crisp and golden. Repeat until you've cooked all the fish, draining each batch briefly on kitchen paper to remove excess oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

5 Serve the fish immediately in warm tortillas, with the toppings on the table for guests to help themselves.

Rhubarb Galette

Ingredients

(Serves 8)

225g plain flour

Pinch salt

170g cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes

80ml ice-cold water

For the filling:

500g rhubarb, cut into 6cm long batons (save any trimmings)

Finely grated zest of an orange

200g granulated sugar

Pinch salt

Juice of ½ an orange

1 tbsp muscat dessert wine

30g unsalted butter, melted

30g caster sugar

2 tbsp sugar, for the glaze

To serve:

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream

Method

1 In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt. Add the butter and process briefly. Sprinkle over the ice-cold water and pulse for about five seconds, until just moistened.

2 Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead it two or three times until it comes together. Pat the dough into a disc. Lay a sheet of baking parchment on your work surface and dust it with flour. Roll out the dough like a pizza to make a 35cm circle, 4mm-5mm thick. Transfer the parchment to a baking sheet and chill the pastry.

3 Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C. Toss the rhubarb in a bowl with the orange zest, sugar, salt, juice and wine and mix well. Arrange the rhubarb on top of the pastry and sprinkle over any remaining sugary mixture. Leave a border of 5-6cm around the edge of the pastry, fold that in and crimp to form a border. Brush the fruit with melted butter and sprinkle with caster sugar, then repeat this process three times.

4 Bake the galette for 10-12 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 200°C/Fan 180°C and bake for a further 30-35 minutes.

5 To make the glaze, cook the rhubarb trimmings with 75ml of water until soft. Strain the liquid from the pulp and add the two tablespoons of sugar. Pour this back into the pan and let the sugar dissolve, then reduce to a thick syrup.

6 Leave the galette to cool, then brush it with the glaze. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Feta rolls

Ingredients

(Serves four as a starter or part of a mezze)

2 aubergines

4tbsp olive oil

175g feta cheese

175g ricotta cheese

Small handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

5-6 rasps freshly grated nutmeg

10 turns from the black pepper mill

1.5tbsp capers, chopped

To serve:

100g mixed rocket, watercress and baby spinach

Juice of ½ lemon

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Seeds from ½ pomegranate

Salt and pepper

Method

1 Cut the aubergines lengthwise into slices about 5mm thick. You should get about six slices from each aubergine. Brush the aubergine slices on both sides with oil and grill them in batches on a barbecue or griddle pan for three to four minutes on each side until browned, tender and pliable. Set them aside.

2 Mash the feta and ricotta in a bowl with a fork and add the parsley, nutmeg and black pepper. Stir in the capers.

3 Spoon a generous tablespoon of filling on to the wide end of each aubergine slice and roll it up like a Swiss roll.

4 To serve, arrange the salad leaves on a platter, dress them with lemon juice and olive oil, then season. Arrange the aubergine rolls on top, seam-side down, and decorate them with pomegranate seeds. Serve at room temperature as a starter or part of a mezze.

The Road To Mexico by Rick Stein, photography by James Murphy, is published by BBC Books, priced £26. Available now.