Latin America: ‘salivating hotness’

Mexico has more than 120 chillies, and Chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, the ‘anthropologist of Mexican cuisine’ and author of twelve books, knows the difference every one of them makes. In this episode he shows how a single jalapeño becomes three distinct ingredients depending on whether it’s fresh, dried or smoked, and makes the case that great Mexican heat is never about maximum spice. It’s about balance: where a whole chilli dropped into a stew adds, in his words, the soul of the flavour.