Mexico: One Plate at a Time (2003)

Season 5: Episode 12

Yucatecan honey is renowned for its glorious color and rich flavor. Rick finds it everywhere from the Merida market stalls to the breakfast buffet at an upscale hotel where the whole honeycomb slowly drips its amber syrup for ladling over fruit and cereal. At home, Rick uses the golden syrup in his Mexican-Style Granola and in the pasilla chile-spiked glaze for a sublime Grilled Rack of Lamb. On the Riviera Maya, we visit Xcaret, a nature park, for a look at the hollow-log hives of the native stingless bees so beloved by the Maya for their honey. At Hacienda Vista Alegre in Merida, honey is the main ingredient in a honey-anise liqueur called Xtabentún. Rick leads us through the liqueur-making process then goes home to make a fabulous White Chocolate Ice Cream flavored with the liqueur.