Episode 5: Rick Bayless

Evolutionaries

Meet Rick Bayless, an award winning American chef and restauranteur who specializes in traditional Mexican cuisine with modern interpretations. He is perhaps best known for his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time. Bayless was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, into a family of restaurateurs and grocers specializing in the local barbecue. Having begun his culinary training as a youth, he broadened his interests to include regional Mexican cooking as an undergraduate student of Spanish and Latin American culture. After finishing his undergraduate education at the University of Oklahoma, he did doctoral work in Anthropological Linguistics at the University of Michigan and, from 1980 to 1986, lived in Mexico with his wife, Deann, writing his first book Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking From The Heart of Mexico. On his Evolutionaries profile, listeners come to know Rick for his passion surrounding Mexican culture – particularly the importance of celebration and partying through the context of cuisine. This program was sponsored by Bonnie Plants.