All the restaurants and locations Eva Longoria visits in ‘Searching for Mexico’

20.07.2023 - 12:17 / edition.cnn.com / Eva Longoria

Editor’s Note: The CNN Original Series “Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico” journeys across the country’s many vibrant regions to reveal its unique and colorful cuisines. The series airs on CNN on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

You’ll no doubt be hungry after watching “Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico.”

Every episode is full of mouthwatering regional specialties prepared by chefs all over the country.

For those wanting to follow in Eva Longoria’s footsteps, below is a guide to the restaurants and locations she visited.

Longoria visits the coastal state of Veracuz. Its position along some 400 miles (645 kilometers) of the Caribbean Sea made it a focal point for military conflict – and the collision of food cultures. “The people of Veracruz took this treasure trove of ingredients passing in and out of the port and created a whole new cuisine,” Longoria said.

• Longoria met chef Erik Guerrero, who aims to make fishing more sustainable in Veracruz, at Namik restaurant, where they enjoyed ceviche with hot beans and soft shell crab taco.

• Next up, she joined actor and friend Ana de la Reguera for some coffee at historic Café La Parroquia, Veracruz Port. Tap on the glass three times to ring for milk.

• She headed to the lush inland mountains to meet coffee farming expert Itzel Mendoza at Cafetal Privado en Coetzala to learn how the precious bean is grown. There, they gathered flowers in the fields to be added to chicken stew, a salsa and a palm flower fritter.

• Back in Veracruz Port, she met food historian Nidia Hernández Medel at Chuchumbé, a cultural center, to cook some fried yucca, which is traced back to the city’s African slave era.

• It’s back out of the city to meet with vanilla farmer Norma Gaya, of Gaya Vanilla and Spices, for some vanilla chicken.

• At El Tajin ruins, a Totonac settlement, Longoria met cook Doña Marta. She’s the founder of Smoke Women, which keeps ancient Totonac traditions alive. They enjoyed alcamaya (fresh-water shrimp) stew and mushroom empanadas.

• Chef Luis Palmeros, a rising star on the Mexican food scene, introduces Longoria to traditional cook Doña Rocio at Cuarto Blanco Market in the inland city of Xalapa (the capital of Veracruz state), for a traditional stuffed jalapeño. He then takes Longoria to his restaurant, El Cuarto Blanco, for his modern take on the dish.

• At Tortas Ahogadas El Príncipe Heredero in Guadalajara, Longoria samples a torta ahogada – the region’s beloved “drowned” sandwich.

• In Guadalajara’s Santa Teresita neighborhood, Longoria samples a new preparation of native ingredient chinchayote at Xokol, a restaurant run by chefs Óscar Segundo and Xrysw Ruelas Díaz.

• Longoria attends a charreada, aMexican rodeo, that takes place