Chicago-based Chef Rick Bayless has a deep love for the 12-inch sauté pan, gas range and poblano pepper. In a demonstration today at the Milwaukee Public Market, Bayless brought these loves together to talk up and then scarf down something "beyond cheese covered" Mexican cuisine.

Bayless, who owns Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and Frontera Fresco restaurants in Chicago, is host of "Mexico -- One Plate at a Time," a Milwaukee Public Television series focusing on authentic regional cooking throughout Mexico. He returned to the Milwaukee Public Market today for a demonstration, tasting and book signing of his new book, "Mexican Everyday."

"In Mexico, a pride in their food defines them. The flavors tell the whole story; the spirit, the geography, what the flavors say about who settled there," Bayless says.

His culinary focus at today's Milwaukee Public Market appearance reflected a love for Mexico City's street food culture; Bayless defining flavors with words like "aromatic," "authentic" and "mouthwatering."

"I've been going to Mexico for 40 years and every time I go back, I find something new and exciting. The same thing that I loved about Mexico when I was a kid, is the same thing I love today," Bayless says.

Referring to Mexico as his own "chosen culinary path," Bayless recounted tales of travels; recognizing himself as the student and natives as the teacher as he explores the metropolis of creativity in Mexico City.

"Classic Mexican cuisine is the slow food cuisine -- everything wants to be cooked slow," Bayless says.

His love for Mexican culture extends to a connection to local, sustainable cooking. His restaurants, which focus on seasonal cooking, utilize produce from local vendors and traditional ingredients straight from suppliers in Mexico.

"You have something amazing here with the Public Market; we don't have a market in Chicago. This is what gets me excited about food," Bayless says.

Today's menu items included poblano pepper beef and winter guacamole. Keeping with concepts of sustainability and seasonality, winter guacamole swapped fresh tomatoes for smoked sun-dried ones.

Bayless' demonstration at Milwaukee's Public Market illustrated not just a creative ability to blend flavor combinations but a technical understanding of how ingredients relate to one another, the environment and the personal palate.

The event -- which was sold out thanks to a collaboration with Milwaukee Area Technical College and Milwaukee Public Televsion -- utilized the Public Market's second floor dining area and in-house kitchen.