On March 26, 2023, Longoria debuted her new CNN show, “Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico”, which is modeled after the very successful “Searching for Italy with Stanley Tucci”. She is both host and executive producer of the series.

Longoria tells the story of her show in Vogue Mexico, interviewed by Sofia Agostini in “Eva Longoria reconnects with her roots on the cover of Vogue Mexico.” Ruben de Melo Moreira styles the star in Bally, Gabriela Hearst, Levi’s, Prada, Proenza Schouler, Valentino for images by Alexi Lubomirski [IG]./ Hair by Teddy Charles; makeup by Holly Silius

Eva Longoria Searches for Mexico

Best known for her role in the hit ABC series Desperate Housewives — a gig that earned Longoria a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe nomination — the people-loving Texican‘s travel and food show takes us on an enthralling journey across Mexico's diverse regions to uncover its unique and colorful cuisines.

The series consists of six episodes, each exploring a different location in Mexico, including Jalisco, Mexico City, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Yucatan. Throughout the show, Longoria immerses herself in the rich culture, landscape, and history of Mexico, which have all played a significant role in shaping its world-renowned cuisine.

There are plenty of star chefs in the series, but Eva Longoria is unusually mindful of the stories of simple people like Ponciano Méndez, a farmer from Santa Ana Zegache, a town one hour from the capital of Oaxaca. In the valley where Ponciano lives, corn has been planted for more than six thousand years; In the neighboring valley, the oldest maize remains of humanity were found.

From sampling velvety chocolate mole in Oaxaca, the home of Latin America's chocolate trade, to enjoying a festive carne asada in Nuevo Leon and discovering traditional birria stew in Jalisco, Longoria unlocks the secrets behind Mexico's most treasured and sometimes surprising dishes.

The final episode of the inaugural season aired on Sunday, April 30, at 9 pm ET/PT on CNN, with Longoria exploring the region of Veracruz and retracing the footsteps of her ancestor, Lorenzo Longoria, who arrived there 400 years ago.

I truly love the show and was eager to learn more about Eva’s experiences of visiting indigenous communities and eating a traditional decolonized diet. Vogue Mexico writes: “ Mexican cuisine is considered a cultural treasure, inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This kitchen must be protected, because with it you can trace the origins of the country, as if nothing had really changed in years. That is why the preservation of food, technique and ingredients is so interesting”.

Before the Spanish conquest, Mexico was a predominantly vegetarian territory. The pig, cow, goat and sheep are products of colonization, which is a fascinating reality in the narrative of human origins driven by this vision of male hunters. Note that in reality women hunted, too, but the larger question is to understand civilizations where meat held no real place of importance. When the Indians hunted animals in today’s Mexico, they ate turkey or pigeon, and in extremely moderate amounts.

In many ways Eva Longoria has always been an activist pursuing issues around national identity and culture, including stories of historical conflicts, which are rife with exaggeration in Texas.

Eva Jacqueline Longoria was born on March 15, 1975, in Corpus Christi, Texas, as the youngest of four sisters. Her ethnic background traces back to the Maya from the territory of Mexico, and she identifies as a ‘Texican’—a Mexican-American Texan. Longoria grew up on a ranch in Corpus Christi and attended Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Longoria earned a Master's degree in Chicano Studies from California State University, presenting her thesis on "Success STEMS From Diversity: The Value of Latinas in STEM." This perspective has infused much of her independent work and special projects.

Pepe and Santi

Eva Longoria is married to José ‘Pepe’ Bastón since 2016, and they have one child, a boy named Santiago, known as Santi. In 2011 Bastón became the director of Grupo Televisa, S.A.B, one of the largest media conglomerates in Latin America. The company is known for being the most important producer of Spanish-language content, including iconic telenovelas and tv shows. José also served as a member of Univision’s board of directors and International Television and Contents president.

Longoria shares with Vogue Mexico that although the couple moves between Los Angeles and Mexico City, they spend more time in Mexico and only speak Spanish at home. In the first episode of Searching for Mexico, she refers to Santi as 'the chilango of the family' and to herself as 'the chilanga wannabe'. The Royal Spanish Academy and the Mexican Academy of Language give the definition of the word as referring to something "belonging to Mexico City", in particular referring to people native to the capital.

The multi-watt star has her own luxury tequila brand, Casa Del Sol, and a collection of super-fancy pots and pans called Risa. Eva makes tequila cocktails all over the United States.

‘Flaming’ Hot Is Longoria’s Directorial Debut

Actor, producer, and director Longoria was in San Antonio on Sunday, April 23, to present a special screening of Flamin’ Hot, her narrative feature film debut as a director, before it premieres on streaming services this summer.

Although Longoria has been directing for television for twelve years, this is her first fictional film and she had to audition more than once to earn the title ‘director’.

Flamin’ Hot is a biographical dramedy that tells the story of Richard Montañez, a former janitor at Frito-Lay who has long claimed to have invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while working at a Frito-Lay’s factory in the early 1990s. Last month, Flamin’ Hot won the Audience Award at the 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival.

The Los Angeles Times took issue with the story in 2021, saying it just is not true. Searching further, the Times has a recent followup story “For director Eva Longoria, ‘Flamin’ Hot is bigger than Cheetos origin story.”

The multi-talent allows that the story may not be true and does call it fiction to be safe, but she sees the survival of her people in the disciplined bravado of Richard Montañez. The director says: “Richard is my dad. Richard is my uncle. I am Richard! I really identified with his story. People constantly tell him: 'no, no, no, opportunities are not for people like you' or also 'this job is not for someone like you'. And you ask yourself, 'but why not?', and he dared to ask: 'why not me?' And he had the audacity to succeed. So the story of him must be told.”