New season of 'Street Food' will leave you hungry to explore Latin America

Last year, Netflix blazed a trail with Street Food, a culinary travel show that served up the human stories behind Asia's street food stalls.

Now it's back for a second season, and this time Latin American cuisine is on the menu.

You'll salivate over oozing cheese-stuffed tortillas in Buenos Aires, Argentina; hearty feijoada (bean stew) in Salvador, Brazil; salsa-strewn memelas (corn cakes) in Oaxaca, Mexico; fresh Nikkei-inspired ceviche (cured seafood) in Lima, Peru; a reinvention of classic Columbian and Caribbean dishes in Bogota, Colombia; and stuffed potato rellenos in La Paz, Bolivia.

Like the first season of Street Food, the second series is about more than just culinary pleasures. Each episode is a snapshot of a different city with a focus on a main street food chef. The voices and experiences of other food vendors and local experts are woven throughout the narrative in an attempt to explore the culture, cuisine and heritage of each destination.

What is most endearing about the approach of the show's creator, David Gelb, is the care taken in telling the story of the featured chefs. The series places a strong focus on women and tells their incredible stories of trials and triumph in their own voices. Often starting from nothing, each food vendor has a beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking story to share.

Pato Rodriguez’s journey began in rebellion to the male-dominated cooking culture in Argentina. For Doña Vale in Mexico, and Doña Emi, an indigenous cholita in Bolivia, selling street food was a way for them to support their children. For Tomás Matsufuji, a third-generation Japanese chef in Peru, it was about discovering his own food journey free from the shadow of his father.

The series has received some criticism for its narrow scope. Latin America is far bigger than the six countries featured and not one episode was dedicated to a country in Central America.

Then again, if you’ve ever planned on travelling to Latin America, you’ll know what an impossible task it is to fit every country into a short trip. There are far too many things — and in this case dishes and chefs — to discover in one sitting.

Fans of Street Food: Asia have likely already worked their way through the six short episodes of season two, but if you’re a first-time viewer, consider yourself warned: it really doesn’t matter how well you feed yourself because the beautiful food shots will leave you hungry for more.

• 'Street Food: Latin America' is on Netflix.