YUCATÁN
CULINARY THUMBNAIL
Here are the most notable characteristics of this state's cuisine:
- long coastline providing excellent seafood
- influence of Maya culture contributes greatly to local cuisine
- steamy tropical lowlands providing tropical produce
TRY THESE RECIPES:
EN ESPAÑOL:
Fried fish in Mérida, photo by Ruth McMurtry of Mérida
TRADITIONAL DISHES TO LOOK FOR
- Cochinita Pibil -- baked marinated pork seasoned with annatto paste, bitter orange juice and other spices, traditionally baked in a pit, in banana leaves
- Pollo Ticul -- chicken prepared much in the same way as the above, with annatto paste, orange and banana leaves, but also bell pepper, garlic and onions
- Pescado Tikin-Xic -- grouper fish prepared with annatto paste and baked in banana leaves.
- Papadzules -- small "egg tacos" on a tortilla smothered in tomato sauce and sprinkled generously with toasted pumpkin seeds.
- Chilmole -- turkey dressed with jet-black mole sauce
- Panucho -- corn tortillas stuffed with bean paste and fried, then garnished in various ways, particularly with chicken breast and marinated onion strips
- Salbute -- like a panucho but the tortilla not stuffed with bean paste
- Sope -- like a panucho but topped with ham and cheese; in some places the "ham" (jamón) may be hamlike chicken breast or something similar.
