Yucatecan Food Own Style

Photo courtesy of www.travelrm.com and Suzan Haskings of International Living

Yucatecan food is its own unique style and is very different from what most people consider “Mexican” food. It includes influences from the local Mayan culture, as well as Caribbean, Mexican, European and Middle Eastern cultures.

There are many regional dishes. Some of them are:

1. Poc Chuc, a Mayan/Yucateco version of barbecued pork.
2. Salbutes and Panuchos. Salbutes are soft, cooked tortillas with lettuce, tomato, turkey and avocado on top. Panuchos feature fried tortillas filled with black beans, and topped with turkey or chicken, lettuce, avocado and pickled onions. Habanero chiles accompany most dishes, either in solid or purée form, along with fresh limes and corn tortillas.
3. Queso Relleno is a “gourmet” dish featuring ground pork inside of a carved edam cheese ball served with tomato sauce.
4. Pavo en Relleno Negro (also known locally as Chilmole) is turkey meat stew cooked with a black paste made from roasted chiles, a local version of the mole de guajalote found throughout Mexico. The meat soaked in the black soup is also served in tacos, sandwiches and even in panuchos or salbutes.
5. Sopa de Lima is a lime soup with a chicken broth base often accompanied by shredded chicken or turkey and crispy tortilla.
6. Papadzules. Egg “tacos” bathed with Pumpkin Seed sauce and tomatoes.
7. Cochinita Pibil is a marinated pork dish and by far the most renowned from the yucatecan food.
8. Bul keken, (Mayan for “beans and pork”) is a traditional black bean and pork soup. The soup is served in the home on Mondays in most Yucatán towns. The soup is usually served with chopped onions, radishes, chilies, and tortillas.
9. Brazo de reina, (Spanish for “The Queen’s Arm”) is a traditional tamal dish. A long, flat tamal is topped with ground pumpkin seeds and rolled up like a roll cake. The long roll is then cut into slices. The slices are topped with a tomato sauce and a pumpkin seed garnish.

Achiote is the most popular spice in the area. It is derived from the hard annatto seed found in the region. The whole seed is ground together with other spices and formed into a reddish seasoning paste, called recado rojo. The other ingredients in the paste include cinnamon, allspice berries, cloves, Mexican oregano, cumin seed, sea salt, mild black peppercorns, apple cider vinegar, and garlic. The most popular Mexican hot sauce, El Yucateco hot sauce, is made in Merida, Yucatán. Hot sauce in Merida is usually made from the indigenous chiles in the area which include: Chile Xcatik, Chile Seco de Yucatán, and Chile Habenero.