A Yucatan Trip

[Caarina]

April 11, 2006

Merida-Izamal

After recovering from an appalling journey (24 hours in flight due to a wacky free frequent flyer ticket to Cancun), I’m here in Parque Santa Ana ordering breakfast.

I found the Santa Ana food stalls from talking to the reception at my hotel, the very funky Hotel Trinidad Galeria. (http://www.hotelestrinidad.com/) Simply I asked, where’s a good place for Breakfast? They replied—how Mexican is your stomach? I replied, if it’s safe for Mexicans…it’s safe for me. They directed me to walk two blocks up the street to a quiet little plaza with a small church. At the corner of the plaza were about 10 food stalls, which were packed with locals having breakfast. Looked good to me!

I looked around and saw people eating tamales and asked what they were…Tamales Colados! This was definitely looking good. I had read about them as a quintessentially Yucatecan specialty in My Mexico by Diana Kennedy. The masa is strained, poured into a mold to harden, cut into squares, then topped with seasoned chicken and tomato, then steamed in a banana leaf. I enjoyed it, but it was very different that other tamales I have eaten. The masa is very gelatinous due to the fact that it is almost pure cornstarch. However, it looks like from the amount of tamales being consumed, that they are indeed a local favorite.

After breakfast, I headed to one of the probably 5 local bus stations. I am heading to Izamal to see the yellow city. It is a picturesque town that was once a Mayan powerhouse. The Spanish seeing it was an important Maya city, decided to build there as well, even though it was quite a distance to the sea. The Franciscans built the beautiful monastery. Practically the entire town is painted in shades of yellow. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

The monastery is quite austere inside, even with it’s beautiful exterior. The interesting thing about Izamal is the fact that there are several smaller Mayan sites within the city limits. Very unique! I decided to climb Kinich Kak Moo before heading to lunch.

Conveniently located one block from the Kinich Kak Moo archeological site is Kinich Comida Regional, a delightful local restaurant featuring Yucatecan specialties (Calle 27 No. 299 between 28 and 30, just 50 meters from the base of the pyramid. Tel: 954-0489). Hand made tortillas are being cooked over an open fire in the courtyard. I sit down under the palapa and order a Montejo beer and reviewed the menu. A botana of tostadas, pumpkin seed puree and frijoles colados was placed on the table.

I had heard very good things about this restaurant, and I decided to have caldo de verduras and papadzules. I have made papadzules at home and they are quite difficult to get exactly right (extracting that pumpkin seed oil by hand is a pain). The caldo de verduras was very flavorful (very few veggies on the menu) and the papadzules were light, flavorful with perfect ingredients (fresh tortillas, perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs, light pumpkin seed sauce with hand extracted pumpkin seed oil on top and good chiltomate. Finished with a delicious horchata…. Light and refreshing on a hot day.

April 12

Breakfast today, was not so great. I had decided to go and have breakfast in one of the cafes next to the Teatro Peon Contreras. Nothing exciting at all. Ambiance was romantic and beautiful but the food was the pits. Note to self: eat at Parque Santa Ana!

Exploring Merida by taking a walk around the centro historico. The city is very clean compared to many places I have seen in Mexico. The zocalo is impeccable and the buildings are quite impressive. Centro historico is a patchwork of restored and non-restored homes and businesses. There seems to be a concerted effort to try to refurbish the city centro.

Many foreigners are buying in Merida and refurbishing the old homes. I decided to take a walking tour of homes sponsored by the English Library of Merida. http://www.meridaenglishlibrary.com/ What a blast! Very interesting to see the “before” pictures and then see the beautiful homes that were constructed, sometimes out of complete ruins. It was very inspiring to see the possibilities of the “good bones” of the old homes.

An unremarkable lunch followed. Yawn. But a siesta is in order... After my nap, I also decided to go up to Paseo de Montejo and check out the huge mansions and see the small archeological museum. The museum is housed in one of the old mansions of the sisal barons. The luxury is unreal! The collection is interesting and a good introduction to Mayan archeology.

The highlight to my day was the Pasteleria and Sorbeteria Colon across from the Anthropology Museum on Paseo de Montejo. I ate an amazing Mamey and zapote sorbet and tried one of the local sweet specialties, Merengue (Meringue)

More to come....

Edited November 15, 2006 by Caarina (log)

[docsconz]

Lovely beginning.Very much looking forward to it, as the Yucatan is an area of Mexico that I am particularly interested in visiting some day and I know that your knowledge of Mexican cuisine is deep..

[Caarina]

April 13th

Today was my planned market day. I started with a breakfast near the zocalo of coffee and cuernitos and read the paper. The front page news story of El Milenio was an expose on the poor hygiene conditions at the Lucas de Galvez market. Not a good way to start the day. After reading through more carefully, the specific complaint was about the fondas and fish vendors in the market. The merchants selling meats, fruits and vegetables were ok.

I was planning on eating in the Lucas de Galvez market that day, so I decided to ask some locals about the newspaper article--if it was true or just overzealous hype. They did say that they knew locals who had eaten in the food stalls in the Lucas de Galvez market who became quite ill. For good local food, market style, the best place is Parque Santa Ana. (I guess I scored my first day in town!)

After that warning, I guess I won’t be eating in the market that day. However, I still needed to see the rest of the market. I stepped in and immediately saw the fish vendors. After seeing it quite devoid of business considering the ruckus outside, I made a beeline for the fruit and vegetable section of the market. The ambiance changed and it was quite busy with locals buying and selling. Lovely recaudos, prepared pastes for papadzules, a wide variety of mangos, chayotes and avocados.

I was particularly drawn to the recaudo vendors. They sold several different types of prepared recaudos. Recaudo de toda clase—with chiles, achiote and spices and recaudo de relleno negro—with burnt chiles and spices were the two that I purchased. The vendors also sold prepared paste for papadzules. It reminded me very much of the mole paste vendors in Oaxaca. I spoke with the owners of one of the stalls for awhile and they informed me that their recaudos had been passed down through the family as a business for many generations.

I also saw some chiles that I did not recognize. Some I knew, like chiles x-cat-ik, but others such as chiles max (pronounced ‘mAHsh’) were new to me (and extremely hot the vendor said. The chiles max looked like an mini serrano. Also sweet peppers are used widely in Yucatecan cuisine.

I was also surprised at some of the ingredients I found in the market which I have never seen other places in Mexico. Kohlrabi, which I grew up eating raw as a snack in the Midwest, was everywhere. It is a key ingredient in Yucatecan puchero. I also love the Chaya-- a Yucatecan green that is like chard in texture and taste.

The other ingredient that I saw and was intrigued with was fresh shelled black beans. In the Yucatan, they are called espelones. Another interesting ingredient was a local dried white bean called ibes. They looked like a dried lima bean. (Quite tasty when I prepared them at home a few weeks later)

This market is hit or miss when it comes to photo opportunities. I asked vendors if I could take photographs and several were very accommodating, especially the recaudo sellers. Other times, I was not so lucky. One elderly Mayan vendor selling local plums accepted but then became very agitated when I took out my camera. (photo was taken at my hotel) It was a misunderstanding said one of the younger vendors next to her. Apparently the woman spoke little Spanish and didn’t understand my request. I obviously don’t speak Yucatecan Maya, so it was a bit of a comedy of errors.

After purchasing recaudos de toda clase, Ibes, espelones, local plums and recaudo negro, I headed back to my hotel. I ran into one of the staff working at the front desk, a young man named Walter. I had shown him my purchases and he offered to bring me tamales made from the fresh black beans. Since I had no way to cook the espelones I had purchased, I made a deal. I told him he could keep the beans if he brought me one tamal made with them. He said that his mom made them often during this time of year. Considering it was holy week, she would probably be making some that evening. I was in luck!

Edited November 15, 2006 by Caarina (log)

[Caarina]

April 14th

Walter brought me my tamal de espelones plus another one he had purchased at Plaza Santa Ana that morning called “Brazo de reina” a tamal usually eaten during Lent with chaya leaves used as the wrapper and filled with hard boiled egg and pepitas. Breakfast of champions! These tamales disappeared so fast I didn’t get pictures!

I had booked an Hacienda & Gastronomy Tour through Orbitours www.orbitours.com.mx and it was definitely worth the time.

My guide Pablo took me to Hacienda Vista Alegre to the Aristi family distillery. There they product the local liqueur par excellence Xtabentun, (prounounced ISHtabenTOON) made with essences of honey and anise. The distillery also produces rum and other fruit liqueurs. We saw the process of producing this lovely liqueur from beginning to end.

In the past, the Mayans made a honey liqueur from a simple fermentation. The founder of the distillery, Don Carlos Aristi tried this traditional drink in his boyhood and then he decided to commercialize the product but added anise and distilled the final product to produce the product we know today as Xtabentun. Today, Xtabentun is used throughout the peninsula in “remedios caseros” home remedies for everything from stomachaces, asthma, teething children and more. It is also a wonderful digestif after a heavy meal.

Hacienda Vista Alegre also has a medicinal and herb garden on the premises and we were able to see mango, allspice, native plum, tamarind and zapote trees as well as many other medicinal herbs. I was most impressed with the fresh tamarind right off the tree. We ate the sour pulp right out of the pods, and it was so much better than the old stuff we get at my local Mexican grocery store in the US. The allspice tree was also quite amazing. My guide broke off one of the leaves from the tree and split open the leaf. The leaves had the lovely scent of allspice and I slipped the leaf into my pocket to smell later. Tasting was to come!

The tasting room is small at Vista Alegre with a view over the gardens. We were guided in the tasting by the Plant Manager, Saul. I loved the Xtabentun. It was very sweet of course with a strong but not overwhelming anise flavor. To me, a shot of this drunk slowly after dinner would be a perfect ending to a meal for me instead of dessert. I also tried several of their fruit liqueurs, including Nance. I had eaten nances in Oaxaca and didn't care for them that much. However, several people had told me that they were tastier when soaked in mezcal. Well, the nance liqueur was quite nice--not mezcal, but still very good.

After leaving Hacienda Vista Alegre, it was lunchtime and we headed to Hacienda Teya. The restaurant, very traditionally decorated with a friendly staff dressed in Yucatecan Guayaberas. Hacienda Teya is known for their traditional Yucatecan fare and has hosted Mexican and US presidents as well as European dignitaries. I began my meal with the Variety of Yucatecan antojitos: codzitos de pollo (a flauta made from chicken and garnished with Gouda cheese and chiltomate sauce) salbutes de pavo (an inflated mini corn tortilla topped with cooked turkey and garnishes, and panuchos de puerco (a stuffed tortilla filled with black bean paste, then fried and topped with cooked pork and pickled onion rings. All were amazingly good served with a very hot habanero salsa at the table. But the codzitos and panuchos topped with cochinita pibil were AMAZING. The crema de cilantro followed, a refreshing soup which was clean and light. Then the main course: Pavo en relleno negro, an inky black stew with turkey, x-cat-ik chiles and a stuffing made from pork, beef, hardboiled eggs, onion, garlic and sweet peppers. The broth was spicy, with burnt chiles, and lots of black pepper, with large chunks of turkey and vegetables. However, to me the thing that was so strange was the “relleno”. It was a roll of meat, stuffed with the eggs and then wrapped in cheesecloth to form a large sausage shape. It is cooked in the black broth with the turkey and vegetables then removed and sliced into rounds and served in the stew.

My waiter assured me that it is often served with chicken or sometimes even black beans. It is a highly ceremonial dish, served at very special occasions (weddings, baptisms etc) in the state. To me, it seems like it would be equivalent to Oaxaca’s Mole Negro in how it is served at special occasions, but it so unlike ANYTHING I have ever eaten in Mexico, it’s difficult to even describe. Plus, it was yummy and I ate every last bite even it it did look rather odd coming to the table!

For dessert, it was Caballero Pobre, which is French bread, battered and fried and served in syrup made from piloncillo and canela. This was good and seemed very familiar to my Central Mexican culinary tradition.

After going into a food coma at the restaurant, I toured the grounds around Hacienda Teya and then it was time to end my lovely day.

Even if you do not get to do the Gastronomy tour, Hacienda Teya is a wonderful restaurant to visit and it is an easy cab ride from downtown Merida. The food was delicious and very traditional. It was the best meal I had in Merida. Call ahead to assure they are open because I do believe they close early as they typically serve comida and not dinner.

Later on in conversations with my guide on the way back to town, I asked about Relleno Negro as being the celebratory dish of the Yucatan. He said absolutely it is the dish, but that outsiders often do not try it because it “looks scary.” I asked about Cochinita Pibil, one of the best known dishes of the Yucatan. Pablo said that Cochinita, is a Sunday morning thing for tacos. He then elaborated that there are certain dishes associated with certain days of the week. Sunday am: tacos de cochinita pibil, Monday is frijol con puerco, Tuesday is puchero and Wednesday-Saturday is the cook’s choice. Pablo was not able to elaborate as to why certain dishes are served on certain days of the week, but it was interesting to note. I asked several other Yucatecans if this is true and they confirmed this “schedule” as well. I’d love to hear how this tradition evolved. If anyone knows, I’d like to hear an explanation!

Edited November 16, 2006 by Caarina (log)

[docsconz]

I love markets! Caarina, can you please tell me more about recaudos? I am not familiar with what they are. I take it from your post that they are a mole like sauce, but beyond that I am completely ignorant. "Recaudo de relleno negro" does not make sense to me. Thanks. I am enjoying this.

[markemorse]

Fantastic! How many more days of reportage can we look forward to?

mark

[docsconz]

Caarina, this is getting better and better. I even learned a little more about relleno negro! The gardens look to be a particularly special delight. Your story about the waiter and the tamales is one of those little things that makes travel particularly worthwhile, fun and memorable.

[Caarina]

April 15th

My best friend had arrived last night after another horrible journey. She had the problem with trying to get to Merida from Cancun. All the buses were full due to Semana Santa travelers. However, after a full night’s rest, we headed out to Chichen Itza. It was a delightful day from a sightseeing perspective, but not from a food one. Tourist trap restaurant was included in our tour to Chichen Itza from Merida. We declined the lunch and snacked because we thought about this ahead of time and scheduled dinner at Hacienda Xcanatun http://www.xcanatun.com/, outside of Merida.

This Hacienda is a world class hotel and restaurant. We couldn’t afford to stay there, but splurged and ate there. From Centro it cost $100 pesos in a cab (approx $10 USD) to arrive at the Hacienda. The food style is Yucatecan fusion cuisine. Some of the dishes worked, like Crema de poblano with Roquefort cheese. Absolutely divine. My friend had the filet of beef stuffed with cochinita pibil… it was a miss. I had the tamarind chicken which was tasty. We had a delicious Albarino wine from Galicia with dinner. The atmosphere of the Hacienda was amazing. Make sure to ask for terrace seating, the restaurant interior is nothing that special, but the terrace was lovely. The dessert was the Lima Mousse (Citrus limetta), a total homerun--a lovely way to show the flavor profile of this delicious citrus fruit. The hacienda wasn’t cheap, we spent about $100 US on dinner but this included a bottle of wine, digestif and three course meals for two.

Closing thoughts--

This pretty much concludes my food trip to the Yucatan. Restaurants are definitely hit or miss here. I was able to sample Queso de bola (stuffed gouda cheese filled with picadillo), longaniza de Valladolid, and sopa de lima but I don’t think I had particularly good versions of these classic dishes (well except the longaniza which was yummy) so I haven’t included a detailed discussion of them. I had a wonderful time in Merida and enjoyed learning about their unique food traditions. I know now that there’s still a lot to learn about this unique corner of Mexico and it's fascinating cuisine. Alas, that means I will have to go there again sometime...

If I could do it again, I will schedule a class with Chef Sterling at Los Dos Cooking School http://www.los-dos.com/. I couldn’t do the class on this trip due to scheduling issues with Semana Santa. Los Dos also has some restaurant reviews on their website for those making plans to go to Merida. For a broader view of the cuisine, I also would have to include much more street food eating and getting out of Merida to explore smaller restaurants in the countryside. For those who are wondering about the lack of seafood commentary--I personally cannot eat it due to allergy issues.

Link:

www.yucatantoday.com

[Caarina]

I love markets! Caarina, can you please tell me more about recaudos? I am not familiar with what they are. I take it from your post that they are a mole like sauce, but beyond that I am completely ignorant. "Recaudo de relleno negro" does not make sense to me. Thanks. I am enjoying this.

←

Recaudos are seasoning pastes which contain all sorts of spices including achiote. Recaudos are used in quite a few of the classic dishes of the Yucatan-- i.e. cochinita pibil and pescado en tikin-xik for recaudo rojo. The recaudo negro or "relleno negro" seasoning paste is for the classic dish pavo en relleno negro. This recaudo includes burnt chiles in the paste.

The difference with recaudos and moles is that recaudos do not contain nuts and are not a "meal" like mole. Recaudos are seasoning which almost always contain annatto seeds, which are never used in Moles. The recaudo vendors remind me of mole vendors because they provide a prepared food or spice that is often too laborious to make at home.

Edited November 15, 2006 by Caarina (log)

[Sneakeater]

Then the main course: Pavo en relleno negro, an inky black stew with turkey, x-cat-ik chiles and a stuffing made from pork, beef, hardboiled eggs, onion, garlic and sweet peppers.  The broth was spicy, with burnt chiles, and lots of black pepper, with large chunks of turkey and vegetables.  However, to me the thing that was so strange was the “relleno”.  It was a roll of meat, stuffed with the eggs and then wrapped in cheesecloth to form a large sausage shape.  It is cooked in the black broth with the turkey and vegetables then removed and sliced into rounds and served in the stew. 

My waiter assured me that it is often served with chicken or sometimes even black beans.  It is a highly ceremonial dish, served at very special occasions (weddings, baptisms etc) in the state.  To me, it seems like it would be equivalent to Oaxaca’s Mole Negro in how it is served at special occasions, but it so unlike ANYTHING I have ever eaten in Mexico, it’s difficult to even describe.  Plus, it was yummy and I ate every last bite even it it did look rather odd coming to the table!

←

I had this for Thanksgiving a few years ago (at the original Almendros location, out in the sticks). It's not only unlike anything I ever had in Mexico; it's unlike anything I've ever had ANYWHERE. Boy was it good.

PS -- Ummmm, Caarina, is there a polite way to ask you to, ummmmm, include yourself in more of your pictures?

Edited November 15, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[judiu]

April 14th

Later on in conversations with my guide on the way back to town, I asked about Relleno Negro as being the celebratory dish of the Yucatan.  He said absolutely it is the dish, but that outsiders often do not try it because it “looks scary.”  I asked about Cochinita Pibil, one of the best known dishes of the Yucatan.  Pablo said that Cochinita, is a Sunday morning thing for tacos.  He then elaborated that there are certain dishes associated with certain days of the week.  Sunday am: tacos de cochinita pibil, Monday is frijol con puerco, Tuesday is puchero and Wednesday-Saturday is the cook’s choice.  Pablo was not able to elaborate as to why certain dishes are served on certain days of the week, but it was interesting to note.  I asked several other Yucatecans if this is true and they confirmed this “schedule” as well.  I’d love to hear how this tradition evolved.  If anyone knows, I’d like to hear an explanation!

←

Sort of like red beans and rice on Mondays in New Orleans, huh? IIRC, that came about because Monday was laundry day, and the pot of beans could simmer all day on the washhouse stove.

[Caarina]

PS -- Ummmm, Caarina, is there a polite way to ask you to, ummmmm, include yourself in more of your pictures?

Well, it was rather difficult to take photos of myself because I was on my own for almost the entire time in the Yucatan... The photo above was taken by Saul, the plant manager at Aristi distillery.

[Caarina]

Note on recaudos. I just picked up my Diccionario de la cocina mexicana by Ricardo Munoz Zurita. I will do a rough translation of his definition as he is much more elegant about his description of recaudos than I am:

Recado (also spelled Recaudo):

Name of a diverse family of spices which are ground together and added to a dish or stew. They are an indispensible part of Yucatecan cuisine. There are different types of recaudos, like red, black or all purpose. A few decades ago, it was common to see recaudo stores that sold different types of spice mixtures. The mayans call recaudo "kuux."

He then lists the different varieties

"de Especia"--Spice recaudo which contains oregano, cloves, true cinnamon, black pepper, salt, garlic and seville orange

de puchero-- "for Puchero stew"--oregano, garlic, black pepper, cumin, true cinnamon, and seville orange juice. Also called recaudo blanco.

De toda clase "All purpose recaudo"--mixture of black pepper, allspice, clove, true cinnamon, oregano which are ground with water to achieve a paste. It is utilized in the Yucatan for many types of meat. It is also used as a base for other recaudos such as red.

recado negro--"black recaudo"--a seasoning paste which contains burnt tortillas and chiles, black pepper, garlic, annatto,and oregano. The burnt ingredients are soaked to remove the bitter flavor and ground with the remaining spices. The burnt chile and tortilla provide the color of the recaudo. It is used to make the famous relleno negro. Also known as chilmole, as it is also used in the dish chilmole yucateco. It is frequently purchased in the markets due to the fact that burning the chiles and tortillas is irritating to the nose and eyes.

recado para bistec-- recaudo for steak--Mix of allspice, black pepper, cloves, garlic, true cinnamon, oregano and coriander seeds, cumin, salt and vinegar. As the name indicates, it is used for cooking steaks in the Yucatan

recado rojo-- red recado--Mixture of ground spices which serve as a condiment in many dishes of the Yucatan peninsula. It contains annatto, salt, garlice, black pepper, allspice, cloves, true cinnamon, cumin, oregano and a little water to achieve a paste consistency. It is sold in every market in the peninsula and a few companies distribute the product throughout Mexico. It is used to prepare dishes like escabeche rojo, cochinita pibil, tamales colados and costenos.

Edited November 16, 2006 by Caarina (log)

[docsconz]

Thanks for the explanations, Caarina. I learned something.