Foodie, the Brave & Curious...Mayan Cuisine

What is Yucatan or Mayan Cuisine? Without going into the details of the Yucatan history and periods, what I can gather is that an influence of the Mayans who introduced to the New World corn, chocolate, honey, venison, wild turkey, pheasant, squash, cucumbers, chillies & tomatoes AND Spain who brought Pork and Seville Orange which is a sour flavored orange AND finally the Dutch who shared Edam and Gouda Cheese.

Add the Yucatan cuisine spices that seem to influence it's international fame such as pumpkin seed powder, oregano, red onion, sour orange, sweet pepper, lime, achiote or recado colorado paste-sauce,capsicum pepper (Xcatik), Habanero pepper & corander.

Plus, bring habaneros and recados, the basic ingredients in Yucatan cuisine - recados are marinated pastes made of cloves, black pepper, oregano, cumin,garlic, coriander and vinegar. Most common is the red paste version which gets its color from adding "achiote" (annatto seeds) to the mixture.

Replace the local pheasant and deer with turkey & pork (Don't panic for those not that brave). And don't forget an important table sauce often used is called "Xnipek" which is a type of salsa/sauce that is made of habanero chilies, scallions, citrus juice & cilantro. Then you have the basic foundation of Mayan cuisine.

Listed below are some of the Mayan cuisines I have found through my exploration and hope to try at the Yaxche Restaurant in Playa del Carmen. After all basic ingredients don't come about with a good chef or cook, right?

I have also added below some links that were helpful to me and hopefully for you to visit and enhance my very limited snapshot of what this fascinating cuisine has intrigued me to taste and savor . Hope this helps!

DRINK

Xtabentun - similar to icy margarita. Made with local anise & honey Liquer

Chaya Drink - made of ground rice, chaya (regional plant or Pitahaya)

Micheladas - tangy mix of lime juice, worchestshire sauce or soy sauce,tabasco & good dark Yuctan Beer

Chelada -which is a Michelada without the tabasco,peppers & other seasoning Just,beer/Lime & Salt

SNACKS/APPETIZERS/BOTANAS

Papadzules -hard cooked eggs wrapped in corn tortilla with pumpkin seed sauce

Soap de Lima - chicken tortilla soup flavored with local variety of sour lime.

MAYAN (YUCATAN) ENTREE

Cochinita Pibil - pit roasted pig marinated in sour seville orange juice, garlic, achiote & yucatan spices

Queso Relleno - stuffed cheese rind of edam cheese filled with mixture ground beef,raisin, olives, almonds & spices

Panuchos - layered hand made corn tortilla stuffed with beans, topped with shredded turkey or chicken, lettuce, red onion rings and xnipek salsa

Chilmole - turkey in a dark spicy sauce

Poc-chuc - charbroiled slices of pork with onions, marinated in a sour orange sauc

Pescado Tikinxic: fish marinated in achiote sauce wrapped in banana leaves and charbroiled. Served with a tomatoe & habanero sauce.

Huevos Motulenos - Friend eggs atop a tortilla garnished with beans,peas,ham,sausage, plantains & grated cheese - Yucatan specialty

Pavo relleno negro - a stuffed turkey yucatan style, filled with chopped pork & beef cooked in a rich dark sauce

Food and Wine - Yucatan Adventure

Colors & Flavors of Yucatan Cuisine - Cancun.com

YucatanToday.com -Yucatan Cuisine

MexConnect.com - Cuisine of the Yucatan - a Gastronomical Tour of the Mayan Heartland

Photo provided by Yaxche Restaurant website gallery

Ancient Culture of the Yucatan Peninsula

Although our guide will no doubt be offering their vast historical knowledge and sharing their research stories of their culture as we travel to the ancient Maya ruins on our excursion. I thought the tour might be a bit more insightful if I shared with you a snapshot view of the Mayan historical periods that I found on this website www.berclo.net.

What I particularly liked about this website was the easy read and layout. Plus as you explore the website you will find that the chart reference the archaeological sites we will be visiting with the Maya historical periods. And if you click on the ruin site we will be visiting, it will link you to more information & photos of the ruins. I'm not sure if the chart on this blog will link to the highlighted reference, so be sure you visit their website and start your exploration ... thanks "Berclo.net" for helping out a simple mind like mine, there's a lot of information here!

Maya Archaeological Sites
Period		Southern Area	Central Area	Northern Area	Non Maya Areas
Pre-classic	Early, 2000 to 1000 BC	Ocós La Victoria	Cuello	Balamku Mani	La Venta (Olmec) San Lorenzo (Olmec)
	Middle, 1000 to 300 BC	Kaminaljuyú.	Seibal Uaxactún	Altun Ha Dzibilchaltún	Chiapa de Corzo Izapa Tres Zapotes (Olmec)
	Late, 300 to 250 AD	Abaj Takalik El Baul	El Mirador	Chakanbakán El Rey Lamanai	Monte Alban (Zapotec)
Classic	Early, 250 to 550 AD		Calakmul Copán Tikal Yaxchilán Yaxhá	Becán Caracol Cobá Edzná Izamal	Teotihuacán
	Late, 550 to 800 AD	Zaculeu	Altar de Sacrificios Bonampak Palenque Piedras Negras Quiriguá Toniná	Kabáh Labná Sayil Río Bec Uxmal Xlapak
	Terminal, 800 to 1000 AD		Seibal	Ek Balam	Tula (Toltec)
Post-classic	Early, 1000 to 1250	San Andrés Tazumal	Topoxte	Chichén Itzá
	Late, 1250 to 1525	Iximché Mixco Viejo		Mayapán Tulum	Tenochtitlán (Aztec)