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UncleEbeneezer
Now to the stuff that really matters…food. One of the things we were most excited about was getting to try Yucatecan cuisine. Aside from a couple places that serve Cochinita Pibil, it’s not easy to find food from the Yucatan peninsula, here in Los Angeles. Here are some of the more memorable dishes and drinks that we had during our trip, along with whatever details I can remember.
Shrimp Tacos. They really hit the spot (with a beer) after a very long day tour in the heat/sun.
A refreshing Gin & Tonic and Limeade to help beat the mid-day heat and a small boutique hotel/restaurant in Sistal. The meal was also fantastic and featured our first taste of Sopa De Lima, but we failed to get a picture of that.
We were walking around in the heat (seems to be a pattern here) and wanted to get a late lunch and cocktail somewhere with patio in the main Zocalo of Merida. We considered several options but decided on Apoala. Holy shit this was the most delicious ceviche either of us have ever had!!! Very acidic and refreshing due to the heavy amount of lime juice and the seafood was SO FRESH! We still talk about this ceviche.
After visiting Uxmal, we decided to hit up the Pickled Onion, a fairly well-regarded Yucatan restaurant located along Ruta Puuc.
Foreground: Lomitos de Valladolid (pork loin in tomato sauce)
Background: Poc chuc “Poc chuc is a Mexican dish of meat, commonly pork, that is prepared in citrus marinade and cooked over a grill. Poc chuc is often served with a side of rice, pickled onion, refried beans, and avocado. Poc chuc is one of the signature dishes of the Yucatán.[1] ”
Both were insanely good. If you ever visit Uxmal, THIS is the place to eat afterwards.
Sopa De Lima, a staple of Yucatecan cuisine is a really simple lime soup with chicken (or pork). It is delicious, refreshing and addictive!
Right across from our B&B was this Panaderia that had a taco vendor a couple times a week. There was always a line. Turns out that they have some of the best lechon (suckling pig) sandwiches in Merida. They were fantastic. And the bread was awesome. Little, local hideaway places like this are one of the real treasures of travel.
eclare
Everything looks delicious!
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
We lost our only local restaurant that bothered with the time necessary to prep cochinita pibil, which made me very sad…
ETA – That ceviche at Apoala in Merida looks like the most elegantly served version of that I’ve ever seen. WOW!
Baud
Parecen ricos.
mrmoshpotato
Mmmmmmmmm 😋
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: It’s RICO? I don’t think food can conspire. :)
Kristine
It all looks wonderful 😋
Kristine
@mrmoshpotato: yes it can
HinTN
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: The cevice does look great but it’s the tablecloth that really got my attention. That’s beautiful, as is the blue and white striped one, also in Merida. (I detect a pattern here.)
Yarrow
Poc chuc is not made with just any citrus marinade; it’s made with sour orange marinade. It really makes the dish. Sour orange is the citrus used in many traditional Yucatanian dishes.
Spanish Moss
Looks amazing! My breakfast no longer looks good enough…
arrieve
I would go just for that ceviche.
Albatrossity
Nice! I remember the Sopa de Lima fondly as well!
We often at at small roadside diners that our guide was familiar with (or got a kickback from, perhaps). Some of them had giant roasting pits in the back for cooking an entire pig. Alas, none of them were roasting a pig when we visited; that would be a thing to see!
I also looked for places that served iguana tacos, which I had been told were also delicious. Never found one that was open, so I guess I have to go back for that experience…
Anyway
Yum! I want to go to Mexico and eat all the things!! Uncle Eb’s descriptions of the heat in earlier episodes scares me though…
UncleEbeneezer
@Yarrow: Yeah, I didn’t catch that when I copy/pasted that. You are right. The sour orange is central to most Yucatan cuisine marinades and salsas. Also Sopa de Lima is usually with turkey.
UncleEbeneezer
Eva Longoria has a tv series on HBO where she explores Mexico (she is Mexican-American). Yesterday we watched the Yucatan episode and when she went to get Cochinita Pibil we recognized the panaderia in the last picture. Kinda crazy because it is a ways outside of the main drag area of Merida and isn’t the sort of place that will show up in local tourist/restaurant guides, yelp lists etc. I wonder how she and the producers decided on using that location.
UncleEbeneezer
@Yarrow: I actually bought a big bottle of sour orange juice and am going to attempt to make Poc Chuc this weekend :)
Yarrow
@UncleEbeneezer: It’s not hard to make and it’s sooooo good.
I learned all about Yucatanian cuisine when I ended up with a bunch of sour oranges. I made everything one could make, including marmalade, and orange version of key lime pie, a sour orange cake, and tons of poc chuc and other delicious dishes from the Yucatan. I ended up doing a deep dive into Yucatanian cuisine as a result. So good. But you definitely need the sour orange to make it work.
mvr
This does increase my wish to go to Mexico some day.
UncleEbeneezer
@mvr: It’s a lovely country and the people were very warm and friendly to us. I hear Mexico City can be overwhelming but the Yucatan is very chill.
way2blue
Yum.
Tehanu
mmm, ceviche…