Cancún Food (updated)

 Cancún is in the Yucatan peninsula, which has its own distinctive regional cuisine, influenced by the ancient Mayan civilization. My mission is to try as many regional dishes as possible!


#1. Taquería Coapeñito, just two blocks from my hotel.



I ordered a "gabachita," two flour tortillas with the meat of your choice.  I got "suadero," which is the name of the cut of beef.


Salsa tray.  I quickly learned that in México all the salsas (except the occasional smooth guacamole) are all muy picante (very spicy/hot)!


Bohemia Oscura (dark), delicious!


Here 'tis in all its glory.  Meat, onions, cilantro and cheese, plus additional onions and a squirt of lime, yum!  $5.42 plus $3.14 for the beer.



#2: Gringa.  That's two flour tortillas enclosing the filling of your choice.  How is that different from #1, a gabachita?  AI says a gabachita implies pastor filling, but that wasn't the case in the restaurant where I got it . . .









Supposed to be TWO tortillas but I only got one:


But, you ask, how did it taste?  With my fancy new dentures I couldn't pick it up and eat it as it was meant to be eaten, and just picked off the cheese/meat/(not hot) sauce, which was yum! ($3.14)

Note that from a street stand, this was 60% the cost of the gabachita (basically the same thing) in a sit-down restaurant.  That seems to be the general rule in Mexico.

On my list:

#3: Panuchos

What makes a panucho a panucho is that the tortilla is puffed up, then split, filled with refried beans, then crisped up again. Topping(s) of your choice.

#4: Salbutes

What makes them unique is again the tortilla - unlike tortillas that are cooked on a dry surface for tacos, for salbutes they are deep-fried in oil until they become light and fluffy.  Again, toppings as you please.

#5: Sopa de Lima

This is chicken soup with lima.  What is lima, you ask? It's a special type of lime, sweeter and less acidic, that can only be found in the Yucatán peninsula.

This was delivery, and delicious.  The tortilla strips quickly got soft.  The broth was light and slightly sour, yum! There was a shedload of shredded chicken so that explains the rather extravagant cost, 150 pesos ($8.57).



#6: Cochinita Pibil

This is pork that has been marinated in achiote (ground annatto and other spices)  and sour orange, then wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an underground "oven," until the pork is fall-apart tender. Delicious (I've had it before, but not in the source!)  Often used in tacos.

#7: Papadzules

Hard-boiled eggs wrapped in tortillas and bathed in sunflower seed and tomato sauces, then topped with more hard-boiled eggs.

I got delivery because no one wants to see me re-learn to eat!


Very pretty! With crumbled chorizo on top.


Fixin's.



I'm afraid it was less pretty after I tucked in.


$9.43




#8: Relleno negro

("Black filling") This is stewed turkey in a sauce made from charred chiles.  The sauce is indeed black, and the dish looks rather unappetizing.  Surprise me!






















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Impressons of Buenos Aires

Image
 1.  My hotel is in the city center, which is more upscale than the off-of-center I was staying in in Bogotá.  Think taller (but not too tall) buildings and wide avenues, etc.  BA is often described as having more of a European feel than most Latin American cities, and based on just a day I'd concur.  The obelisk, the "center" of BA: 2. The Hotel Avenida is very old-fashioned, so old-fashioned that it has the kind of elevator that requires you to close not only the interior but exterior doors before anything happens, and comes to a jolt when it gets to the requested floor.  And lets you curse the clueless who didn't shut the doors when the elevator doesn't come. It's the first time I've stayed in a hotel with one of these.  My feet have never been cleaner! 3. It was easy getting around in Bogotá, numbered Calles ran west to east and numbered Carreras ran north to south.  A typical address "Calle 18 #5 56" so that was on Calle 18 and nearest cross...
Read more

Another cathedral, another art gallery, another lunch

Image
 I went to the Cathedral da Sé, but I'm kinda done with cathedrals, even if this one is "the third largest Gothic cathedral in the world."  They are all (by design, I know) a bit samey, and I feel just a wee bit guilty impinging on anyone's expression of their faith, misguided as it may be (dismissive, moi?). Anyways . . .  The only thing interesting about cathedrals/churches is the odd bits, like this 3D (wax? plaster?) sleeping/dead Jesus from the church of Saint Efigênia: On to the Instituto Cultural Tomie Ohtake!  Who?  Japanese/Brazilian artist I had never heard of, and neither have you.  My second (after Buenos Aires) successful Subway Navigation (free for "idosos" - old people, yay!), and in a neighborhood of interesting buildings.  The building houses the Instituto in the first two floors and the rest are I dunno, offices or something.  It's hard to get a decent pic of the wonderful building, here's my best: And the sensuous metal curves o...
Read more

Colombian Restaurant Etiquette

Image
Of course there are high-end restaurants in Medellín, especially in touristy parts like el Poblado where you will pay $25 (!!!), and get American-style service, by which I mean someone greets you as soon as you arrive, they take you to your table, you're presented with a printed menu, they take your order, and when you're done, will present you with the bill and you pay at your table. American-style. But if you're in el Poblado, you may as well be in Miami Beach.  That's not the real Colombian restaurant experience. Between high-end and lower is the middle tier, take any seat you'd like. You might feel like you're being ignored, but cool your jets, they'll get to you.  This is middle ground.  Often the restaurants are very nicely decorated, but the food will be less high-end, and you can either order a la carte from the menu or often there will be a "menú del día" (prix fixe meal, don't confuse that with a menu "carta").  The menú del...
Read more