Flavors of Yucatan

---

Mary and I are adventurous eaters, and don't shy away from local food, including street food. We've been enjoying the fare here. Based on a mention by Paul Rounds — "Hammockman" (a favorite local expat blogger, whom we had the pleasure of meeting) we lunched at Rescoldo's in centro historico. Their stone hearth pizza was superb. The Canadian couple who run the restaurant were generous in sharing info on their homemade wood-fired oven. I've had intentions to build an outdoor oven for several years. Now I've got the plans.

The next morning we took an all-day cooking class at Los Dos. We enjoyed David Sterling's lecture on the history of Yucatan food. Then he took the group to the main mercado to buy ingredients for our afternoon feast. We spent the rest of the day preparing tamales, sauces, and other dishes. The meal was "over the top." The only thing he didn't supply was a hammock for each guest to recover, after the meal.

On Sundays, the downtown is closed to vehicles for the afternoon. Pedestrians wander the streets and plazas where vendors have set up their street kitchens, and musicians entertain the Sunday strollers.

---

Photos

Wood-fired pizza
A Rescoldo's house special, with serrano ham and chorizo.

Fueling the oven
The design for this device is truly ancient, copied from ovens uncovered beneath the ash of the Vesuvius volcano in Pompeii.

Cooking class lecture
David Sterling, of Los Dos, holds forth in his dining room.

Leg of spam tortilla
Sliced BBQ pork, with roasted pinapple. The class lunched at the market. I couldn't resist trying this pressed pork specialty, which traces back to Lebanon. (I showed the cooking spit in an earlier post.)

Tortilla time
We try our hands at making the basic foodstuff: flatbread made from corn masa.

Our Mayan instructor
She's really a sharp dealer!

No chili today, but hot tamale
Tomales are labor intensive, but, for flavor, they're well worth the effort. We wrapped them in banana leaves, but corn husks are also common. (I should have photographed the sit-down meal, but was too hungry to think of it.) An Amazing meal. The course includes a cookbook of the event.

Pedestrians take back the streets
I had tried to add more photos from the Sunday paseo (stroll), including food vendors and musicians, but the program wouldn't let me splice more entries from a different file. Stay tuned.

Comments

[Elliott]

Yummy!
Glad to see you are Yuca'n it up! What wonder ful colors and fun you are having. I love how so many places have a courtyard with a pool.

[Paul Rounds]

Great post
I enjoyed your post, Eric, as always. It is really cold this morning here in Merida. I doubt that even Mary would go for a swim today if she were here. It was a pleasure to spend some time with you while you were here. Hammockman