CULINARY THUMBNAIL

Here are the most notable characteristics of this state's cuisine:

1. long coastline providing excellent seafood
2. influence of Maya culture contributes greatly to local cuisine
3. steamy tropical lowlands providing tropical produce

TRADITIONAL DISHES TO LOOK FOR

Pollo pibil, or "Chicken pibil, the word pibil referring to any food wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in pits dug in the ground, which is a typical Maya practice for special events. Copyright-free image made in Pyramid Restaurant a block from Cobá ruins, courtesy of "benketaro," made available through Wikimedia Commons.

• Cochinita Pibil -- pork traditionally cooked in banana leaves and seasoned with annatto paste, bitter orange, garlic, cinnamon and more, in a spicy sauce
• Poc chuc --  grilled pork steaks previously marinated in a sauce mostly of bitter orange juice and annatto paste, accompanied by a spicy onion sauce
• Panuchos de Pavo -- tortillas filled with black-bean paste and topped with boiled-egg slices then fried and topped with bits of turkey breast and pickled onion
• Chocolomo -- cooked veal dish seasoned with bitter lime, lemon, onion, garlic, habanero peppers and more.
• Tik n Chik -- whole fish prepared with annatto paste
• Panuchos de Pavo -- turkey and tortillas dish

SWEETS

• Dulce de Coco  -- coconut sweet

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

• Balche -- a mildly alcoholic drink served ice cold, made from fermented pineapple rind
• Xtabentún -- liquor from fermented honey

Information on this page based on material presented in Gastronomía: Atlas cultural de México, 1988, an extensive and well illustrated work by various authors, published by the Secretaría del Educación Pública, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia in Mexico City.