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

• 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.