Destinations
William Lawson
A Yucatan Adventure for Driving Enthusiasts!
A Yucatan Adventure for Driving Enthusiasts!
William Lawson
And there was the cenote…
And there was the cenote…
William Lawson
Ni Chac - A Yucatan Bourdain Moment
Ni Chac - A Yucatan Bourdain Moment
William Lawson
Hacienda Chochoh, a Dog, and some Flowers

Doggies, hacienda and flowers

Hacienda Chochoh, a Dog, and some Flowers
Destinations
William Lawson
Wild Lunch at Codornejo - Akil, Yucatan

…wild lunch in Akil Yucatan…

Wild Lunch at Codornejo - Akil, Yucatan

food

A very special Merida City Tour kind of day

How would you like to enjoy a private mezcal or tequila tasting experience?

Just yesterday, I had the opportunity to show a lovely couple a side of Merida that is talked about a lot (food, art) but not experienced enough, in my opinion. The kind of outing that was requested was a challenge and I almost didn’t come through, as I thought the items of interest would be a challenge to pull off… was I qualified to live up to their expectations?

It turns out that I was and they were extremely satisfied with the results!

Our day started at the popular Wayan’e street taco joint, a delicious favorite of locals as well as visitors. This is the place chef Rick Bayless comes to when he is in town, filming one of his foodie segments. The variety and flavor of the food and the authentic street feel of the place never fails to charm anyone who pops in. So far so good!

Then, we strolled over to the Lux Perpetua art gallery across the street where interesting and itinerant displays of are always impressive and can be enjoyed in peace and quiet and cool air conditioned comfort.

From there, a visit to the Maiama gallery specializing in all things baskets and weaving, followed by the sober, high end displays of Yucatecan crafts at Taller Maya. Finally, a ring on the doorbell at Nahualli Casa de Artistas revealed a world of sculpture and painting that was stunning. Things are going well and the couple was enchanted with all we saw, making some quality purchases as well.

Lunch was planned at the Manjar restaurant, a must for Yucatecan cuisine where we not only enjoy the food but also had the chance to say hello to chef/cocinera Miriam, the owner.

For dessert, a private mezcal tasting complete with pairings of Mayan chocolate, chile-covered mango gummies and peanut marzipan, carefully selected to accompany each of the four mezcals we tried.

The day was a total success and I am grateful for the opportunity to have provided this couple, celebrating a birthday, with a full and satidfying day that was also illuminating for me!

Give us this day... traditional bread making in the Yucatan

Introduction

If you have spent any time in and around the Yucatan, you will have heard the term “francés” usually associated with the word “caliente” Now this may come as a surprise, but when someone talks about having a francés caliente they are not talking about assaulting a hot Frenchman. No, it refers to a long-ish individual loaf of bread, baked daily in bakeries throughout the region and enjoyed as an evening snack with pieces of Edam from that hollowed out queso de bola (unfortunately and unappetizingly translated as ball cheese) or in the morning stuffed with juicy, greasy and delectable cochinita pibil.

And while these and other bread products are nowadays finished in ovens for the most part, the traditional way is to find them baked in gigantic wood-fired ovens, very similar to the brick pizza ovens that can reach very high temperatures and whose delectable crusts are charred and crisp and ash-sprinkled from real pieces of wood crackling inside the baking space.

The Process

In the case of the francés, the dough is shaped by a combination of pounding, elbow thumping (the actual elbow is used) and shaping by hand. A sliver of palm (not banana leaf as some would have you believe) is laid along the length of the shaped loaf which is then set in trays placed on racks where they await, rising slowly in the local heat, to be baked in the afore-mentioned oven. Why the sliver of palm? I was told that it is to maintain the shape of the bread, not that it imparts any special flavor to the final product as I had previously been told.

Loaves are laid onto the hot bricks in the oven, having been previously swept clean with a moist rag to remove excess ash and coals. This is done with a very large wooden spatula with a handle that will cross the entire room, so as to keep the operator from contracting heatstroke in the face of the very caliente oven. A few moments in the oven and they are removed, fresh and ready to be delivered to points of sale around the village or prepared in bags for orders from the vendedores who will be selling tortas and tacos early the next day.

Juan Sabido (left)

Juan Sabido is one of these bakers and has generously shown us around the operation where he works, in an unmarked and unremarkable house that you would not even suspect of being a bakery when driving by.

This, and other experiences like it, are some of the things we offer our guests when they come to visit the Yucatan giving them a true glimpse into traditional life, customs and its people.