subject: Ordering Off The Menu In Cancun Part 1 [print this page] Mexican cuisine is the culmination of thousands of years merging cultures in one region, and all their different methods of preparing food. As indigenous peoples migrated north from South America, they brought with them foods and preparations that had an everlasting impact on the Mexican culture. Likewise, when the Europeans came to Central and North America, new elements were added. The result is an iconic style of cuisine that holds the heritage of Mexico in its flavours. So much so, that in 2010 UNESCO added Mexican cuisine to the highly regarded lists of "world intangible cultural heritage".
There you are, parked at a table in a fine restaurant in Cancun. The view is spectacular, as the dining room looks out over Nichupte Lagoon. Yet, the menu is daunting. What to order? It's not that everything is in Spanish; too many choices are the actuality! We have a few suggestions for getting your feet wet with genuine Cancun fare.
Tamales
Let's begin with something simple, something many people have experienced as a Tex-Mex dish: the tamale. Genuine Mexican tamale begins with hominy. Hominy is dried maize that has been treated with an alkaline substance. A dough containing hominy is called masa, and is the starting point for many Mexican foods, including the tamale. Dough is created with the mixture of vegetable shortening or lard, mixed with masa. The dough is filled, wrapped in corn husks or plantain leaves, and then steamed, baked or fried. Before they are consumed the outer wrappings are removed.
Things get interesting (and delicious) when it comes to the filling used in tamales. Traditional Mexican tamale fillings include pork or chicken with green salsa or the very decadent mole sauce. Sweet tamales are a bit more fun, and definitely tasty! During the process of making the dough, pink sugar may be added to the masa. Fillings include dried fruit, tamal de dulce, or stewed bananas.
Tamale in Cancun are slightly different than in other regions on Mexico. For starters, hominy is rarely used, in favour of corn. Instead of wrapping the tamale in corn or plantain husks, banana leaves are used and thus a different flavour is attained.
There you are, the first dish you can order with confidence while in Cancun. Your tamale will not be like the others you have had, it will be a whole other world of gastronomic wonder! Stay with us for part two, where we will discover pibil, an intoxicating sauce for pork and chicken.
