subject: Dishes To Order In Cancun Part 4 [print this page] When we head out for a meal, especially on vacation, we don't usually think of ordering a comfort food like stew. After all, going out to eat is a time for foods you don't (or won't) make at home. However, we urge you to break with tradition and sample the delightfully surprising stews offering in Cancun restaurants. They are not the same as your meat and potato stews of November and January. To begin with, there is nothing bland, predictable or humdrum about a Yucatan stew. The closest cousin to the Yucatan stew would be the seafood stews of Portugal or Spain, and even those are inadequate comparisons.
Puchero
The Spanish originally introduced puchero as a 'peasant' dish to the Yucatan. Today it is part of a traditional Sunday family meal all over Cancun. Chicken, pork, or some form of beef, are always a part of the three-meat dish that is puchero. Vegetables components include typical root varieties of the region such as turnip and carrot. Other additions are celery, chard and cabbage. We already know Yucatan cuisine is sweeter than other areas of Mexico, that sweetness in puchero is achieved through the use of plantains. Rice noodles, or simply rice, is often the final touch to the dish.
Puchero is one of those dishes that is simmered over a few days, the flavour maturing and evolving as time bubbles along. Likewise, this stew is not a one-day meal. It is consumed over several days, as a snack, lunch or evening meal. The Mexican people are a friendly, generous bunch. If you happen to strike up a friendly acquaintance with a Cancun resident and they invite you for a meal of puchero, it is a great honor. Be extremely thankful and respectful, as puchero is a family dish and thus they are including you as one of the family!
Caldo de siete mares
Next, we will move on to a soup that is very indicative of Cancun's coastal elements: Caldo de siete mares or Seven Seas Soup. Caldo de siete mares, as opposed to puchero, is a quick dish to prepare and is consumed over the course of a day. Fresh seafood that has been harvested that day is the main ingredient. It may be shrimp, lobster, crab, marlin, manta ray, trout or a mix. Chicken and tomato are also added, along with a few of the most iconic spices of Yucatan: cinnamon, chilli pepper, onion, cilantro and oregano. After simmering for a short time, caldo de siete mares is ready for enjoying!
Delightful beverages that are typical to the Yucatan locale, will be the focus of part five, so stay tuned..
