Viva Mexico
Yucatan barbecue shrimp, featured in Daniel Hoyer's latest cookbook
For anyone who loves the regional flavors of Mexico, the latest release by chef Daniel Hoyer, Mayan Cuisine: Recipes from the Yucatán Region (Gibbs Smith, $35), serves up a tasty trifecta of dishes, especially when sampled with options from his first two tomes, Fiesta on the Grill and Culinary Mexico: Authentic Recipes and Traditions.
John Vollertsen recently caught up with this versatile Pilar-based foodie, who also serves as a cooking-school instructor and food-tour guide extraordinaire, to find out a few secrets of international inspiration.
What makes Yucatán’s cuisine so unique?
It’s a blend of traditional pre-Colombian and contemporary Mayan recipes, with a fusion of Spanish colonial and Afro-Caribbean influences and a few unusual European connections thrown in. Historically, Yucatán has been isolated from the main portion of Mexico—by poor roads through an almost impassable jungle—so a shipping trade with Europe and the Caribbean dominated, and many of the ingredients from those places crept into the local fare.
Is it at all similar to our New Mexico cooking?
Like Southwestern cooking, it’s based on the three sisters: corn, beans, and squash, with chiles and herbs used for extra flavor. The Yucatán is tropical with extensive seacoasts, so there’s much more variety than what we get in New Mexico.
What’s your favorite recipe in your new book?
That probably changes daily, but Cochinita Pibil is great for entertaining, especially outdoors, and the Yucatán barbecue shrimp easily impresses guests.
What cities would you recommend for an off-the-beaten-path culinary adventure?
Merida and Campeche for the urban, colonial take on cooking, as well as Valladolid for a more traditional version. Celestun and Progresso are great seafood locations, and any of the little Mayan towns around the central Yucatán, like Tixkokob and Santa Elena, near the Uxmal ruins, for interesting local variations.
What’s the new food hot spot south of the border?
Mexico City is becoming an internationally renowned center for both traditional and cutting-edge, creative, contemporary Mexican cooking. I plan to explore it in depth for an upcoming book.
Where can we find the exotic ingredients needed to cook from your book?
Most are widely available in local supermarkets. The few specialty items can be found at Paisanos, at the Tiendita next to the Red Enchilada, and, curiously, at Ta Lin in Albuquerque.
If you had to eat one Mexican dish every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Unfair, but if forced to choose, I suppose Tacos al Pastor. I seem to seek them out every time I’m in Mexico.
For more info on Hoyer’s culinary tours, see welleatenpath.com
