On the Culinary Side

If a Mexican asked you to describe a typical Canadian meal, what would you say? I'd have been stumped because our food is a mixture of so many cultures -- many of us are vegetarian -- so describing a meat dish wouldn't work. Sixty years ago, I would have described a Sunday dinner of roast beef, potatoes and dumplings, beans and carrots -- a very British meal.

But colorful, spicy Mexican cuisine has come through thousands of years of blending the food of indigenous cultures with Spanish after the 16th century. Mexican cuisine is so unique that in November 2010 it was was added by UNESCO to its lists of the world's "intangible cultural heritage". Pretty impressive.

The staples of Mexican foods are corn and beans. Corn is used to make masa, a dough for tamales, tortillas, gorditas, and lots of other corn-based foods. Lots of people here buy corn from vendors on the street and eat it as we would a hot dog.

Many of our lunches and dinners were prepared with typical Mexican spices --chiles, oregano, cilantro, epazote, cinnamon, Chipotle (a smoke-dried jalapeño chili), garlic and onions.

We love our breakfasts here at Medio Mundo -- a fruit plate with mango, papaya, pineapple, orange, melon, watermelon, raspberries, blackberries, mango yoghurt, sweet pastry, multigrain bread, butter, 3 types of jam, fresh orange juice and great coffee.

I've always loved a spicy Indian curry more than a dish of black beans with hot chili peppers. But when you order a beer here it will often come with a dish of limes and peanuts. If you order more than drinks the server will bring a bowl of nachos and four sauces -- a bean paste, a salsa, a very hot green sauce and something creamy. Yummy.

At our home stay, a large colorful napkin of fresh tortillas came in the door every morning from somewhere. In most restaurants, tortillas are made in house. In the photos you'll see some of our favourite dishes.

Our top restaurant here in Merida is La Chaya Maya that serves authentic Yucatan food. Women in traditional Mexican dress make tortillas there from dawn to dusk. It's a lively, fun place with yummy food. Later today, I'll post photos of this restaurant and our favourite dishes.

See you in Cancun