I lived in Mexico for 2 years and have eaten everything I could get my hands on. I have some really good foods to suggest as well as a special note for those who are worried about getting poisoned in Cancun and such. A few people have come back from Cancun sick and even now I hear rumors that 80% of people that go there, get sick..........I would like to save you from getting an ulcer by explaining this so you don't worry.

• BLAH! Getting Sick from Mexican Food
• Good Foods
• The History of Chocolate
• The History of Tequila
• Restaurants in Merida

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  La Tourista and More

  In all honesty, there are only a small percent of people that get sick in Cancun, maybe 15 or 20% of all the travelers get sick. But don't over blow this......the other 75 percent don't get sick, and that is quite a few million people. You also might want to note that the water system is American built, and most restaurants are clean. Well obviously some of the tourists are drinking the water and eating the food and some of them actually do get sick from un cleanliness on part of hotels and restaurants. But don't change your whole vacation over rumors.....However, because there is always a concern, I will give you some tips.

  If you don't want to be part of the 15 or 20% it is quite easy, and the best way is to use common sense...

   If you are weak stomached, prone to illness, have food allergies, etc. Don't be hard on your digestion, Mexico serves differently prepared food than probably what your stomach is used to. Try to avoid eating too many exotic foods, and be careful with the hot sauces known as "chile". Sometimes Quantity, and not just quality can make you sick.
  
   If you are extremely worried about the water, then don't drink it. Stick to bottled water, which you can buy everywhere, although the truth is, I have never had problems. I been to Cancun, drank the water, I am from Canada, I have lived in Merida for 2 years, I drank the water everywhere, all the time, and I never got sick. But you might have a different stomach, so if you feel like you shouldn't drink it then don't. And if you don't care, then drink it.
  
   It is true that sometimes the food can make you sick. This usually has to do with cleanliness more than anything. Be very very careful when eating from street vendors and places like that, watch them prepare their food for a while before ordering yours, and see if they wash their hands, how they handle the food and use your COMMON SENSE. If it doesn't look clean, don't eat there. But another note, I have eaten from street vendors before, things like hotdogs, hamburgers, cooked corn, and marquesitas (a thin waffle cone rolled into a long stick with cheese) and again, never have gotten sick. Ah but then I had a Mexican friend who went to eat from a dirty seafood vender and he ended up with a good stomach ache. His wife a few months earlier ended up with Hepititis A.....cleanliness is important.
  
  Also be careful with raw and fresh fruits/vegetables. Most of the well known restaurants in Cancun will clean their food, but if you don't feel sure, ask the waiter or waitress to make sure the produce is well cleaned or ask if they clean it at all. And yes, I have eaten fresh salad etc too.....not sick yet.
  
  And finally you will find REAL Mexican food in original Cancun, and non tourist areas. Take care here too, and make sure where you are eating is clean and that the preparation of the food is clean.
  
  

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  Quantity more so than Quality (But quality is important too)

  Also another good reason for people getting sick is the party lifestyle in Cancun. It is a common fact that when people go, they tend to eat more, as well as drink lots of tequila and things they don't normally eat. They arrive in Cancun, want to try some Mexican food, tequila. Go to bed, get up, eat an interesting breakfast, go to the beach, have an alcoholic drink, get a snack before lunch, eat an interesting lunch (note, these are probably all foods they have never eaten before...or rarely ever eat), then have a snack before dinner, go to dinner, have huge dinner, maybe Mexican food, another alcoholic drink of sorts, then go to party somewhere, drink lots, eat some more snacks, stay up late, and then the next morning get up early and start again.

  It sounds pretty normal for someone on vacation, its fun to eat out, however, that is the mistake. The alcohol famous in Cancun will dehydrate you, the hot sun, the heat, the air-conditioning, heat again, different foods for the stomach, different spices, hot spices, late nights, loud music, excitement, early mornings, traveling, etc, can turn your body off its normal rhythm. Then well after a few days of this, your body is exhausted and people get sick and suddenly "It must have been that glass of water I had last night!!!!"

  I don't think so......see my point? So as well as being careful, also make sure to be moderate and watch how much stress you are putting your body under. You might be totally relaxed, but your functions are working overtime, so take care.

  All in all, if you use your common sense, you won't be likely to get sick. But if you still feel unsure, then take precautionary measures, and ask your home doctor for help. Sickness is not as common as some people are lead to believe, and don't let is stop you from enjoying your trip!!!!!

  And well finally, if you are really concerned about something I have not mentioned here, ask a Cancun Doctor at Cancun Medical Question and Answer Board

  Index

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  Good and Interesting Foods

  Cocina Yucateca

  Sopa de Lima (Lime Soup)

A delicious soup made with shredded chicken, bits of fried tortilla and lime juice.





Huevos Motuleños

A huge breakfast plate of tortilla covered with refried beans, and a fried egg, then smothered with tomato suace, peas, chopped ham and shredded cheese. Usually it is served with fried bana slices.





Pollo Pibil

Chicken marinated in aciote (annatto), sour orange juice, peppercorns, garlic, cumin, salt and then wrapped in banana leaves and baked. This dish can also be made with pork (Cochinita Pibil). Good for lunch or dinner but it isn't spicy.





Poc-Chuc

Delicious but tender slices of pork, marinated in sour orange juice and served with a tangy sauce and pickled onions. This is a favorite of mine, and the best places that serve it are Hacienda Teya and a restaurant in Mani. Place the pieces of pork on a corn tortilla and enjoy. :)





Papadzules

Chopped hard boiled egg rolled up in tortilla and covered with pumpkin seed sauce





Puchero

Chicken, pork, carrot, squash, cabbage, banana, potato and sweet potato cooked in a broth and garnished with radish, cilantro, and sour orange juice. A sunday favorite in Yucatecan homes.





Frijoles con Puerco (Pork and Beans)

Yucatecan version of pork and beans. Chunks of pork cooked with black beans, served with rice, and garnished with radish, cilantro and onion. A regular monday dish in Yucatecan homes.





Salbutes

Fried handmade tortillas topped with shredded turkey, pickled onion and avocado slices.





Panuchos

This is another favorite of mine. A precooked crisp tortilla, stuffed with refried beans, then topped with shredded chicken, lettuce, tomato and onions.




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My Mexican Favorites

Don't get me wrong, but Real Mexican food is nothing like the burritos and tacos we make at home or buy from Taco Time/Taco Bell. NOTHING LIKE that. And they serve hotter sauces and side dishes with the food than you could ever find. (If you have a strong stomach, DEFINITELY a must try) I can't tell you all of the foods, but I will tell you my personal favorites

Tacos Al Pastor

These are tacos with chopped BBQ'd pork, cooked right outside! Being my favorite, raw pork is cut into thin strips, marinated in adobo chile sauce, skewered on a vertical spit and cooked over a low flame. It looks kind of like a big orange leg (a cylander thick at the top and thin at the bottom) The meat for each taco is carved from from the spit and then served on a fresh corn tortilla with garnish like chopped onions, cilantro (similar to parsley) and a piece of pineapple also from the spit. If you put the chile de habanero - hot sauce - on it, WOW, it is so good.





Chile de Habanero

This is usually the light green sauce that is placed in a bowl on your table. Sometimes it is a brown sauce, so just point and ask your server "Cual es pica?" (Which is hot) Take care though, habanero it is REALLY HOT. If it starts to get too hot, don't drink water, suck on a lemon (also in a bowl) and put some salt on your lips and tongue. Or even better, but salt on the lemon and suck away.





Ceviche

For some people this might gross you out, but really I ate it before I knew, and now I don't have a problem. Ceviche is seafood, I have always tried Ceviche de Pescado (Fish Ceviche) which is my favorite, although there are other versions. Really it is only chopped up fish, with tomatoes, some other garnish and smothered in lime juice. Eating it on crisp tostados makes it perfect. The catch is, well, THIS IS COMPELTELY TRUE, only the LEMON juices and acid cook it. This fish has never seen a hot oven or grill. My mother compared it to Japanese sushi, but well it doesn't taste like that. I actually thought it was cooked, and really it is. Don't be worried about germs or anything, the high acidity of the lemon actually COOKS the fish. Although it couldn't cook an egg or BBQ a steak, it literally cooks the fish, kills the germs and I've eaten it more than 5 times and not gotten sick. It is really good and a must try if you can get past your imagination.





Coctel de Camarónes (Shrimp Coctail)

Simple enough, also other versions of the cocktail are available. It is pretty much shrimp placed in a tomato sort of sauce, which is kind of sweet. Not really Mexican is it, but it was good :)


Index


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The History of Chocolate

Theobroma cacao -- "the food of the gods."

The word chocolate and cocoa stem directly from the language of the Mayan and Aztec Indians of Mexico and Central America. Recent studies are pointing to the fact that cocoa was first domesticated and cultivated right here in the Yucatan 1000 years ago, and not in Brazil or Argentina as was once believed. It is also known that the cocoa beans played an important role in the Indian's lives -- as a form of currency, a medicine and as the chief ingredient of a cold sugarless beverage they called "cacahualt," that was enjoyed by the members of the upper class.

In Diego de Landa's "Relation of Things of the Yucatan," he noted the Mayans use of cocoa was something scared that was used in times of sickness. The cocoa plant is also present in the Mayan codices and in the Building of the Owls in Chichen Itza -- it can be seen in one of the stellae, that there is an important man with various plants and 4 cocoa seeds surrounding him.

In the early 1500's, Spanish conquerors started adding sugar to the bitter drink and it was brought back to Spain by Hernan and became "the in thing" to server royalty. Today, cocoa is still cultivated by the Mayans in their parcels of land on a very small scale.
-- Yucatan Today



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A brief History of Tequila

For at least one thousand years before Spain invaded Mexico, the Aztecs were drinking pulque, a low-alcohol wine made from the mezcal plant; it is still consumed in Mexico today. Alone came the Spaniards in the early part of the sixteenth century, bringing with them the art of distillation, and tequila was born. Pluque was used by the Aztecs in many rituals and indeed, tequila is well known as a drink of ritual, being consumed straight with salt and lime in a ceremony seen in bars throughout the world.

Tequila was first imported legally to the United States in the 1870's. It was further promoted by American soldiers defending Zapata's raids during the Mexican revolution in 1916. Prohibition also helped tequila gain popularity in the States. Since it was distilled legally in Mexico, tequila only had to be smuggled over the border to quench the thirst of deprived Americans.

Production of Tequila
The base of a mature agave plant is steamed in order to extract the sap. The sap ferments for about 10 days, producing "mother pulque." This is then added to fresh sap and allowed to ferment, producing the pulque (wine). The pulque is then double distilled in pot stills, and the resulting vino mezcal can be exported immediately as a "white" liquor, or it may be aged in oak casks to produce an añajo or aged product.

This briny liquor, made exclusively in Mexico from the agaveplant, gives us the base for a Margarita, the Brave Bull and of course, the Tequila Sunrise. It is a romantic, daring drink, which bears a distinctive dry taste that lends itself to producing a strain of cocktails particular to tequila.

For tequila aficionados, let's see the record straight on mezcal and tequila. Tequila is to mexcal what cognac is to brandy; that is, tequila is a superior form of mezcal. Tequila is produced only on two designated regions of Mexico, one surrounding the town of Tequila, the other in the area of Tepatitlan. Mexcal is produced in numerous regions throughout Mexico.

While tequila is made only from a blue-colored agave plant, specifically Agave tequilana weber, mezcal can be made from different varieties of agave. Production of tequila is governed by stringent quality standards that are not applied to mexcal. Ordinary tequila is considered "white" tequila.

Gold Tequila
There are no Mexican regulations governing the aging of this product, although most producers claim that it is aged in white oak casks for two to four years.

Tequila Añejo
This "aged" tequila must be aged for a minimum of one year in white oak casks.

Silver Tequila
Wax lined vats are used to age this product which is mellower than ordinary (white) tequila but still has no color.



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Restaurants

Now you know some of the good foods, ok, where and what restaurants? Well regardless of your tastes, because Merida is big, there are sooooo many places to eat. Merida has American food, Yucatecan (regional) food, Mexican food, and international food. Here is a general idea:

American

McDonalds
Burger King
Wendy's
Fiesta Americana (Elegant)
TGIFridays
Pizza Hut
Dairy Queen
VIP's
Subway etc....

Yucatecan

Leo
Muelle 8
Pancho's
Tiano's
La Bella Opoca
Peregrina (Hyatt Regency)
Las Sombrillas (Holiday Inn)
La Parrilla
La Cava (Hacienda Teya -- really good)
Los Alemendros
El Mural (Fiesta Americana)
Virreyes (Conquistador Hotel)
Casa de Maquinas (Hacienda Katanchel)

And almost all the restaurants that serve Mexican food will have Yucatecan food as well. It is very similar to Mexican food served with tortillas, but generally the Yucatecan food is cooked with more and different spices.

Mexican food

This is Mexico, how difficult can it be to find Mexican food? Obviously, there are lots of Mexican restaurants here, so if you decide to go, I suggest trying TACOS AL PASTOR!

Los Toros
La Parilla
Sanbournes (Fiesta Americana)
Taco Inn
Las Jirafes
Mulle 8
Gabbos
Panchos
Tiano's
La Tratto
Peregrina (Hyatt Regency)
Las Sombrillas (Holiday Inn)
El Mural (Fiesta Americana)
Virreyes (Conquistador Hotel)
Casa de Maquinas (Hacienda Katanchel)
and everywhere else.

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