No more Fajitas Old El Paso or Desperados beer, often perceived as typical Mexican food. These brands actually don’t exist at all here and you won’t find them in restaurants on the Riviera Maya.
It is especially the way we prepare (for the most part) Mexican food at home that has nothing to do with the different dishes found in Mexico.
Coming to Mexico is therefore the perfect time to discover a culinary world very different from ours, a world where sweet is little present and spicy is king.
Top 10 savory specialties to taste in Mexico
As we mentioned earlier, salt is mostly part of the Mexican culinary landscape. Tortilla and all its derivatives have a king’s place in Mexican cuisine and it can be difficult to understand. We will therefore provide you with some explanations in order to decipher the menu more easily.
1- Tacos al Pastor: a classic in every way!
We’ve all heard of “Tacos”. They’re often associated with O’Tacos, but they’re not related. This famous little corn cake called tortilla is the basis of tacos, it’s a bit like bread.
The Tacos Al Pastor is one of the most common across the country, it is a marinated pork meat with spices and chilli that is cooked on a rotating spit like kebabs. As always in Mexico, it is served with a little onion, cilantro and a habanero sauce to make it even better. But what makes the Al Pastor Tacos special is the little touch of pineapple added by the «taquero» (the chef who prepares the tacos).
2- Quesadillas, with or without cheese?
You can’t miss the very popular quesadillas. As the name suggests, quesadilla often has a cheese base to which different foods are added. Often cheap, you can’t miss out on your trip to Mexico!
Did you know that there is a debate about whether a quesadilla without cheese can be called a quesadilla. And you, what do you think ?
3- Ceviche, the coolest summer meal
Ceviche is one of the most popular dishes on the beaches of the Caribbean because of the freshness of its ingredients.
Small cubes of fish and finely chopped onions are covered with a lemon and chili sauce with habanero. We eat it with tortilla chips.
4- Aguachile
Aguachile is similar to ceviche but the fish is replaced by shrimp. It comes from northern Mexico but is now consumed wherever you can catch shrimp. It’s a delicious refreshing meal that you must taste if you like spice.
5- Sope, not to be confused with sopa
Its name may be misleading but no, it is not soup (sopa). Sope is a very little known dish outside Mexico, if ever offered in restaurants and yet very good and popular here. It consists of a tortilla thicker with rims than one spreads of red bean puree, lettuce, cheese, egg or meat, avocado and cream.
6- Chilaquiles, an atypical breakfast
Chilaquiles is a very popular dish throughout Mexico, which is eaten mainly at breakfast but also during the day. It consists of a base of chopped tortilla chips, covered with a hot green or red sauce depending on the chilli used. The recipe then varies depending on the region and the restaurant. It is always accompanied by a red bean puree.
7- Enchiladas
Enchiladas take up the same concept as the chilaquiles, but this time with tortillas rolled and topped, also covered with the famous hot sauce.
8- Mole, an amazing ingredient sauce!
It is estimated that there are about fifty kinds of Moles! This pre-Hispanic sauce was originally offered to the gods as an offering. Now we find it in supermarkets, produced industrially. The ingredients of the sauce are surprising because they include a mixture of chili, cocoa or chocolate, sesame, peanut, tomato, and fried tortilla. A must try!
9- Tamale
This dish of more than 5000 years is found in almost all of Latin America. Steam a sheet of corn with a sweet or savoury filling inside. It is a dish that can be enjoyed all year round, but especially during festivals and celebrations such as the feast of the dead, weddings, the birth of a newborn, etc..
10- Pozole
Pozole is a kind of pot or corn soup (again!) boiled with meat. Then we add other foods such as coriander, avocado, cabbage etc… Delicious !
What are the sweet specialties to enjoy in Mexico?
Mexico being the kingdom of sauces and spice, there are ultimately few sweet Mexican specialties. It is also very marked in most restaurants, the dessert part is sometimes reduced to 2 or 3 choices with an industrial flan or a rice with milk (I hardly exaggerate).
Among the sweet specialities there are:
La Marquesita: a waffle pancake with nutella/cheese, typical of Yucatan. But don’t worry about other flavors exist for the less courageous.
In Playa del Carmen you can not miss the marquesita sellers. If you want to try the famous cheese nutella combo, take a tour of the Quinta or the 28 de Julio square in front of the town hall.
Sweet tamales: made from a base of corn and topped with jam, they are usually eaten during the festival of the dead.
Buñelos: This is a typical Mexican snack. It is a kind of fried tortilla served with sugar and Piloncillo. Fat but good. Find a recipe of buñelos à la Mexicaine.
Focus on Mayan food
Sikilp’aak
Sikilp’aak is a typically Mayan entry that is widely consumed on the Mayan Riviera and not found elsewhere in Mexico.
The tomatoes are cooked directly on the charcoal fire, or as the Mayans call it, the «candela», until they are perfectly toasted and black outside. This gives them an exquisite smoky flavor. Then they are ground on the «molcajete» with a few cloves of garlic until a perfect mixture is created. Finally, roasted and ground pumpkin seeds are added.
Cochinita Pibil
Cochinita is marinated in a mixture of sour orange juice that, like Lima, is found only in southeastern Mexico; and a mixture of red spices made with «axiote» seeds. This aromatic concentrate is poured onto the pork, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an underground oven called «pib», where «Cochinita Pibil» gets its name.
Chocolate
In the Mayans, chocolate is made from cocoa, spices, honey, corn flour and chili pepper.
You can buy chocolate at Ah cacao, you can find their shop on Playa. It’s a good gift idea to bring back! They also make a range of body care chocolate.
Honey
Yucatan has the largest honey production in Mexico. Mayan communities of yesterday and today produce honey mainly for medicinal purposes or during ceremonies. You can buy their products directly in Mayan communities hosting tourists.
Tip: If you want to taste authentic Mayan cuisine, we offer in some of our tours a lunch in a Mayan community. For more information you can see our tour “Coba, Punta Laguna & Maya Experience”.
Eating fruits in Mexico
If this is your first time in a tropical country, this is your chance to stock up on exotic fresh fruit. Mangoes are sold everywhere on the Riviera Maya, but will you dare to try them with a chili sauce and Mexican salt?
If you have the opportunity, don’t miss the chance to taste the mamey, papaya, pineapple, coconut…
What about typical Mexican drinks?
If you are a fan of fresh fruit juice you will also find a wide choice. In Mexico, we also drink a lot of fruit agua. It’s like fruit juice but diluted with water, and no, it’s not a scam it’s very fresh and very good (I especially recommend the agua de pina).
Pozol, (not to be confused with pozole seen above), this drink from Chiapas is based on chocolate and fermented corn. It is easily found on Playa del Carmen transported by bicycle sellers.
Crema de coco, this drink as its name suggests is made from coconut to which we add a lot of sugar and ice cubes.
Cafe de Olla, this coffee is necessarily prepared in a clay cup that gives a particular flavor to the coffee. We add cane sugar and cinnamon. It’s very good!
Agua de jamaica, the agua de Jamaica is simply water of hibiscus or bissap. In Mexico, it is much less sweet than in other countries.
Agua de horchata, this refreshing rice-based drink is also found in Valencia, Spain.
Avoid the Resorts for typical food!
The issue of food is also an important point for choosing your accommodation on the Riviera Maya. Indeed, if you choose a resort, you will have an all-inclusive formula and for some the food is very classic and not always good. What’s better than staying in an AirBnb or a small hotel in the city centre and having the freedom to eat where you want and be able to taste good typical Mexican dishes in a restaurant on the Riviera Maya.
Tips in restaurants on the Riviera Maya
The tip rule (propina in Spanish) applies in all restaurants in Mexico. It is very frowned upon to leave nothing at all, as for most waiters tips represent a large part of their salary. It is common to leave between 10% to 15% for good service. If the service really leaves something to be desired the members of our team have admitted not to hesitate to give less than 10% of tips.
Warning: Some restaurants in tourist areas take advantage of tourists’ lack of knowledge about tips to include them directly in the total!
It is therefore not uncommon to see your bill inflated by 15% automatically. So check your bill before paying.
