°The Yucatecan Gastronomy Museum has opened its doors in order to promote the rich culinary wealth of the state.
°The enclosure also has a restaurant where the best of the Yucatecan regional cuisine, unique in the Mexican Republic is offered.
Mérida, Yucatán (March 8, 2021).-This site whose initials are MUGY, is basically a restaurant where the best of the cuisine of Yucatán is offered, but in addition to the menu, visitors can have a magical tour of a gastronomic museum. In order to promote the culinary wealth of Yucatán, the Yucatecan Gastronomy Museum opened its doors last December for the public to live a unique experience.
Also, during the visit, you will be able to see the replica of a typical “Yucatan little town hut” in the heart of the city of Mérida, on Calle 62, just three blocks away from the Plaza Grande.
During a tour of the facilities, it was observed that this place seeks to merge the cultural part of the state, to teach citizens who come from abroad what they can eat, what are the ingredients, where the food comes from, how the ingredients are mixed and prepared, and at the same time you learn, you can order a quality meal.
Diego Mantecon, owner and founding partner of the project, explained that two years ago he started the idea of creating this museum and restaurant to bring the tradition of the towns to the center of the capital of Yucatan, with the help of four partners.
Upon entering, visitors will be able to immediately transport themselves to a Yucatecan hacienda-style house, the decoration harmonizes with the type of architecture of the building, which was previously occupied by the state government for 27 years. It used to be the headquarters of the State Cultural Dance Center.
“On a trip I made, I ate a spectacular cochinita pibil (suckling pig), probably the most iconic Yucatecan dish, and so I took the decision of creating this project, within this 1,800-square-meter property, divided into four main rooms,” said the businessman.
Upon entering the museum, it is explained that the Mayans believed that man came from the cob, that it was a gift from the gods, a sacred food. Corn was a wild plant that Mesoamericans managed to domesticate until it was cultivable.
Since pre-Hispanic times, the kitchen has been interwoven with rituals: the unknown, life, death, and the divine, all of these elements are revised in this museum. These foods were buried on burning stones or put on charcoal, hence the particular smoked flavor that is preserved to date.
“The pork is buried wrapped in a leaf from the region, which is what gives the aroma and the smoke to the stew, which can be prepared in the oven, but it will not taste the same, we may use the same leaf, but it is not the same, the soil, the firewood is what gives it that particular flavor “, he commented.
The tortilla as it is known today was brought by the Mexica (or Aztec) who accompanied the Spanish in the conquest of this land of the Mayab.
However, these tortillas were simple for the Mayans, which is why they mixed corn with achiote, a Yucatecan seasoning par excellence, which resulted in delicious tortillas or red toast called chak oop.
The most popular drink of the Mayans, it was reported, was pozol, which is made from corn; if it was mixed with ground cocoa they called it “táan chukwaaj” (chocolate).
With the arrival of the Spaniards some elements of the ancient Mayan cuisine, which the new settlers found splendidly on the palate, were adapted as daily food.
Others were mixed and transformed, resulting in a wide range of exquisite and original dishes of international recognition of which the Yucatecans are proud.
Mantecón asserted that the state has seven types of beans, the most traditional and really oldest was the white bean.
A video that was made within a community located two hours from Mérida is shown in the museum, where a small explanation is made of how traditional Mayan food is made, how that family lives, it is a small town, that live practically from what they sow.
“This family opened the opportunity for us to be able to document how they cook their lime soup, how they squeeze their lime, what they take from the field, as well as how they make the black stuffing (relleno negro), which they generally eat at night with turkey.”
It is worth mentioning that achiote is the main ingredient to make red recado, to make cochinita, among other traditionally Yucatecan stews. The Achiote has its origin in the sauce that the Mayans prepared based on k’uxub or ground achiote, crushed and mixed with corn flour.
Currently, the ground achiote is mixed with various species and is found in the form of a paste in all the popular markets of Yucatan. The red message is the base of well-known Yucatecan dishes such as cochinita or mukbil pollo.
In another room, you can admire some colonial objects that were donated by different people, which were used in traditional Mayan cuisine, at the beginning of the last century.
“In Yucatan, we were conquered by the Spanish, so much of the food that is made here has Spanish roots,” added the owner of this museum.
Finally, Diego Mantecon explained how certain recent Yucatan dishes, such as lime soup, stuffed cheese, and beans with pork have captivated the palate of the Yucatecan public, they have unique and ancestral roots such as being grilled, adding invoice accompaniments. Yucatecan such as roasted red onion and radish with coriander and sour orange.
Source: El Financiero