The Yucatán has one of Mexico’s most delicious and distinctive regional cuisines. It is based on traditional Mayan cooking, with Spanish, French, Caribbean and other influences. Seafood, including shrimp, rock lobster, snapper and other fish, is popular along the coast, while turkey, chicken and pork are appreciated staples everywhere.

Three of the signature seasonings in Yucatán cooking are achiote, a sweet, slightly peppery red paste made from the seed of the tropical annatto plant; sour orange, which was brought to Mexico by the Spanish (along with saffron and spices); and lima dulce (sweet lime). Many dishes are cooked in an earthen pit oven, notably cochinita pibil, banana leaf-wrapped pork marinated in achiote and sour-orange juice, and then slow-baked and served with slices of pickled red onion.

Other common dishes include ceviche; chilaquiles, a breakfast dish made from fried tortilla strips simmered in a red or green salsa and topped with beans, eggs, cheese or meat; papadzules, tortillas filled with chopped hard-boiled egg and served in a tomato-and-pumpkin-seed sauce; pavo relleno, turkey in a dark sauce made from charred chiles and spices; poc chuc, pork marinated in a sauce of sour-orange juice and achiote; and sopa de lima, made from chicken stock and sweet lime along with chunks of chicken and pieces of fried tortilla.