The ancestral dishes of Campeche (part two)

In addition to the habanero chili, which represents the states of the Yucatan Peninsula, guisos (stews) are often made with a sauté base that includes sweet chili, similar to sweet pepper, and also the very long xcatic chili, used to make caldos (broths) and escabeches (marinades). 

There are two varieties of pumpkins stewed in Campeche: those with small seeds and those with large seeds. The small seed pumpkin, known in Maya as Xmejen k'úum, harvested in July and October or matured between November and December, is used in different dishes, while the mature fruit can be used to make pi'ib and sweetened with honey.

The seed in this type of pumpkin is called sikil, toasted and ground it is used to make various guisos (stews) including the sikil pak. For the offering at the tables on the Day of the Dead, Hanal Pixán, the sweet seed with honey is usually served. Made from sikil and Kaab bee honey, it is called sikil kaab.

The large seed pumpkin, Xka'o xtoop in Maya, is soft between July and August and ripens between September and October. Having a more fibrous pulp, it is not eaten and is used to feed backyard animals. In contrast, their seeds are highly coveted: they are eaten toasted and almost always peeled and are the basis of dishes such as pipián de cerdo (pork with seed salsa) or venado (venison with seed salsa).

With the seeds of the ground pumpkins the sikil p'aakis prepared, literally seed and tomato, also called in Maya tooncha ch'oon, translated as "what crushes the vulture" (tooncha: Ground or crushed, ch'oon: Vulture). This unique dish is made by mixing the ground seed with the roasted tomato and habanero chili. It is also common to find recipes that add roasted onion, cilantro, and sour orange juice.

In its final presentation, the sikil paak looks like a kind of spreadable paté made from the ground seed and roasted tomato.

It is common to find ground seeds with achiote (annatto) condiment in the markets. This product presentation is used to make pipián (seed salsa) or sikil paak.

Pumpkin flower is also an indispensable food accompaniment. In addition to the seeds, in salty and sweet versions, the fruit and the flower are eaten in many Campeche dishes.

The achiote (annatto) or bixa orellana is one of the main ingredients of the Mayan peninsular cuisine. In Campeche it is usually used in its natural state, being extracted from the seeds of the flower or in the form of a paste, obtained in an artisan way.  

It is the basis of guisos (stews) for tamales for celebrations and for everyday. It provides aroma and flavor, besides being dominant in the preparation of marinades for dishes like cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork) from the town of Hecelchakán. 

With the huevos de la avispa Xuux he'(wasp eggs) a dish with the same name is prepared.  

The eggs are mixed with sour orange juice, salt and habanero chili. This combination is served and accompanied by freshly made tortillas made by hand.

Sour orange is one of the most widely used citrus fruits in Campeche. Its juice is used to marinate pork and make dishes such as cochinita (slow-roasted pork) or lechón tostado (roasted piglet). It is even used to make a kind of salpicón (shredded meat) called tzic de venado (shredded venison). It is also used to make fresh water, drinkable medicine to reduce inflammation of bodily organs and if grilled, the resulting juice can be smeared on the skin to get rid of bruises <br>

The most common citrus fruits in the Campeche markets are the Chinese orange or sweet orange, mandarins, grapefruit and the particular sour orange.

In Campeche we can find a variety of tamales throughout the length and breadth of the state. The jolo'och tamales get their name from the wrapping in the corn leaves of the same name. They can be sweet or savory, pork, fowl or chicken, including ground meat, cazón (dogfish) or stewed pejelagarto (garfish).

They are also wrapped in banana leaf, whose masa dough is very soft and smooth. They are called colados, because they result from a corn masa dough that is strained many times until only the starch remains in the water. It is cooked in pork fat to the consistency of an atole (drink).

The rolled tamal or chaakbi waaj pak'áchbil tamali results in a kind of tortilla spread out on the banana leaf that is filled with a guiso de achiote (annatto stew) called K'ool. They are made of ground or shredded chicken or pork, or stewed fish; or they can even be filled with soft beans or x'pelon.
Its variants are: cooked in steamers or tamaleras, cooked in the wood oven or stove and can be made into pi'ib.

As a result of the culinary fusion, we can find puchero, a substantial broth made with vegetables from the region. These vegetables are available from the Campeche markets, already in plastic bags, ready to be used. These include pumpkins, chayotes, cabbage or white cabbage, sweet potatoes, carrots, and swedes.

Tomato, onion, apazote (Mexican tea) and habanero chili are essential ingredients for making chiltomate, a basic salsa for Campeche dishes, tamales, antojitos (street food).

In particular the apazote or epazote (Mexican tea) is a quelite (green vegetable) that is used to give aroma and flavor to many of the guisos (stews), among them the cazón asado (roasted dogfish) with which the famous pan de cazón (dogfish bread) is prepared.