I always liked to cook. It must be said that it is something that my family is particularly good at doing and sharing.

Cooking has always been a way to spend time as family, sharing in the enjoyment. I have magical memories of those moments spent with my grandmother, my mother or my father, in the kitchen as we prepare our meals together.

As I no longer live in France, what I miss most from my culture is “la cuisine à la française.”

I’ve never been very happy with the local cuisine.

Yes, yes, you read correctly, and I know that many people are surprised by that statement. They always say:
– “But you lived in Thailand, Cambodia / Asia?”

I know that Thai and Asian cuisine is hugely successful around the world, and although it is very good, but I have not been “wowed” by their cuisine. I like its simplicity and its flavors but after a few months I got tired of it.

Coming from the countryside, I am used to eating slower cooked food like pots, simmered for hours in tasty sauces. This is why for me Asian cuisine is more “instant” food. Even if I know to prepare a good curry takes a few hours, but I have never managed to eat Thai curries as they are too spicy for me.

And in America

So when I lived in Asia, even if the food was very tasty and full of flavors, I missed something. My stomach was not at its happiest.

When we arrived in Mexico, after spending 6 months in Belize, I was not immediately impressed by Mexican cuisine.

Let’s agree on “What is a Taco?”
A taco is a tortilla with something on it.
In the same way that 2 slices of bread without any filling are only 2 slices of bread, add ham and butter in the middle and now you have a sandwich.
Well here it is, put what you want in a tortilla and you will have a taco.

Back to my story. As I said, I was not immediately impressed by “Mexican” cuisine.

I’m not particularly fond of tortillas so you understand that I do not particularly like tacos. So I began to think that maybe us french are right to be so proud of our gastronomy because up until now nothing has managed to amaze my taste buds as French food.

Until one day

Until the day, my husband and I had to make a choice, between tasting a completely unknown dish prepared by our host, or return to have breakfast in the small shop 5 minutes walk from our hotel.
We exchanged a quick look and made our decision. We decided to be bold and try the new dish. Nothing could have been worse than what we had eaten the day before.

Our host explained that it was pork.
He and his friend prepared a marinade in which the pork was bathed for 8 hours before cooking it over a wood fire, in a large casserole wraped in banana leaves.

In the traditional version, the pot is put in a “Pip” the Maya word for “earth oven or earth cooking.” 

Everything is ready

Everything is ready all the ingredients are layed out on the table before us. Our plates are filled and we have a glass of hot tea to accompany it. There are bowls of red onions, coriander, lime and of course chilli.
I do as I am instructed and anticipate the new flavours, I also prepare to have a mouth on fire and some perspiration because of the chilli. 

I take my first bite, a second and “voilà,” I have finished my dish. The tea, which to me tastes like fresh clove leaves in boiling water helps cool the spicy fire leaving a profusion of flavors in my mouth. The pork is excellent, perfectly tender, it melts in my mouth. I am in paradise and enjoy myself so much that I ask for a second plate.

I ask again the name of the dish, and this time it remains anchored in my memory “Coccinita Pibil.” 

Upon our return to Tulum, I went looking for the dish and the best place to find it. In a few weeks I was done. I had found the best Cochinita Pibil in Tulum.

After we discovered the Cocchinita Pipil.

Today I devour this dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and since discovering it I have also discovered a new side of Mexican cuisine.

This is how my passion for Yucatan ancestral recipes was born, and how I started to learn the traditional Mayan way of cooking.

Over time I will share with you some of their secrets, in this blog or during our “Mayan Cooking Class“.