Where to Eat

Ok, here is our confession, we love great food and often enjoy spending hours eating, and in the Riviera Maya there are two wonderful things that are impacting the food scene:

The first is what we would refer to as the more traditional Mexican / Mayan cuisine and the other is as a result of the influx to the region of the International customs and flavors of the World through immigration.

Over the past decade, the Riviera Maya generally has been undergoing a very special influx of new locals who are immigrating from all over the world. The result is a 'fusion' of cultures and cuisines, which is unique from any other. The traditional Mexican and Maya foods and recipes take on the cultural creative offerings of people from U.S.A., Italy, Argentina, Canada, France, and more.

Each unique culture brings with it a taste that adds value to the existing indigenous cultures. Recently, I was served a new Asian-fusion dish while in Playa del Carmen, created by a Chef who, with his family, relocated here from Japan. It was as good as any in L.A. or Manhattan. Amazing. Unbelievable.

On another trip recently to Tulum in the South of the Riviera Maya, we sat on the beach at a small hotel, known by many as the original Margaritaville (called so by aging parrot heads, in honor of Jimmy of course, thinking that this location must truly represent a place he sings about) and tasted a spicy shrimp dish, created by a Chef from San Francisco that was, without doubt, the best spicy shrimp ever.

We believe in the motto, if we must eat, we must eat well, and more recently in life, you must eat healthier. You must be a witness to the dining offerings in the Riviera Maya. You simply will be amazed at how this new world cuisine is flourishing.

Add to this the following facts, that fresh fish is carried everyday to the kitchens directly from the Sea, not the freezers.

That vegetables are grown here locally, all year round, and that there are great new organic growers locally who are adding new spices and herbs not typically found here.

The creative energy in this extraordinary location moves people to do things they just normally wouldn't think of at all. Life, it seems, is flourishing and great food is its staple.

More about the traditional Mayan and Mexican cuisine: Considered a gift from the gods, corn is the most important component of modern day Mexican and Maya cuisine. Represented centuries ago by jade, one of the most precious stones, the ancient Maya thought that cultivating corn was a sacred duty for all Maya.

No Maya dish would be complete without the addition of ingredients used to accentuate a food's natural flavor or infuse additional flavor. Most commonly used are chilmole (earth spice), axiote (also known as annatto), jicama, banana leaf and chaya, a leafy vegetable similar to spinach that the Maya believe to be an aphrodisiac.

Chile peppers come in many forms; from the xcatic chile and the chipolte chile, a jalapeno chile that is smoked and pickled, to the guajillo chile, a skinny red pepper that produces mild to medium infusion, and my personal favorite, the habanero, which is the hottest of the chiles.

So influenced am I now by this chile, that I carry with me as I travel a small bottle of habanero salsa which I add to everything from eggs to stir fry.

Truth be told, I see most foods I was raised on to be quite boring without habanero. Its not the heat of the spice that is the wonder, but the flavor and tastes that this spicy chile infuses into anything with which it mixes.

A spiritual civilization, the Maya believed that a variety of gods governed the human, natural and spiritual worlds, and to please them and solicit help with the harvest, hunting and fishing, the Maya frequently performed rituals in which offerings were made to the gods.

Important gods included Ah Puah, the god of fish, Chaac, the god of water, rain, thunder and agriculture, Ix Chel, the goddess of the moon and fertility, and Yum K'aax, the god of corn.

So it is today, in many traditional Maya restaurants, that specialty dishes are created and prepared using many of the traditional foods, recipes and methods, are available throughout the Riviera Maya. Added to these over the years, are the traditional Mexican dishes and the resulting fusion is a combination of tastes that are so distinct and unique that only in the Yucatan Peninsula, may they be found.

So, won't you join us soon in the Riviera Maya.