La Chaya Maya ★ 4.4
La Chaya Maya on Santa Lucía in Mérida pours tortillas on a clay comal in the dining room and runs sopa de lima, poc chuc and panuchos seven days a week.
Signature: Sopa de lima, Poc chuc, Papadzules, Cochinita pibil
History
The dish dates to pre-Hispanic Maya cookery, where pumpkin seeds were the daily grease and protein source on the peninsula. The name in Mayan ('papak suul') means 'food for lords'. Spanish hard-boiled egg overlay made the modern version: corn tortillas dipped in a green pumpkin-seed sauce (pepita with epazote and chaya), wrapped around chopped hard-boiled egg, topped with a separate tomato-habanero salsa and crowned with the green pumpkin-seed oil. La Chaya Maya, La Tradición and Mercado Lucas de Gálvez puestos all run canonical recipes today; the dish is a popular Lenten plate in Mérida.
Common allergens: Egg, Gluten
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 200g raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), shelled
- 1L chicken broth, hot
- 1 small bunch epazote leaves (or substitute with cilantro)
- 8 corn tortillas
- 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
- Salt to taste
- For the chiltomate sauce: 3 ripe tomatoes, 1 small onion, 1-2 habanero peppers, 1 tsp salt
Method
- Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
- Cool slightly, then grind in a blender or food processor with the epazote and a pinch of salt until very fine.
- Slowly whisk in hot chicken broth to form a smooth, thick green sauce. Keep warm but do not boil (it can split).
- For chiltomate: char tomatoes, onion and habanero on a dry pan or under a broiler until blackened. Blend to a chunky salsa with salt.
- Briefly dip each warm tortilla in the green sauce, place a spoonful of chopped egg in the centre and roll closed.
- Arrange 2 tortillas per plate. Spoon more green sauce over the top, then drizzle chiltomate down the centre.
- Garnish with extra chopped egg and serve immediately.
Tip from the editors. The pumpkin-seed sauce splits if boiled. Keep it just below simmering and whisk in hot broth gradually.
Where to eat papadzules
Papadzules in Mérida
La Tradición ★ 4.3
La Tradición on Calle 60 in Mérida runs chef David Cetina's Yucatecan recados, poc chuc and queso relleno from a family kitchen of two decades.
Signature: Poc chuc, Queso relleno, Sopa de lima
Los Almendros ★ 4.0
Los Almendros on Parque de la Mejorada in Mérida runs the Yucatecan canon since 1972, claiming credit for putting poc chuc on the city's restaurant maps.
Signature: Poc chuc, Papadzules, Queso relleno, Sopa de lima
Manjar Blanco ★ 4.4
Manjar Blanco on Mérida's Calle 47 corridor near Paseo de Montejo runs cochinita pibil and queso relleno (Netflix Taco Chronicles featured) lunch only.
Signature: Cochinita pibil tacos, Queso relleno negro, Pavo en escabeche
More cities are in research. Want papadzules covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.