Ranked by TableJourney editorial score.
Papadzules are corn tortillas dipped in a pumpkin-seed sauce, rolled around chopped hard-boiled egg and finished with a cooked tomato and habanero sauce, a classic of Yucatecan home cooking.
Papadzules are a traditional dish of Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo: corn tortillas dipped in a sauce of ground pumpkin seeds (pepitas), filled with hard-boiled egg and covered in a tomato sauce with habanero. Two theories explain the name. Diana Kennedy derived it from a phrase meaning food of the lords; another reading takes Maya papak', to anoint or smear, and sul, to soak, so smeared and drenched. The dish is often called very old, a forerunner of the enchilada, but it is unclear whether the Maya made it before the conquest in its present form. In Cancún, Lonchería El Pocito and the Mercado 23 fondas serve it.
2 editor picks for Papadzules in Cancún, ranked by editorial score. All Cancún signature dishes · Papadzules across every city.
Also in: Mérida.
Lonchería El Pocito on Calle 31 Norte in Cancún cooks Yucatecan home dishes such as poc chuc, panuchos, sopa de lima and queso relleno from a chalkboard menu.
OrderQueso relleno in tomato broth, papadzules, and the black-bean and pork tamal.
TipLunch crowds clear the chalkboard, so arrive early; the restaurant opened in 1988 under the name La Cabañita.
Mercado 23 fondas are the lunch counters of the Mercado Javier Rojo Gómez in downtown Cancún, cooking cochinita pibil, salbutes, papadzules and relleno negro.
OrderCochinita pibil tacos or a plate of salbutes, then papadzules or relleno negro if the fonda has them.
TipGo between 08:00 and 11:00, when the best food is served; the market slows down by 14:00. Bring small peso notes.
Papadzules makes more sense with someone from Cancún explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.
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