Sopa de lima
Photo: Dan Cortés · CC BY 2.0

Sopa de lima is a signature dish of Mexico; we have verified places to eat it in Cancún and Mérida.

Sopa de lima · Cancún

Sopa de lima is a light Yucatecan broth of turkey or chicken, spiced with oregano, clove and cumin and sharpened with the local lima agria, served with fried tortilla strips and habanero.

Sopa de lima is one of the most representative dishes of Yucatecan cooking. It is a light turkey or chicken broth with oregano, clove and cumin, defined by the lima agria, a local citrus. No one knows who first made it, but the lima arrived in the Americas with the Spanish, so the soup, with its pre-Hispanic ingredients and a European fruit, is a product of the culinary mixing of the colony. It is served with strips of fried corn tortilla and habanero, as a lunch or supper dish. In Cancún, Lonchería El Pocito lists it on its chalkboard of Yucatecan home cooking.

Where to eat in Cancún:

Where to eat Sopa de lima in Cancún: the editor picks

Sopa de lima · Mérida

Sopa de lima is the Yucatán's signature soup: light turkey or chicken broth brightened with the juice of native Yucatán lima (a sweet-tart limón), garnished with crispy tortilla strips, avocado and a slice of fresh lima.

The dish is built around the Yucatán lima criolla (Citrus limetta), a sweet-sour citrus distinct from regular limes. Spanish citrus crossed with Mayan turkey broth and habanero produced the soup in the colonial era. Today's canonical version at La Tradición and La Chaya Maya runs Yucatán lima, achiote and turkey.

Where to eat in Mérida:

Where to eat Sopa de lima in Mérida: the editor picks

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