Yucatán: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition by David Sterling

    • Categories: Sauces for poultry; Main course; Cooking ahead; Mexican
    • Ingredients: smoked slab bacon; lard; black peppercorns; Mexican oregano; whole cloves; allspice berries; bay leaves; limes; oranges; grapefruits; achiote seeds; white vinegar; garlic; turkey pieces; nixtamal; onions; tomatoes; epazote; canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce; powdered chicken stock mix; chives; cumin seeds; wood chips
    • Accompaniments: Smoky and hot chile table sauce (K'uut bi iik); Making tortillas
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Notes about this book

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Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Red onions pickled in Seville orange juice (Cebollas encurtidas/Cebolla curtida)

    • tmjellicoe on June 04, 2022

      This is the only pickled onions my kid enjoys after visiting the Yucatan. If I can fine bottled sour orange juice (without any additives) I’ll pick it up; if not, I now buy Seville oranges by the case in season, and juice them. I also freeze the juice in 1 cup portions to use throughout the year to great success. I’ll make a 1/2 recipe of the recado to keep on the spice shelf once a year (or so) and

  • Sweet breakfast breads with flavored shell-shaped toppings (Conchas)

    • tges on April 08, 2021

      Sterling's recipe made a much better concha than recipes found online. I like the addition of evaporated milk as I don't often have fresh milk and I usually have a can of evaporated. My yeast didn't yield the lightest of breads - but they were still good enough - and had a hot cross bun texture. Will probably try Enrique Olvera's concha recipe next but on paper - I don't expect much so I think I will be happy to place Sterling's as my standard recipe.

  • Guanábana sorbet (Sorbete de guanábana)

    • MmeFleiss on August 16, 2017

      Way too much sugar syrup. It overpowered the guanabana.

  • Black beans with pork in charred chile sauce (Chilmole de frijol con puerco)

    • mjes on December 07, 2017

      I didn't go for making my own black mole but found a source with the same list of ingredients. I added tomatillos which were mentioned as a possibility. I should have decreased the water slightly as my cooking method did not boil enough off. This is a wonderful basic recipe that can be served as pork and beans; mash some beans and serve as soup; shred the meat and use as a filling. It makes enough that I gave 3 quarts away and still have enough to last me a week. Taste is wonderful but I will be trying to find fresh herbs where I used dried.

  • Charcoal-grilled chicken in achiote marinade (Pollo asado)

    • TrishaCP on September 08, 2016

      This recipe yielded highly flavorful, delicious grilled chicken. We used large chicken breasts and the brining step kept the meat nice and moist. I used the book's "Recado rojo" recipe for the achiote paste, and it was the best version that I have had. (Luckily, as it makes a ton.)

  • Vegetable dip of toasted squash seeds, roasted tomatoes, and chile (Sikil p'aak)

    • sometimes on August 16, 2025

      Made as written, salting to taste with about half the called for amount and using seeds without hulls. Not much to look at but sure is tasty, and relatively accessible for this book, particularly with sour oranges being more commonly available than they once were, at least in my area. I had a bit of liquid left over and if making this again, I wouldn’t add extra water to bring the blender to 2 cups, and instead would just add more to the dish as needed to control the consistency. Otherwise no notes, will make again.

  • Sweet flute-shaped wafers filled with Edam cheese (Marquesitas)

    • MmeFleiss on September 07, 2016

      I bought this book after making this twice because it's just so good.

  • Wood fire-grilled pork cutlets with charred tomato and onion salsas (Poc chuc/Pokchuk)

    • srewolf on July 27, 2023

      NY Times version: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024375-poc-chuc-citrus-marinated-grilled-pork sort of like Pollo a la Teresa but with pork.

  • Achiote seasoning paste (Recado rojo)

    • TrishaCP on September 08, 2016

      Amazing version of recado rojo, and worth making the full batch if you plan to cook quite a bit from this book, as it is used extensively. It makes a huge amount, so I have frozen what I didn't need to use in other recipes.

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Reviews about this book

  • Saveur

    ...his love for and connection to the region and its fare are evident on every page; it is rare to find such humble passion and vigor in a volume that is so comprehensive and informational.

    Full review
  • ISBN 10 0292735812
  • ISBN 13 9780292735811
  • Published Apr 01 2014
  • Format Hardcover
  • Page Count 576
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher University of Texas Press
  • Imprint University of Texas Press

Publishers Text

The Yucatán Peninsula is home to one of the world's great regional cuisines. With a foundation of native Maya dishes made from fresh local ingredients, it shares much of the same pantry of ingredients and many culinary practices with the rest of Mexico. Yet, due to its isolated peninsular location, it was also in a unique position to absorb the foods and flavors of such far-flung regions as Spain and Portugal, France, Holland, Lebanon and the Levant, Cuba and the Caribbean, and Africa. In recent years, gourmet magazines and celebrity chefs have popularized certain Yucatecan dishes and ingredients, such as Sopa de lima and achiote, and global gastronomes have made the pilgrimage to Yucatán to tantalize their taste buds with smoky pit barbecues, citrus-based pickles, and fiery chiles. But until now, the full depth and richness of this cuisine has remained little understood beyond Yucatán's borders.

An internationally recognized authority on Yucatecan cuisine, chef David Sterling takes you on a gastronomic tour of the peninsula in this unique cookbook, Yucatán: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition. Presenting the food in the places where it's savored, Sterling begins in jungle towns where Mayas concoct age-old recipes with a few simple ingredients they grow themselves. He travels over a thousand miles along the broad Yucatán coast to sample a bounty of seafood; shares "the people's food"at bakeries, chicharronerías, street vendors, home restaurants, and cantinas; and highlights the cooking of the peninsula's three largest cities—Campeche, Mérida, and Valladolid—as well as a variety of pueblos noted for signature dishes. Throughout the journey, Sterling serves up over 275 authentic, thoroughly tested recipes that will appeal to both novice and professional cooks. He also discusses pantry staples and basic cooking techniques and offers substitutions for local ingredients that may be hard to find elsewhere. Profusely illustrated and spiced with lively stories of the region's people and places, Yucatán: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition is the long-awaited definitive work on this distinctive cuisine.



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