“Wonderful way to get a feel for the city and a beautiful introduction to Yucatan flavors!”
— Courtney, 2025
01 Food tours
Original food tours, curated with our local tastemakers to showcase the neighbourhood kitchens, markets and family-run eateries that define Merida.
Yucatan Flavours
Merida
A 4-hour guided journey through Mérida’s most authentic Yucatecan flavours.
Twilight Tastes
Merida
Discover the Yucatán's Mayan table — cochinita pibil, sopa de lima and xnipec.
02 Meet the tastemakers
The local food experts who help us research, refine and lead every A Chef's Tour.
Cochinita pibil buried under banana leaf, sopa de lima with turkey, xnipec habanero salsa, papadzules in pumpkin seed sauce. The Yucatan table is Mayan first, Mexican second.
04 The pantry
- Achiote paste, brick-red annatto seasoning for cochinita pibil
- Sour orange, bitter naranja agria for marinades
- Habanero, blistering-hot chilli for xnipec salsa
- Pumpkin seeds, ground into pipian and papadzules sauce
- Chaya leaves, spinach-like Mayan green
05 In the kitchen
- Marinating pork in achiote and sour orange before wrapping in banana leaf
- Pit-cooking cochinita pibil in a covered fire underground
- Grinding pumpkin seeds into a green sauce for papadzules
- Roasting habaneros for the xnipec pickled-onion salsa
- Cooking salbutes and panuchos fresh on the comal
06 Eat this first
- Cochinita pibil, achiote pork slow-cooked in banana leaves under a pit
- Sopa de lima, turkey broth soured with local sour lime
- Panuchos, refried tortillas stuffed with black beans and topped with cochinita
- Papadzules, tortillas rolled around egg under pumpkin-seed sauce
- Poc chuc, sour-orange marinated pork grilled fast over charcoal
What happens inside a hammam kitchen
A morning with the cooks who feed the neighbourhood before dawn. Charcoal, dough, the smell of a bakery working its second oven.
09 Recipes
A collection of authentic recipes we couldn't leave behind.
Fluffy corn masa filled with pork shredded in red guajillo-ancho salsa, wrapped in corn husks and steamed. The classical Mexican tamal, red edition.
Oaxaca's street mash-up: a crunchy tostada base piled with hot esquite corn, mayo, cheese, lime and chile. The prehispanic dish gets a modern platform.
Fried tortillas stuffed with black beans and topped with shredded turkey, pickled red onion and avocado — the Yucatán's crunchy answer to the tostada.
Fresh fruit blended with water and a splash of lime — the mercado thirst-quencher. Jamaica, horchata, tamarindo, sandía or piña, poured from big glass tanks.
A silky caramel-topped custard, richer and denser than the European original. Mexico's most-eaten dessert, born in nuns' kitchens 300 years ago.
Pineapple-marinated pork carved off a spinning vertical trompo, caught on a small tortilla with a flick of chopped pineapple, onion and coriander. Mexico City's most famous taco.
10 Field Notes
Quick field notes to help you get accustomed to Merida.
Weather
Hot and humid year-round. Yucatán is the sunniest and hottest part of Mexico. December to February is milder; May before the rains is brutal.
Currency
The Mexican peso (MXN). Cash for markets and taxis; cards for restaurants and hotels. Small notes are useful.
Language
Spanish. Yucatec Maya is spoken widely in the region and heard in Mérida markets. English coverage is decent in the tourist centre.
Etiquette
Warm and traditional. Modest dress at cenotes and Mayan sites; sit-and-chat culture is strong. Plazas fill in the evenings.
Getting around
The historic centre is walkable. Uber and DiDi both work. Colectivos and ADO buses reach the coast, cenotes, and Mayan ruins.
Prayer
Predominantly Catholic layered over deep Mayan traditions. Hanal Pixán (the Yucatec Day of the Dead) is a major community observance.