Chef Lupita
Xec Yucateco
Yucatán's Hanal Pixán fruit salad, jícama matchsticks shuffled with mandarina, naranja dulce, toronja, and naranja agria, finished with chile piquín and cilantro. Mayan in origin, peninsular in identity.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Chef Lupita
Coditos con Piña y Jamón
Yucatán's birthday-table coditos, elbow macaroni folded with diced jamón, pineapple in syrup, mayonesa, and media crema. Sweet, rich, and unapologetic, the pasta salad that anchors every fiesta from Mérida to Tizimín.
Chef Lupita
Ensalada de Atún Yucateca
Yucatán's cantina tuna salad, built on naranja agria, minced habanero, celery, and hierbabuena. Eaten cold on saltines with a slice of habanero on top and a Montejo beer in the other hand.
Chef Lupita
Ensalada de Chaya con Pepita
Yucatán's milpa salad of blanched chaya, toasted pepita, naranja agria, and habanero, finished with shaved queso de bola and pickled red onion. The green of the gods, treated with the respect it demands.
Chef Lupita
Salpicón de Pescado Yucateco
Yucatán's coastal shredded-fish salad, poached sierra dressed with naranja agria, cebolla morada, habanero, and rabanito, piled cold onto a tostada and eaten in the courtyard heat of a Mérida afternoon.
Chef Lupita
Ensalada César Yucateca
Mérida's regional Caesar, dressed with naranja agria where the lemon would go, queso de bola where the parmesan would go, and codzitos fried in lard where the croutons would go.
Chef Lupita
Dzik de Res
Yucatán's cold shredded beef salad, brisket simmered with epazote then pulled by hand and tossed with rabanito, cilantro, red onion, habanero, and naranja agria. Eaten over hand-pressed tostadas.
Chef Lupita
Repollo Curtido Yucateco
Yucatán's pickled cabbage, finely shredded repollo blanched and steeped in naranja agria with toasted Maya oregano, red onion, and habanero. The bright partner that cochinita pibil cannot do without.
Chef Lupita
Cebollas Moradas en Escabeche Yucatecas
Yucatán's pink pickled red onions, blanched and steeped in naranja agria with allspice, charred habanero, and oregano yucateco. The Peninsula's table garnish, in every fonda from Mérida to Tizimín.
Chef Lupita
Ensalada Rusa Yucateca
Yucatán's pink rusa, cubed papa, zanahoria, chícharo, and betabel bound in mayonesa con limón and naranja agria. The mandatory cold side that sits beside the cochinita and the relleno negro at every family table from Mérida to Tizimín.
Chef Lupita
Ensalada de Frijol Negro con Pepita
Yucatán's cool cantina botana of black beans, sliced rabanito, cebolla morada softened in naranja agria, fresh cilantro, and a fistful of toasted pepita scattered across the top.
Chef Lupita
Ensalada de Pollo Yucateca
Yucatán's birthday-table chicken salad: poached pollo with papa, zanahoria, chícharo, manzana, pasitas, and nuez de Castilla, bound in mayonesa brightened with naranja agria and mustaza. Served cold from the courtyard table.
Chef Lupita
Salpicón de Rabanitos Yucateco
Yucatán's sharp radish cut, finely diced rabanitos with cilantro, cured purple onion, and naranja agria. The bright counterweight that makes frijol con puerco and cochinita work on the plate.
Chef Lupita
Ensalada de Remolacha Yucateca
Yucatán's cantina beet salad, cubed betabel folded with cebolla morada macerated in naranja agria, fresh habanero, cilantro, and oregano yucateco. The pink dish that arrives with the cold beer.
Chef Lupita
Ensalada de Ibes Yucateca
Yucatan's Maya milpa salad: tender ibes cured with naranja agria and pink onion, sharpened by habanero and radish, the way a senora in Merida or Tizimin would put it on the courtyard table.
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary Explorer