Cuisine of Cozumel Island for gourmets. Places for dinner - best restaurants

During your holidays on Cozumel, be sure to try the local cuisine. The island is the best place in Mexico where are preserved traditional Indian recipes, although the island chefs cook dishes that appeared after the beginning of the cultural exchange of indigenous people and Europeans. Many local products may seem very spicy, which is not surprising –Indians even tortured criminals using one of the varieties of their seasonings. If you have no desire to find out how well the stomach of the Europeans reacts on spicy food, just ask a waiter to add a minimum amount of seasoning to the dish. By the way, many dishes include neutral beans and corn, largely because of the love of the islanders to chilli.

Be sure to try Chiles en nogada - peppers stuffed with rice and meat served with walnut sauce and pomegranate. Many people consider it the most patriotic local food because the final serving reminds the Mexican flag. Corn tamal stuffed with meat or fish wrapped in a banana leaf is a very delicious local dish. Do not forget that banana leaves are only part of the serving and you shouldn’t eat them. Arrachera is a mysterious word but it is a delicious pickled chop. If you love fatty food, you should pay attention to cochinita pibil (stewed pork). If you love poultry dishes, be sure to try rollo pibil (stewed chicken). Poc chuc is not a too fat and mild dish, cut into slices and served with pepper.

Burrito is a classic local fast food. The dish is made of wheat tortilla, which is wrapped in a variety of fillings. They are usually meat, rice, tomatoes, avocado and overcooked beans, but there are only vegetarian burritos. If you fry a tortilla with a filling in the deep fryer, you get a chimichanga. This dish is most often cooked with meat filling, but you can find variations with fish and seafood. Fajita is grilled meat with vegetables. There is usually used beef, but you can find fajita with chicken, pig or seafood. The dish often includes cheese, sour cream, tomatoes and Pico de Gallo sauce. Tortilla and its filling are served separately, and everyone decides what to add to the dish and what to eat separately. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Molcajete is quite an interesting local dish. In fact, this is not the name of a particular dish, but the method of serving. Pieces of meat of a cow, pig, chicken or even Noal cactus are dipped in the analogue of fondue. Be sure to try nachos - world-famous corn chips. Locals often eat them dipping into another spicy meat sauce. Don't pass by boiled pork with a side dish of vegetables. Fried turkey, pork and beans have been prepared by the locals for a long time. Olla podrida and tacos al pastor are local meat dishes that deserve your attention.

There is quite a large number of fish dishes served on the island. You should try Indian Tik'n Xic (fillet in a sweet pepper) and Pejelagarto (unique local fish with chilli and lime). Local cod with vegetables and lobster with a side dish of avocado will please every gourmet. Do not pass by the local fish cutlets. Posole is a fish soup, where lettuce or cabbage are added before the serving. There is posole with salt and meat. There are also delicious chicken Sopa de Lima and unusual soup with flowers of pumpkin. You should not pass by vegetable gazpacho and meat chilli con carne with beans.

As a dessert, try crunchy churros with chocolate or ice cream. Cortez first tasted chocolate on Cozumel Island. There is still a recipe for making chocolate as it was known to the locals - cocoa beans with vanilla, hot pepper and corn. The taste is different from modern chocolate. Fried bananas, aniseed cookies, caramel sauce and fruit platters will amaze sweet teeth. The most delicious drinks are freshly squeezed juices, cocoa and coffee. If you want to taste hard drinks, pay your attention to beer, mezcal made of agave and tequila. Alcoholic cocktails with local fruit juices are popular on the island.