After spending Sunday afternoon looking at the "alebrijes" along the Paseo de la Reforma, it was time to have dinner. I thought about looking for someplace new along one of the streets to the north of Reforma, but then Alejandro remembered a Yucatecan restaurant not far from the apartment that serves a very special dish only during the Day of the Dead season. So, we took the Metrobus back to our neighborhood. The restaurant is called Seis28, after its address along Insurgentes Avenue, just a few blocks away from the condo. We were fortunate to arrive there when we did because the restaurant closes early at 7:00 P.M. on Sundays.
We started with "sopa de lima", chicken soup flavored with lime, a specialty of the Yucatán. We ordered a pitcher of "jamaica", iced hibiscus tea to drink. The waiter kindly took a photo of us.
The dish that we were eager to have is "mukbilpollo", also called "pib". It is of Mayan origin and is served for the Day of the Dead. It is a giant "tamal" (the singular is not "tamale"!) made with "masa" (corn dough) tomato, pork lard, bell pepper, and onion. It is filled with turkey, chicken, beef or pork (ours was filled with pork), wrapped in a banana leaf, and baked. (In villages of the Yucatán it is baked in an underground pit.) The large "mukbilpollo" easily serves two or more people.
Our waiter came out with the "mukbilpollo", unwrapped the banana leaf, cut the "tamal" into smaller servings, and spooned over it a sauce made with "achiote", a Central American condiment called annatto in English.
It is a delicious dish, and our meal was a perfect ending to a great weekend.
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