SF Gate almost visits the Yucatan

"When people think of Mexican food, they certainly don't think of the Yucatan," said Jacqueline Higuera McMahan, who writes The Chronicle's South to North column. "It's one of my favorite areas, but one that, up to this point, has been sort of neglected."

Facing the Gulf of Mexico at the country's slender southern tip, the Yucatan Peninsula includes the states of Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo. Separated from the rest of Mexico by mountains and jungle, its people were isolated until modern times and looked to the Caribbean, and beyond to Europe, for trading partners.

From their contact with Cuba, Yucatecans developed a taste for black beans, fiery habanero chiles (related to the Caribbean Scotch bonnet), and garlicky meat marinades made with the sour juice of the Seville orange. The Spaniards introduced saffron and olives; Lebanese spice traders brought kibbe; and the Dutch left behind Edam cheese, which Yucatecans stuff with ground pork, olives and raisins and bake until soft.

The Mayans, the peninsula's indigenous people, contributed the technique of cooking meat in a closed pit lined with river stones and banana leaves. Cochinita pibil, the pit-roasted pork that is perhaps the Yucatan's signature dish, derives its name from the Mayan word "pib," for pit.