THE LURE OF COASTAL YUCATAN

On the Gulf of Mexico 45 minutes north of my house in Merida, are the fishing ports and beach restaurants.

With its weathered fishermen

And flamingo sanctuaries.

As well as Yucatan’s Salt Production

“The salt flats in the Rio Lagartos bio reserve.

The 10-to-12-month process of producing salt from seawater starts with water pumped directly from the saltwater lagoon between the ocean and the salt farm. After that initial water is pumped in, it passes from pond to pond by gravity, increasing its salinity concentration as it evaporates to a greater degree in each pond until it reaches such saltiness that only the halobacteria can survive, and the water or brine turns pink.”

Mexico News Daily

Coloring the flamingoes when they eat the brine shrimp and other animal and plant plankton.

And my favorite local fish is Boquinete or hog fish.

At the beach

For deep-fried with fresh-squeezed lime juice and chopped habanero chilies.

Or in a pinch the local grouper.

Out in the Gulf of Mexico from Holbox to catch fish for ceviche.

But first our bait man.

And whatever we caught near the beach for Ceviche which we made right there on the dock.

Or its cousin, aguachile, not traditionally Yucatecan (originally the coast of Sinaloa) but it is now. Made of shrimp and fish marinated with Jalapeno or Serrano chilies, lime juice, salt, avocado, cilantro, and slices of cucumber and red onion.

When presented like this it is ceviche taken into high style.

For a recipe, click on this: https://www.isabeleats.com/aguachile

After the morning ceviche we went out again to catch blue crabs.

While diving in Alacranes, the island out in the Gulf of Mexico from Progreso, while some were excited about Barracuda, I was not. Having tasted it first on the Great Barrier Reef when I was six. And not liked it then.

For me Alacranes was all about lobster.

And had brought a case of tequila on board the dive boat to bribe the local fishermen. They chopped up the meat, squeezed fresh lime juice on it, cast on some sea of the local sea salt. The lobster was still twitching and, despite and because of the, was at the top of the list of best food experiences in my life.

On the beach later in the day, the fishermen cooked lobster in pig fat. I dipped fresh bread fire-toasted rolls in the fat, stuffed them with tender octopus, and downed them with ice cold beer.

Back on shore at the end of the next day.

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