Papadzules (;

Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish () is the variety of dialects and sociolects of the Spanish language spoken in Mexico and its bordering regions. Mexico has the largest number of Spanish speakers, more than double any other country in the world. Spanish is spo ...

, from

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

) is a traditional dish from the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

resembling

enchilada An enchilada (, ) is a Mexican cuisine, Mexican dish consisting of a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a savory sauce. Enchiladas can be filled with various ingredients, including meats, cheese, beans, potatoes, vegetables, ...

s. In its simplest form it consists of

corn tortilla In Mexico and Central America, a corn tortilla or just tortilla (, ) is a type of thin, unleavened flatbread, made from hominy, that is the whole kernels of maize treated with alkali to improve their nutrition in a process called nixtamalizati ...

s dipped in a sauce of ''

pepita A pumpkin seed, also known as a ''pepita'' (from the Mexican , 'little seed of squash'), is the edible seed of a pumpkin or certain other cultivars of squash. The seeds are typically flat and oval with two axes of symmetry, have a white outer ...

'' (pumpkin seeds) filled with hard-boiled eggs, and garnished with a cooked tomato-pepper sauce.

Etymology

Two theories exist about the origin of the name.

Diana Kennedy Diana Kennedy (; 3 March 1923 – 24 July 2022) was a British food writer. The preeminent English-language authority on Mexican cuisine, Kennedy was known for her nine books on the subject, including '' The Cuisines of Mexico'', which changed ...

says it derives from a phrase meaning "food of the lords" because this dish was reportedly fed to the Spaniards. Variations of this etymology appear elsewhere. The second theory posits that it derives from Mayan ''papakʼ'', to

anoint Anointing is the ritual, ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body. By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, ...

or smear, and ''sul'', to soak or drench, making the meaning something along the lines of "smeared and drenched".

History

Papadzules are said to be a very ancient dish, the forerunner of modern enchiladas, even. However, it is not clear that this dish was actually made in pre-Hispanic times, at least in the way it is made today. First, there is a lack of comals in the archaeological record of the Yucatán, implying that the Mayans did not make the thin tortillas required for filling. Second, the historical record seems to indicate that the Mayans preferred making thicker tortillas cooked in ashes. These thicker tortillas, depending on how thick they were, would have been harder to fill. The modern ''pim'' (Mayan thick tortilla) can range in thickness from the height of three tortillas up to approximately half an inch. Regardless of whether or not the dish was constructed in the pre-Hispanic period as it is today, the ancient Mayans would have had access to all of the basic ingredients used in the modern dish. Corn, tomatoes, and chiles were all staples in the Mesoamerican diet. Pumpkin seeds, likewise, were an important part of the Mayan diet. Chicken eggs were unknown to pre-Hispanic Mayans, but several other fowl capable of providing eggs were known and eaten.

Turkeys The turkey is a large bird in the genus ''Meleagris'', native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocell ...

and

muscovy duck The Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') is a duck native to the Americas, from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. The species has been Domestic Muscovy duck, domesticated, and feral Muscovy ducks can b ...

s were both domesticated, and both produce edible eggs. In addition to that, the Mayans ate non-domesticated fowl including the

curassow Curassows are one of the three major groups of cracid birds. They comprise the largest-bodied species of the cracid family. Three of the four genera are restricted to tropical South America; a single species of ''Crax'' ranges north to Mexico. ...

, crested guan,

horned guan The horned guan (''Oreophasis derbianus'') is an endangered species in an ancient group of birds of the family Cracidae, which are related to the Australasian megapodes or mound builders (Megapodiidae). It is found in Mexico, Guatemala, and pos ...

chachalaca Chachalacas are galliform birds from the genus ''Ortalis''. These birds are found in wooded habitats in the far southern United States (Texas), Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly ...

, and

ocellated turkey The ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocellata'') is a species of turkey residing primarily in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, as well as in parts of Belize and Guatemala. A relative of the North American wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo''), it wa ...

, although it is unclear the extent to which edible eggs could have been obtained from these birds. Aside from the eggs of fowl,

iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti, J.N. Laurenti in ...

eggs were also used in Mayan cooking and could conceivably have been used to make this dish.

Preparation

Papadzules are prepared by filling a tortilla dipped in a pumpkin seed sauce with chopped hard-boiled eggs. The sauce is created by toasting pumpkin seeds, grinding them to a powder, and blending with a broth of

epazote ''Dysphania ambrosioides'', formerly ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'', known as epazote, Jesuit's tea, Mexican tea or wormseed, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to the Americas. Description ''Dysphania ambrosioides'' is an annual p ...

. However, prior to blending, the toasted, ground seeds have their oil extracted by mixing the powder with a small amount of water and squeezing the resulting paste by hand. This oil is collected and reserved for use as a garnish. After the tortillas have been dipped in the pumpkin seed sauce and filled, the dish is topped with a cooked tomato-chilli sauce. Traditionally, the chilli used in this sauce is the

habanero The habanero (; ) is a pungent cultivar of ''Capsicum chinense'' chili pepper. Unripe habaneros are green, and they color as they mature. The most common color variants are orange and red, but the fruit may also be white, brown, yellow, green, ...

. Finally, the reserved oil is sprinkled on top. In the Yucatán, a specific type of pumpkin seed, called ''xt’op'' (

) or ''pepita gruesa'' (Spanish), is used for this dish. These seeds come from the type of pumpkin called ''xka’al''.Hamman 1998, p 94

References

External links

Recipe from Epicurious.com

Information on the cuisine of Yucatan
{{Mexican cuisine Ancient dishes Culture of Yucatán Mexican egg dishes Mesoamerican cuisine Tortilla-based dishes

Etymology

History

Preparation

See also

References

External links