Ask anyone about traditional cooking in the Yucatan and you're bound to hear the name Miriam Peraza, a grandmotherly dynamo who knows every nook and cranny. She brings Rick to the bustling Mercado de Lucas de Galvez in Merida for a quick tour that includes a rare look at the making of recado spice pastes. Flanked by villagers in the remote town of Yaxunah, Miriam and Rick drop in to watch the making of pit-cooked cochinita pibil, the Yucatan's iconic dish of achiote-smothered, pit-cooked suckling pig. At Manjarblanco restaurant in Merida, Miriam shows her take on classic panuchos, sopa de lima and queso relleno. Then, Rick brings some of the Yucatan back to Chicago, where he cooks papadzules and shows how to make cochinita pibil at home - banana leaves and quick-pickled onions included.
