“Come on in,” Eliodoro Xicum Cobá says with the biggest smile as he greets us at the gate of his soon-to-open restaurant, Xicum, a few roads down from Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado in the city of Valladolid. We are the first guests to sample the young chef's menu before it gets rolled out to the public.
At the back of Xicum, in his open kitchen, Eliodoro’s staff are hand-pressing tortillas and preparing the grill. His concrete table, decorated by a sole stone mortar in the shape of a cockerel, has been turned white by coal ash. The enchanting city of Valladolid is the first stop in my culinary journey across the Yucatán Peninsula, a region famed for its diverse gastronomy, inspired by Mayan culture. As well as cooking traditional dishes in rustic kitchens, I am here to meet a new breed of award-winning young chefs, at the forefront of Merida’s culinary renaissance.
