While a growing number of families seek Christmas dinner alternatives, like the romeritos popular in Mexico City, turkey still reigns on the Yucatecan dinner table. Newspapers including Diario de Yucatán today are reacting to a report from the Unión Nacional de Avicultores, the association of Mexican poultry producers.
Whether served with asado con recado rojo, smoked, with pineapple, curry or “drunk” with beer, turkey is the preferred holiday dish.
Year round, the people here consume 5 kilograms of pavo per year, more than double the average in the rest of the country. But that’s lower than turkey consumption in the U.S. (7.6 kg), and closer to Canada’s average (4.7 kg).
The state is self-sufficient in turkey production, and is second only to Chihuahua in output from turkey farms.
Writing for Zester Daily last year about the Christmas feast in Mérida, Nancy Zaslavsky, author of “A Cook’s Tour of Mexico,” set the scene in Santa Lucia Park before sharing a recipe for Turkey Escabeche, rubbed with recado de bistec and grilled on mesquite.
Or there’s a much easier Christmas tradition in Mérida: Head to García Ginerés and the Schirp German deli, run by a family that has been in the city for 80 years. Aside from their salami and pastrami, Schirp offers a stuffed turkey for 25 people for 1,850 pesos.
