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Text and photos by Taylor Byrne Dodge

!e "rst many times I ordered cochinita pibil the deli-cious roasted/steamed pork that is cooked in banana leaves and served in a few Houston-area Mexican restaurants I was adding syllables and rearranging letters, mispronounc-ing it and stumbling over my tongue when I pointed it out on the menu. (Waiters all over Houston probably think Im that girl who had too many margaritas.)

Cochinita translates to baby pig, and the dish comes to us via the Mayans who cook the meat outdoors in an underground roasting pit (the pibil). Pit-cooking doesnt hash out too well with the City of Houstons health codes, so here in Houston, restaurants "nd other ways to keep the meat succulent and gently but thoroughly cooked.

Several months ago the local o#ce of the Mexico

Tourism Board asked if Id like to visit Yucatan, and I jumped at the chance to see how this dish was made by the people who invented it. I also wanted to learn more about a culture that is both exotic and pervasively familiar to us in Mexican Texas.

If youve visited more than one state in Mexico, you know that each of the countrys 31 states has unique traditions and cultures. Much of each states identity comes down from the peoples who lived there before the European invasion, as well as the hybridized cultures that grew up after the colonization of Mexico.

When planning my trip to Yucatan I speci"cally asked for behind-the-scenes experiences that had a culinary focus. As it turns out, Yucatan is a haven for folks who love to learn about food.

Culinary Escape: yucatan

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In Timucuy just outside of Mrida, a womens co-op embroider custom designs on chef s coats for Mexican designer Zoraya Robles. !e clothing line, Zoraya Robles Diseo, features the traditional Mayan artistry of embroidery style often found on huipil dresses (white dresses with animal and "oral embroi-dery around the neckline). Each piece can take weeks or even months to complete. Irene, the leader of this band of seven women explained that working with Zoraya Robles has bene#ted her community where more than a quarter of the residents do not speak Spanish but only their Mayan language. Irene and the other women who include her mother, daugh-ters and nieces dont have running water in their dirt-"oor homes, theyve got ample chickens to care for, and it seems that Irene is the local entrepreneur: She also owns the local tortillaria and an event rental company (mainly tables and chairs used by locals to celebrate quinceneras). She and the ladies let me sit in on a cochinita pibil-making session. With babies on laps or nearby, they wrapped up servings of pork in banana leaves and gave me an overview of their operation. !ey laughed at my jokes, even though the translations from English to Spanish, Spanish to Maya may have been rough. !eir hospitality is some of the best Ive ever experienced, and I was honored to share their table.

CO-OP EMBROIDERy