Fine Dining for the Dead

Hanal Pixan Altar, Izamal, Yucatán, MX 2023

Hanan Pixel Altar, Akumal, Quintana Roo, MX

In the Maya-speaking states of Quintana Roo and Yucatán, in Mexico, Dia de los Metros, the Day of the Dead, are known as Hanal Pixán.  Hanal and Pixán, respectively, mean food and soul and the Maya language and used together, the phrase means "food for the souls".  This is literally the point of all Day of the Dead celebrations, whether in the Maya lands or in central Mexico,  The idea is to provide food (and drink) for the deceased to encourage them to return to the land of the living for an annual visit, maintaining a link between the living and the dead.

There is one dish that is characteristic of Hanal Pixán altars that you will not find in other parts of Mexico. That is mukbil pollo which translates as "buried chicken"; the dish is also called "pibes".  Mukbil Pollo is a chicken tamale wrapped in banana lives and cooked in a hole in the ground; the realm of the dead. It has a distinctive smokiness due to the way it is cooked.

Mukbil Pollo

The thing is that living people also like Mukbil Pollo.  It has a wonderful smoky aroma and taste because of the way it is cooked-wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an open fire underground. Several years ago, I had the dish in a restaurant in Izamal during the time of Hanal Pixan. Hoping for a repeat, I drove the three hours to Izamal from my home base in Quintana Roo, since Mukbil Pollo is generally not available commercially'. It typically s cooked in homes for the express purpose of the altars.

Arriving in Izamal, a fascinating town with a rich colonial colonial history and the beautiful 16th century monastery of San Antonio de Padua, I began my inquiries. They turned up nothing.

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Convento of San Antonio de Padua, Izamal Yucatán

Izamal, Yucatán

Street scene, Izamal, Yucatán, showing monastery wall

Finally, someone told me about a woman with a tricycle cart who sold mukbil pollo, daily, proving my point that the dish attracts the living as well as the dead. Asking as I went, I found her street and then her house.  Peering in her house, I could see the pibes (same as Mukbil Pollo). 

House interior, Izamal, Yucatan 

Mukbil Pollo orders for Hanal Pixán altars, Izamal, Yucatán

Counting the orders of Mukbil Pollo, Izamal, Yucatán

The woman was a good businesswoman and had her grand-daughter tally orders to see if there was spare for me.   As she counted the orders, I decided not to to take food out of a dead person's mouth, thanked her and told her to hold onto her orders in case one was needed for a last-minute altar.

Back on the street I started, once again, making my inquiries.  I was in luck- a restaurant down the block, the finest in the town, was serving mukbil pollo to living humans.   I'd managed to stumble into Izamal's fine-dining establishment, the beautiful Restaurant Kinich Izamal. 

 Kinich's special for the day- it was November 1, the second day of Hanal Pixán- was none other than Mukbil Pollo.  The portion was huge, as one is typically split by a whole family.  I'm not sure if it was actually cooked in the traditional way, stuck in a fire in a hole in the ground, but it was close enough.

Restaurante Kinich Izamal

Mukbil Pollo, R Kinich, Izamal, Yucatan

A sizable box of left-overs in hand, I walked back to my car for the 3 hour return trip.