Tamales in Yucatán: Reflections on 52 years of Piib gastronomy

Authors

Allan F. Burns, University of Florida

Author Bio(s)

Allan Burns is professor emeritus in anthropology of the University of Florida. He learned Yucatec Mayan while researching dialects of present-day Mayan in the states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo aa s well as in Belize. His book, An Epoch of Miracles, reflects his interests in Maya oral history and spoken poetry in Yucatan. He has also worked and studied in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador with Maya, Garifuna, and Lenca communities. Burns’ advocacy work with Guatemalan Maya immigrants to Florida resulted in his collaboration with Jeronimo Camposeco in their book Maya in Exile. Burns continues to do pro-bono expert testimony in immigration courts in favor of asylum applicants from Central America.

Publication Date

6-3-2024

Keywords

Quintano Roo, Piib, Mukbi waj, Janali kol, Mukbikax

Abstract

Abstract: “The first time I made tamales in the Yucatan of Mexico was in a village close to Tixcacal Guardia, Quintana Roo in 1972, some 52 years ago as I write this essay. It was in the fall and extended families were celebrating the harvest of milpas with something called “jaanali kol” (the feast of the milpa). We dug a pit, about four by eight feet oblong, lined it with stones, and built a fire. We were all men around the fire, and women were nearby in a house making chicken stew and other foods.” So begins this personal reflection of the anthropologist Allan Burns, recalling his first deep experience in Yucatecan culinary practictices and food culture, continuing over the decades into the present.

Resumen: "La primera vez que hice tamales en Yucatán, México, fue en un pueblo cercano a Tixcacal Guardia, Quintana Roo, en 1972, hace unos 52 años. Era otoño y las familias extendidas celebraban la cosecha de milpas con algo llamado "jaanali kol" (la fiesta de la milpa). Cavamos una fosa, de unos cuatro por ocho pies oblongos, la forramos con piedras y encendimos un fuego. Éramos todos hombres alrededor del fuego, y las mujeres estaban cerca, en una casa, haciendo estofado de pollo y otras comidas". Así comienza esta reflexión personal del antropólogo Allan Burns, recordando su primera y profunda experiencia en las prácticas culinarias y la cultura alimentaria yucatecas, que se prolongó durante décadas hasta el presente.

DOI

10.62915/2688-9188.1158

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