Cooking in the Yucatán

Transita Varguez Pacheco has been a live-in cook in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula for more than 50 years. Mauricio Velazquez de Leon describes cooking with her in his story Queen of the Yucatan »_

Transita Varguez Pacheco feeding scraps of lettuce to the turkeys that live in the yard of the 18th-century hacienda near Merida where she works.

At the central market in Merida, Transita Varguez Pacheco selects tomatoes for lunch.

Bags of Yucatecan seasoning pastes, called recados, for sale at the central market in Merida.

Transita Varguez Pacheco in her employer's kitchen.

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Clockwise from bottom right: Transita Varguez Pacheco, her sister Ernestina, granddaughter Azul, friend Angelica, and employer Margarita "Wiggie" Andrews, peel and chop chayotes for a cold chayote soup.

Transita Varguez Pacheco's granddaughter Azul grills chicken over a coal fire for pollo en escabeche oriental, a Yucatecan-style chicken and onion stew.