WELCOME
to K' u'uk
This web-link is very special as it can only be found using the QR code printed on the menu that you have right now in your hands.
We will celebrate with you 10 years of tradition and avant-garde mexican cuisine embodied in a beautiful tour of Yucatecan flavors, creativity, love for our land and complicity of all the great members of our family.
These 10 years are for you.
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-Eduardo, Pedro and the entire K´u´uk family
2014
Fake Fossil
2018
Codzito Sikil Pak
2012
2012
Lemon soup
2022
Warak Enab Tetela
2021
Tabbouleh, labneh & Star Apple
Gingko Biloba, nopal, basil, minnow & tapioca.
*This small snack has the intention of positioning us 30 kilometers north of K'u'uk, in Chicxulub. Exactly where 65 million years ago -in the Cretaceous-Tertiary period.- an iron & iridium asteroid, with a diameter of more than 11 kilometers, stroke the earth with enough force to almost kill all the living species including all the dinosaurs.
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Why Ginkgo? It is a kind of living fossil tree dating back 270 million years. This tree is believed to have diversified during the Middle Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, making it one of the favorite foods of herbivores at that time. Therefore, a predominant flavor among prehistoric animal species.
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The piece of metal on which this snack is mounted is part of a 4.5 billion year old meteorite, born in the formation of our solar system. This piece comes from the asteroid belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter, and was found in an area called Campo del Cielo, in Argentina, where it fell from the sky more than 4,000 years ago.
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Young corn chip, mayan pumpkin seed & tomato paste (Sikil Paak), onion and xkat'iik mayonnaise.
*Snack that brings us closer to the original Mayan flavors. The Maize & the pumpkin seed that have always been always an important part of the traditional mayan cuisine, plus the nice touch of the xkat chilli mayonnaise.
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The word Codzito comes from the Mayan Kotz´ which means ``rolled up´´. The Mayan word Sikil means pumpkin seed and the word P'aak means tomato.
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Back in 2018 we made this beautiful bite based on the downtown canteen´s snacks from Mérida for an event, and it was a hit with the guests. After it, we decided to always include the Codzito as a party snack at K´u´uk´s events.
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Lemon and free range turkey broth, sweet pepper, coriander & tortilla.
*One of the classic Yucatecan dishes with which, back in 2012, we opened the path for experimentation within traditional dishes.​
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We prepare this lemon broth as in the old days, but with the landlords recipe, boiling only clean turkey and using the broth to mix it with the lemon. The result is a much more subtle broth, low in fat and pleasant on the palate. Almost like a tea.
Lamb & rice stuffed grape leaf with Arabic recado, wrapped in corn dough & marinated with guajillo, ancho and pasilla peppers.
*In 2021, in the town of Timucuy, Yucatan, we found an organic lamb farm with an incredible high quality meat, so we took the opportunity and included some very tasty plates in our menu.
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For this year we decided to continue supporting them by cooking & offering this tetela. Strong in flavor and consistency, aiming to show that the mixing of flavors within our cultures can still happen, such as here: the vine roll (Warak Enab) , corn dough tetela and a pepper paste widely used in mexican cuisine.
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Wheat, mint, olive oil, labneh and star apple puree in clarified red tomato broth.
*Traditional cold salad of the Arab cuisine, prepared on fresh lettuce, Eduardo's mom labneh recipe and local star apple purée.
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Another example of how cultures and ingredients can still mix and generate delicious flavors.
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Mahi Mahi, rosemary & leek butter in a chaya kimchi with carrots, lettuce, red onion, sesame seeds & chawa'iik-guajillo chili.
​*The chaya or tree spinach is a plant with hard leaves and intense flavor widely used in yucatecan gastronomy.
Our Kimchi, with Korean origins, a culture also firmly present in the history of yucatecan cuisine, is cooked by fermenting the chaya with the lettuce, carrots and onions and seasoned with some sesame seeds, guajillo and chawá chilies. These last ones are also use to make the black yucatecan recado paste, present in all the amazing black dishes that you can find locally.
2013
Esquite Pibinal
Mayan underground-cooked corn, double cream cheese from Chiapas, xcat'iik cream and piquín pepper.
*The elote pibinal is traditionally consumed after the milpa´s harvest and also for the celebration of the Hanal Pixán (day of the dead).
It consists in cookin the maize for 3-days buried underground, in a Pib, the Mayan oven. Pib in mayan language means buried and Nal means cob or maize.
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The presentation of this dish pays tribute to its pre-hispanic origins. To the corn -pillar of the Mayan diet- and to the land which sustains the crops & milpas.
2012
Pib Pumpkin
Xcaita local pumpkin, piloncillo, sweet potato, yogurt, goat cheese and candied almonds.
*Local pumpkin injected with piloncillo (also called panela) cooked underground (pib style). The mild-bitter flavor of this squash is leveled by a roasted sweet potato, candied roasted almonds, plain yogurt and nitro goat cheese.
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All this presented inside a coconut and sugar-based bubble containing a smoke flavored vapour.
2021
Sunflower, squash & Mole
Squash blossom cream, black persimmon & date Mole, pumpkin& sunflower seeds, pumpkin seed oil & sunflower oil, sunflower petals.
*This squash blossom cream -for us- has been one of the most emotional dishes so far, since it contains such a great amount of unusual flavors that, when mixed, complement each other in a memorable and beautiful way.
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We bring the sunflowers from an organic flower yard located in the municipality of Tetiz, Yucatan. Recently it got a lot of attention from social media photographers.
2022
Coconut, Scallop & Fenugeerk
Fenugreek cookies, Lion´s-paw clam emulsion and scallop, tender coconut, lemon and habanero chili vinaigrette.
*Fresh products from the two mexican peninsulas.
The Lion´s-paw clam from Ensenada, BC and the coconut from our Yucatecan coast. The fenugreek gives us, in addition to many health benefits, a strong flavor similar to maple.
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The fenugreek seed belongs to the Fabaceae family. Its ancient use, since the Egyptian times, includes its oils to combat body wrinkles. Today it is used as a general fortifier for the human body.
2018
Tikinxic Octopus
Mayan octopus, annatto, oregano and coriander.
*One of our beloved dishes that goes out from the -a la carte- menu and presented in a new tasting version.
The mayan octopus is a carnivorous species endemic to the coasts of Campeche and Yucatan. The tikin xic preparation includes cooking it slowly over the embers smeared in a red recado paste made with annatto, sour orange and some other spices.
2022
Mahi Mahi & Tree Spinach Kimchi
2014
Creolle suckling Pig & Lentil Stew
Creolle suckling pig, three days cooked lentil stew, longaniza sausage from Valladolid, Yucatán, smoked meat from Temozón, radish, rutabaga and cauliflower.
* An emblematic dish from chef Pedro's traditional cuisine that contemplates a lentil stew recipe from his mother - Mrs. Raquel Puerto - cooked over slow fire for three days along with longaniza and smoked meat. The very tender suckling pig´s meat and the three vegetables that gives us a unique balance.
2017
Beef Tongue
Beef tongue, freeze-dried beef heart and liver, corazón de mantequilla cheese & spinach Mole.
*Intense mix of daring ingredients -and at the same time they are anciently rustic- where the beef heart and liver are dehydrated using the lyophilization technique, which consists of freezing the product and putting it under high vacuum. When it thaws, it dehydrates by sublimation, thus preserving many of its properties and enhancing its flavour.
2018
Tá ´uch
Black persimmon, sour orange and tajonal honey.
*The black sapote or black persimmon is a seasonal fruit that is harvested between the months of June to August. This fruit is highly appreciated in Yucatecan palates for its freshness and is regularly prepared by mixing the pulp with sweet orange.
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The meaning of ta'uch in Mayan literally is: monkey excrement, although there are those who affirm that the name comes from Ta (excrement), Puuch (crushed), due to its color.
2019
Piña colada & Algae
Red seaweed, coconut, pineapple.
*This is the first dessert in which we use fresh algae cultivated in a marine laboratory from the Yucatecan coast.
Mixing the coconut and pineapple, like a piña colada, gives us a sensation of tropical freshness similar to the beach bars of the 80's.
2014
Honeycomb
Melipona bee honey cookie, Dzidzilché-flower honey, pollen, fiber, LYO mushrooms, passion fruit and ceremonial baalché.
*This dessert marked one of the most important creative stages of K´u´uk. In it, all the kitchen areas contributed with an idea, a technique or an ingredient. It tries to resemble a section of the Melipona honeycomb in a delicious and beautiful way.
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In our 10 years tasting menu we decided to bring this dessert as an small bite, slightly different than the -a la carte- menu, dessert that was featured in various international publications and triggered an amazing new way of presenting honey desserts & sweets.
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The melipona bee is distributed throughout the Mexican territory, with a more noticeable presence in the Yucatán Peninsula, reaching Brazil and Argentina.
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This species of bee was the most cultivated by the Mayans, who called it Xunan Kab, the sacred Mayan bee, the stingless bee.
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Its honey is very precious and hard to harvest, since its honeycombs are formed inside tree trunks or branches, within which the larvae are located in lines of honeycombs, the pollen and honey in different amphorae and covered with sheets of organic material.
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The Dzidzilché flower is a very fragrant flower that is distributed from Oaxaca to Honduras. The honey that the bees extract from this flower is extremely rich in sugars, clear and highly appreciated.
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Baalche liquor is a pre-Hispanic drink used to carry out different rituals of physical and spiritual purification to achieve communication with the gods. It is also used as an offering for good harvests.
This drink is obtained by fermenting a type of mead inside the bark of the Baalche tree, along with other ingredients such as cinnamon and pineapple.
2012
Chocolate & Tomato
Red tomato, chipotle & piquín peppers, sour cream, chocolate de metate & berries.
*With this dessert prepared with a sweet tomato compote, sour cream ice cream, chocolate de metate and nitro berries, we began our story of creative desserts.
At first we believed that bringing desserts to the table that did not look like desserts would be not accepted. Putting flavor before aesthetics. Well, it was a pleasant surprise for us to see how our guests thought that they fit perfectly into the idea of a creative and avant-garde menu.
2012
Rice & Radish
Fluffy rice flan, radish ice cream, milk charcoal and pickled radish.
*This dessert was another clear example of the intention of not presenting conventional desserts and using unusual ingredients inside our sweet world of plates.
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The radish comes from our organic garden, always in the care of Marcelino (Masú), our faithful gardener and Mayan land lover.
This is one of K'u'uk's memorable desserts and we wanted to bring it back for you.
2016
Merengue, guayaba y amaranto
Amaranth Dehydrated meringue, guava ice cream and pink pepper.
*The amaranth was used by the Aztecs to make transactions and was considered sacred because it was very resistant to drought. It also was a pre-Columbian food that gave strength to warriors.
The Mayans were the first culture in America to use it as food, they called it Xtes, and later the Aztecs used it for religious purposes.
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The guava is a very common fruit in the Yucatán Peninsula, and it is believed that it is responsible for the name guayabera, the elegant shirt that is used practically throughout the Caribbean. It is believed that their large bags were designed to contain the guavas that were harvested in the cuban fields.
2015
Seeds & Grasshopper Brittle
Seeds, salted caramel and grasshoppers from Oaxaca.
*The palanqueta is a typical Mexican sweet made from seeds -peanut, pumpkin or others- glued with honey or piloncillo forming a brittle. It can be found regularly at street vendors, outside schools, squares and parks .
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Grasshoppers are considered an exotic pre-Hispanic food product that contains a high protein value. We prepared this brittle thinking in making it easier for newbies to try grasshoppers for the first time. Rich, crisp and sweet. México.
2022
Coffee Bonbons
Coffee and semi bitter chocolate ganache.
*The happy ending that everyone expects, chocolate with the taste of a good coffee.
This is how Karla - our pastry chef at K'u'uk- thought it.
In addition to preparing all these delicious desserts, Karlita has one or two more surprises for you to take home & for thanking you for being part of this amazing journey.
WE HOPE YOU LIKE OUR WAY OF COOKING
THAT IS ALSO OUR WAY OF LOVING.
AS WE USED TO SAY BACK IN 2012 AS AN EXPRESSION OF UNITY
IN LAK ECH ( I AM YOU)
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Mérida, Yucatán 2022
Muchas Gracias...
​K´u´uk 10 años
+52.999.944.33.77