Street Corners of Merida / Las Esquinas de Merida

The Pineapple.  Sweet and juicy.  Delicious grilled as a side dish or part of a healthy dessert.  Also tasty when baked into an upside down cake in a nod to 1950's cuisine.  When mixed with rum, lime juice, coconut milk and crushed ice, it becomes the quintessential Caribbean beach drink of choice.  And here in the Yucatan, it is a required element in tacos al pastor, where thinly sliced, heavily spiced pork is piled onto a vertical spit and rotated in front of a flame to cook it, just like middle eastern gyros.  You will often see a pineapple atop the spit, allowing the juices to continually flavour the meat as it cooks.   The meat is then shaved onto the tortilla, topped with cilantro, onions and, yes, pineapple.  Sometimes, the pineapple is combined with roasted habañero for an amazingly delicious sweet and spicy salsa.  Pineapples originated in South America, but made their way to Mexico and were cultivated by the Mayans.  Th...