Lima Beans and Chayote in Pickled Onions

Peto is a small market town in the southeastern interior of Yucatán, roughly 120 kilometres south of Mérida, situated in the dry scrubland that transitions toward the cattle and milpa country of the Puuc–Chenes borderlands. It sits within the Maya heartland proper, where ib beans have been cultivated continuously since pre-Columbian times and where escabeche cookery — introduced through colonial contact but thoroughly absorbed into local technique — remains the dominant mode of preserving and seasoning cooked vegetables and legumes. The dish belongs to the domestic and market-stall tradition of this southeastern interior zone rather than to the coastal or capital traditions of the peninsula.

Ibes en escabeche is a composed side dish from Peto, in the southeastern interior of Yucatán, built around the ib (Phaseolus lunatus, the regional lima bean), chayote, and jícama, all brought together by the deep, vinegar-spiced brine of Cebollas en escabeche. The dish is plated as a platter: chayote and jícama around the rim, beans in the centre, pickled onions and chile strips laid across the top, quartered hard-boiled eggs as garnish. Two recados — recado para escabeche and recado rojo — are puréed with aromatics and enriched lard to form the cooking liquid for the beans, giving what looks like a simple vegetable dish a layered, acidic depth that reads firmly Yucatecan. It moves quickly from pot to table and loses clarity if it sits.

The dominant note is vinegar-forward and warmly spiced from the escabeche brine, undercut by the earthy, slightly starchy beans and the anise-adjacent recado para escabeche. Jícama brings a cold, water-fresh crunch; chayote is mild and slightly vegetal. The enriched lard rounds the acidity without masking it. At room temperature the flavours are more legible than when hot — the recado spice opens up as the dish cools slightly.