The First Traditional Cooks Gathering in Quintana Roo Brings Smoke-Kitchen Maya Food to Tulum

Quintana Roo's first traditional cooks gathering will bring certified cooks from across the state and their smoke-kitchen dishes to Parque del Jaguar in Tulum on November 21 and 22, Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa announced Saturday.

The state government says it is the first time in Quintana Roo's history that its traditional cooks will present their food and techniques at a single event. It will happen inside the federal complex that surrounds the Tulum archaeological zone, so dishes usually cooked over wood fires in village kitchens will be served in the same park as one of the most photographed sites on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

Lezama made the announcement in Chetumal alongside state tourism secretary Bernardo Cueto Riestra. Cooks will serve from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and the state says admission to the gathering is free and open to residents, visitors, and tourists.

Cooks from Chetumal to Lázaro Cárdenas

The participating cooks come from Chetumal, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Nuevo Durango, and Lázaro Cárdenas, according to the state, which named those places as part of a longer list it has not published in full.

The names cover the state from end to end. Chetumal, the capital, sits on the bay that borders Belize. Felipe Carrillo Puerto, south of Tulum on Highway 307, is the historic center of Quintana Roo's Maya zone. Lázaro Cárdenas is the northernmost municipality, which includes Holbox.

The government describes every participant as a certified traditional cook. Its announcement provides no headcount and does not name the institution that granted the certification.

Relleno negro, toksel, and an octopus taco with castacán

Lezama singled out four specialties. Visitors will be able to taste octopus tacos with castacán, relleno negro, and relleno blanco; chalupitas made with chaya; and toksel, which the government describes as a white bean stew prepared on hot stone. Other dishes will be served as well, she said.

Relleno negro is turkey stewed in a black paste of charred chiles, a signature dish of the Yucatán Peninsula. Relleno blanco is its pale counterpart, made without the burned chiles.

Castacán is pork belly fried until the skin turns crisp. Setting it on a taco with octopus puts the coast and the inland kitchen in a single tortilla.

Chaya, a leafy shrub the Maya have cultivated for centuries, turns up across the region in tamales, scrambled eggs, and cold drinks. Here it goes into small fried chalupas.

The wood-fired kitchens behind the menu

The state framed the whole menu around the cocina de humo, the smoke kitchen. In Maya households across the peninsula, it is often a separate room or hut where food is cooked over an open wood fire, with the smoke escaping through the roof. Cooking on heated stone, the method behind toksel, belongs to the same tradition.

That kind of cooking already carries international standing. UNESCO added traditional Mexican cuisine to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, and the inscription rests on the communities and cooks who keep the practices alive. Michoacán has staged a gathering of its own cocineras tradicionales for years. Quintana Roo is holding its first.

Getting into the traditional cooks gathering at Parque del Jaguar

The state says access to the gathering is completely free. The park around it follows federal rules. Since July 20, 2026, a federal decree has allowed Mexican visitors to enter Parque del Jaguar at no cost, while foreign visitors pay 100 pesos for park admission, separate from the charge for the archaeological zone and the national park.

The state's announcement does not say whether that park fee applies to someone coming only for the cooks, or where inside the complex they will set up. Our guide to Parque del Jaguar fees and Tulum ruins tickets lays out all charges currently in effect.

The same weekend Chetumal hosts the Caribbean culture festival

The gathering falls inside another state event. On the same day, Lezama announced the 2026 Festival de Cultura del Caribe, which runs from November 19 to 22, with Belize as the guest country, artists from seven countries, and an opening concert by Bacilos in Chetumal on November 19. Gastronomy is part of that program too, according to the state.

Tulum and Chetumal sit roughly three hours apart on Highway 307.

Service at Parque del Jaguar starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 21. As of Sunday, the state had not released the full roster of cooks and communities, the list that will show how far beyond those six names this first gathering reaches.

Which dish from Quintana Roo's smoke kitchens would you line up for first at Parque del Jaguar? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.