When a chef on a national TV show recently presented some unappetizing papadzules, the audience in Yucatán wasn’t having it.
The traditional dish was prepared Tuesday by Chef Mariano Sandoval on the popular morning show “Venga la Alegría,” which is filmed in Mexico City.
Users on Twitter ridiculed Chef Sandoval for what they considered to be a culinary atrocity. Within a couple of hours, memes and parodies made their way across social media.
The main issue local viewers seemed to have with the papadzules was their unappetizing gray color, a result of overcooking the eggs.
The recipe, which dates back to pre-Hispanic times, consists of soft corn tortillas dipped in a pepita sauce, made from pumpkin seeds, and filled with hard-boiled eggs, then garnished with a pepper-and-tomato sauce.
Comedian Tila Maria Sesto was quick to post her own take on the recipe and get in a few good jabs on Chef Sandoval.
This is not the first time that Yucatecans have proven protective of their cuisine, which is tied closely to their cultural identity.
McCormick once attempted to market its mayonnaise as a perfect addition to cochinita pibil. People in Yucatán were not impressed, to say the least.
Twitter user @RodoBuenfil suggested that maybe people were being too hard on the chef. By saying “What is up with people in Yucatán getting offended over these papadzules? In Yucatán, we eat sushi battered in flaming hot Cheetos, but we don’t see Japanese people getting offended.”
