Belize's dramatic black soup — a deeply spiced turkey or chicken broth turned ink-black with recado negro, served with corn tortillas for one of the most visually striking and flavorful dishes in the Caribbean.
Chimole is the first thing that shocks visitors and the last thing they forget. The broth is black. Not dark brown, not very dark — black, the color of a moonless night, from the recado negro paste made from charred chilhuacle peppers. It looks alarming. It tastes magnificent. The recado negro — toasted until blackened and ground with achiote, cumin, and spices — was developed by the Yucatec Maya and carried into Belize through centuries of movement across the border. In Belize, it found turkey (the national bird in spirit), and the combination of the blackened paste with rich turkey or chicken stock became one of the country's most distinctive dishes. It is called Black Dinner in English, which is exactly accurate and somehow insufficient. Chimole is serious cooking — not difficult, but requiring patience with the toasting of peppers and the building of the broth. It is made for special occasions, for when you want to serve something that guests will remember. The tortillas for dipping are not optional; the soup itself demands them.
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