Breakfast at the Rosewood Mayakoba and Mexican papaya with quick granola and yogurt

You may have noticed by now that breakfast for me is a ritual. I like to linger over a beautifully prepared and presented breakfast either at home or out and, if possible, by the beach. My internal GPS leads me to all the beautiful places that serve breakfast wherever we are in the world. One of my favourite on the Mayan Riviera, although not on the beach, is breakfast at the Casa de Lago at the Rosewood hotel in Mayakoba. I have written about breakfast at the Rosewood Mayakoba before and still love it today. We go there for breakfast, a long beach walk and a late lunch at their Punta Bonita on the beach, and love the architecture and ambiance of this first class resort hotel.

Their breakfast is served buffet style but you choose your main course from a menu and are served that at the table. The restaurant staff, whom we have gotten to know over the years, is very gracious and attentive and they keep right on top of what you need. Food never arrives too early or too late and you never have to ask for anything. Somehow things just happen to appear when you need them.

This year they had delicious little cornbread cakes rolled in sesame seeds that I am going to try and make at home. I also like their Mexican hot chocolate and Mayan cafe de la olla made and served in traditional pots and stoneware cups. Their chaya juice is also a treat instead of the usual orange or grapefruit juice, although those are also available. My one favourite item, roasted poblanos stuffed with scrambled eggs served over Mexican tomato sauce, drizzled with crema and topped with pickled red onions a is no longer on the breakfast menu but still, there is plenty of good options to choose from.

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If we are out for breakfast elsewhere and it is not a buffet, it is always a treat to be presented with a beautiful plate of freshly cut papaya and other local fruits, sprinkled with granola and topped with honey infused yogurt. I noticed that this is a regular feature in the haciendas and higher end hotels we visit so I started making it in our Mayan Riviera abode. I am sure you have seen it layered in a glass, but here they serve it on a plate.

First time I encountered it served this way as at Hacienda Sacnicte in the Yucatan outside of Merida that I wrote about here. Last time we were offered this at breakfast was at the  Casa de las Olas on the south stretch of the Tulum beach. But I have seen it served this way many times in between.

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I don’t like buying granola particularly and never have enough ingredients on hand here to make a “serious” granola myself so I improvised with this quick variation that works well with the sweet and ripe papayas we always have on hand. You can add other fruits such as pineapple, bananas, mango and even melons and cut them into any shape that works for you.

To make the quick granola I use old fashioned rolled oats, toast them in a dry skillet and mix them with chopped caramelized nuts, then drizzle just enough honey over to bind them together and voila, quick granola. Sprinkling the granola over the fruit and top with a spoonful or two of yogurt, plain or sweetened with honey and you have a lovely version of what they serve here. One caveat: the fruit has to be good and ripe.

One more thing to mention: in Mexico they have wonderful, juicy limes and they are squeezed over just about everything. A squirt of lime juice over fruits is simply heavenly. It bring out their sweetness balanced by the little acidity and I wouldn’t think of having one without the other.

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Ingredients:

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1 ripe papaya

1 lime

1/2 cups old fashion rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped caramelized nuts

1/4 cup honey

Yogurt (plain)

1 tablespoon honey

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Directions:

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Peel and cut the papaya into either slices or chunks.

Squeeze some fresh lime juice over the papaya.

Place the oats in a skillet and toast over medium heat for a few minutes until toasted and fragrant. Let cool.

Combine the rolled oats with the honey and stir until all of the oats are sticky from the honey.

Add the chopped candies nuts.

Mix yogurt with the 1 tablespoon honey.

Arrange the fruit on a plate, sprinkle with granola and top with yogurt.

Serve with lime wedges on the side.

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