Papadzules are said to be a very ancient dish, the forerunner of modern enchiladas, even. However, it is not clear that this dish was actually made in pre-Hispanic times, at least in the way it is made today. First, there is a lack of
comals in the archaeological record of the Yucatán, implying that the Mayans did not make the thin tortillas required for filling. Second, the historical record seems to indicate that the Mayans preferred making thicker tortillas cooked in ashes. These thicker tortillas, depending on how thick they were, would have been harder to fill. The modern
pim (Mayan thick tortilla) can range in thickness from the height of three tortillas up to approximately half an inch. Regardless of whether or not the dish was constructed in the pre-Hispanic period as it is today, the ancient Mayans would have had access to all of the basic ingredients used in the modern dish. Corn, tomatoes, and chiles were all staples in the Mesoamerican diet. Pumpkin seeds, likewise, were an important part of the Mayan diet. Chicken eggs were unknown to pre-Hispanic Mayans, but several other fowl capable of providing eggs were known and eaten.
Turkeys and
muscovy ducks were both domesticated, and both produce edible eggs. In addition to that, the Mayans ate non-domesticated fowl including the
curassow,
crested guan,
horned guan,
chachalaca, and
ocellated turkey, although it is unclear the extent to which edible eggs could have been obtained from these birds. Aside from the eggs of fowl,
iguana eggs were also used in Mayan cooking and could conceivably have been used to make this dish. ==Preparation==