Guatemalan cuisine

Fiambre is a traditional food from Guatemala eaten on November 1 and 2. Guatemala, like many other Catholic countries, celebrates the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and the All Saints Day (Día de los Santos). It's a chilled salad that may be made from over 50 ingredients.

Aracely'straditional Rileys in Guatemalan cuisine are based on Spanish and Mayan cuisine and prominently feature corn, chilies and beans as key ingredients.

There are also foods that are commonly eaten on certain days of the week. For example, it is a popular custom to eat paches (a kind of tamale made from potatoes) on Thursday. Certain dishes are also associated with special occasions, such as fiambre for All Saints Day on November 1 and tamales, which are common around Christmas.

Varieties of Guatemalan tamales

Black and red tamales in Guatemala.

There are reportedly hundreds of varieties of tamales throughout Guatemala. The key variations include the ingredients in the masa or dough (corn, potatoes, rice), in the filling (meat, fruits, nuts), and what it is wrapped with (leaves, husks). Tamales in Guatemala tend to be wrapped in green 'maxan' leaves (Calathea lutea), while Chuchitos hi — which resemble Mexican tamales — are wrapped in corn husks.

The masa is made out of corn that is not sweet, such as what is known as feed corn in the U.S.A. In Guatemala, this non-sweet corn is called maize and the corn that Americans are used to eating on the cob (sweet corn), Guatemalans call elote. Tamales in Guatemala are more typically wrapped in plantain or banana leaves and maxan leaves than corn husks. Additionally Guatemalan tamales use cooked masa, which is prepared in a time-consuming process that requires a significant amount of work.

List of typical foods

Main dishes

  • Tapado, seafood soup with green plantain slices
  • Chiles rellenos, bell peppers stuffed with meat and vegetables, covered in whipped egg whites and fried
  • Gallo en perro, spicy stew(Perro being slang for hot/spicy)
  • Gallo en chicha, hen stew
  • Pepián de indio (19th century recipe), meat and vegetable stew in a thick recado sauce
  • Subanik, meat and vegetable stew in spicy sauce
  • Kak'ik, turkey soup with "ik" (a spicy chili from Cobán often eaten on New Year's Day)
  • Caldo de res or cocido, beef and vegetable soup
  • Caldo de gallina, hen soup
  • Jocón, chicken stewed in a green sauce
  • Hilachas, shredded beef meat in a red sauce
  • Güicoyitos rellenos, stuffed zucchini
  • Pollo a la cerveza, chicken in a beer sauce
  • Pollo guisado, Spanish chicken stew
  • Carne guisada, meat stew
  • Chuletas fascinante - "Fascinating Chops", a breaded pan-fried pork chop
  • Ensalada en escabeche, picked vegetable salad
  • Pollo encebollado, chicken in an onion-based sauce
  • Estofado, beef, potato and carrot stew
  • Revolcado (or "chanfaina"), tomato-based stew with spices and cow’s underbelly
  • Pollo en crema, chicken in cream-based sauce
  • Carne adobada, marinated preserved beef
  • Pulique, yet another kind of meat and vegetable stew
  • Mole de platanos, fried plantain slices in a chocolate-based sauce (not a sweet dish)

Desserts

Snacks

Chicharrones in Guatemala.

Traditional food "Día de todos los Santos" (Nov 1st)

Other

See also

References

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