Guatemalan cuisine


Most traditional foods in Guatemalan cuisine are based on Maya cuisine, with Spanish influence, and prominently feature corn, chilies and beans as key ingredients. Guatemala is famously home to the Hass avocado.
There are also foods that are commonly eaten on certain days of the week. For example, it is a popular custom to eat paches 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.

History

Pre-classic and classic periods

In the early pre-classic period, agricultural techniques such as the slash-and-burn method began to develop as Maya settled into permanent villages. During this time, Maya cultivated maize, beans, squash and chilli peppers. Local game included deer, rabbit, quail, duck, peccary, turkey and reptiles. During the classic period, maize became a staple in the Maya diet. Before maize was consumed, it was processed in a technique called nixtamalization, involving cooking the corn with minerals, usually slaked lime, giving the maize a higher nutritional value. After this process, the cooked maize would be ground into masa using a metate.

Colonial period

With the arrival of Spanish conquistadors to the New World, they brought with them foods that were common in the Old World but new to the Americas. These included wheat, barley, legumes, bananas, sugarcane, olive oil, coffee and dairy. After his first voyage, Christopher Columbus noted the need of livestock in the New World. On his second voyage, he brought horses, pigs, chickens, cattle and sheep. Spanish conquistadors also introduced new cooking methods such as frying, oven baking and sun-drying techniques.

Style

Many Guatemalan dishes are cooked without the use of cooking oil, with ingredients placed directly on the comal or wrapped in leaves. Many Guatemalan dishes have the suffix '-ik' as part of their name; -ik means chili in several Mayan languages spoken in the country.

Varieties of Guatemalan tamales

There are reportedly hundreds of varieties of tamales throughout Guatemala. The key variations include the ingredients in the masa or dough, in the filling, and the wrapping with. Tamales in Guatemala tend to be wrapped in green maxan leaves, while chuchitos, which resemble Mexican tamales, are wrapped in corn husks.
The masa is made out of corn that is not sweet, comparable to what is known as feed corn in the United States. In Guatemala, this non-sweet corn is called maize and the corn that Americans are used to eating on the cob, 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.Tamales colorados owe their name to the tomato and achiote that give them their color. They are wrapped with corn masa and are stuffed with tomato recado, roasted red bell pepper strips, capers, green olives, and chicken, beef or pork.Tamales negros are darker and sweeter than their red counterparts due to the chocolate, raisins, prunes and almonds which are added to them. Other black tamales are not sweet but are simply made out of blue or black corn.Tamales de elote do not use the typical masa but instead are made of sweet corn. These may contain whole kernels of corn in the masa and do not generally contain meat.Chuchitos are a typical kind of Guatemalan tamale made using the same masa as a regular tamale, but they are smaller, have a much firmer consistency, and are wrapped in a tuzas instead of plantain leaves. Chuchitos are often accompanied by a simple tomato salsa and sprinkled with a hard, salty white cheese traditional from the Zacapa region. Chuchitos are a commonly served at luncheons, dinners and celebrations. The masa can be mixed with tomato recado or with a meat broth.Tamalitos de masa are smaller than the typical tamales because they are usually plain in taste, with no filling and are used to dip in other foods such as soup, salsa or beans, rather than eaten alone. These tamales are a staple of western Guatemalan cuisine which are favored over the typical tortilla.Tamalitos de chipilín and tamales de loroco are other variants of tamales de masa with different ingredients added to the mix.Paches are a kind of tamal made from potatoes instead of corn.Bollito are similar to tamales, but filled with beans instead of meat.

List of typical foods

Main dishes

Tapado, seafood soup with green plantain and coconut milkChiles rellenos, a blend of shredded meats and peppers, covered in egg batter and friedGallo en perro, spicy stew Gallo en chicha, hen/chicken stewGarnachasPepián, meat and vegetable stew in a thick recado sauceSubanik, meat and vegetable stew in spicy sauceKak'ik, turkey soup with chiliCaldo de res or cocido, beef and vegetable soupCaldo de gallina, hen soupJocón, chicken stewed in a green sauceHilachas, shredded beef in a red sauceGüicoyitos rellenos, stuffed zucchiniPollo a la cerveza, chicken in a beer saucePollo guisado, Spanish chicken stewCarne guisada, meat stewChuletas fascinante, "fascinating chops", a breaded pan-fried pork chop Ensalada en escabeche, pickled vegetable saladPollo encebollado, chicken in an onion-based sauceEstofado, beef, potato and carrot stewRevolcado, tomato-based stew with spices and cow's underbellyPollo en crema, chicken in cream-based sauceCarne adobada, adobo marinated preserved beef or porkPulique, yet another kind of meat and vegetable stewSuban-ik, chicken and pork stewed in a red sauce inside mashan leaves, often prepared for special occasionsEnchiladas, tostadas topped with a lettuce leaf, meat, vegetables, and hard boiled egg slices

Rice dishes

There are a variety of rice dishes made in Guatemala. Some include: Arroz frito, fried rice Arroz amarillo, plain yellow rice Arroz con vegetales, rice made with different vegetables like corn, carrots and peasArroz con frijoles, called simply that or in other parts called "casamiento" or "casado", rice with beans

Desserts

Pastel de banano, a type of banana cakeTortitas de yuca, a thick yuca pancakeChancletas de güisquil, sweet chayote covered in whipped egg whites and then friedArroz con leche, a rice puddingAtol de elote, sweet corn atoleBuñuelos, torrejas y molletes, different kinds of sweet bread soaked in syrup, which may or may not have a fillingRellenitos de plátano, small balls of mashed plantains filled with sweetened black beans, fried and sprinkled with sugarGarbanzos en dulce, chickpeas in a sweet, thick syrupRepollitos con dulce de lecheMole de platano, fried plantain slices in a chocolate-based sauce made with several chilies

Snacks

Tamales de frijol con chiltepeShucos, the Guatemalan version of a hot dog, which often includes guacamole, cabbage, and mayonnaise. This type of hot dog is a native snack only from Guatemala City where it was created.Chicharrones y carnitas, fried pork skins and fried pork meat chunks, respectivelyTostadas de guacamol, frijol, o salsa, fried corn tortilla with guacamole, fried black beans or tomato sauceTacos de carne o pollo, fried rolled-up corn tortillas filled with meat or chickenYuca con chicharrón, boiled cassava served with fried pork chunks

Traditional food for ''Día de todos los Santos'' (November 1)

Fiambre, which can be "white" or "red", depending on whether the pickled vegetable salad in it contains beetsAyote en dulce, a type of squash boiled in a special sweet syrupJocotes en miel, a variety of Spondias purpurea fruit boiled in syrupEmpanadas de ayote, a type of squash pastry

Other

  • Atol maatz, thick corn-based drink flavored with fire ash
  • Caldo de huevos, an egg-based consomme typically eaten as a remedy for hangovers
  • Chirmol Chapín
  • Chojín, a version of salpicón made with fried pork skins
  • Guatemalan ceviche of fish, shrimp, snail, clams or a mixture of all
  • Macuy, a green-colored soup
  • Puchon-ik, chili-spiced dried fish popular in the city of San Juan
  • Salpicón, chopped meat, radish and mint leaves served with lemon juice
  • Tukun-ik, a corn, egg, and chili soup popular in San Juan