#24 Guatemala
- Jen
- Dec 18, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 4, 2022
The name Guatemala is derived from a Mayan language meaning “place of many trees”.
The Spanish didn’t have much luck with their location selection for capital cities when they colonised Guatemala. The first capital, Villa de Santiago (now Tecpan), was founded in the early 16th century but was moved only three years later due to it being attacked by a local group of Mayans. Fair play, the Spanish did invade their land and kill off many of the indigenous people either on purpose or with smallpox, measles and flu. The next capital city, Cuidad Vieja, lasted only 14 years before the lagoon in the crater of a volcano collapsed and flooded the city. Antigua was declared the new capital and did OK for a couple of centuries until being flattened by earthquakes in 1773-1774. After this, the capital city moved to what is now known as Guatemala City and remains the capital today.
Guatemala is pretty disaster-prone generally and has been the victim of some events in recent years that have resulted in hundreds tragically losing their lives. It’s in the hurricane belt and is a hotspot of seismic and volcanic activity, which is what makes it so appealing to me as a place to visit! I really want to climb a live volcano and look down into the crater; the Maya ruins, waterfalls and colonial beauty of Antigua would merely be the icing on the cake.
There are four active volcanoes.
If it wasn’t for stupid SARS-CoV-2 I would have a flight booked to Guatemala in about 10 days’ time. I was planning to beat winter blues by seeing in the New Year and much of January in southern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala.
First world problems.
First world solutions: if I can’t go to Guatemala, I will bring Guatemala to me!
Well, the food anyway.
Hipster brunching
90% of the avocados available to us in the UK are the Californian Hass variety of avo, which, although cultivated and grown in California, was originally from Guatemala. The Spanish word for ‘avocado’ is aguacate. Aguacate is derived from the Nahuatl word ahuacacuahitl (it's like the opposite of Welsh - too many vowels!) meaning "testicle tree". I'm so happy about this. Avocadoes are henceforth known to me as testicles.
Traditional Mayan food
Much of Guatemalan grub is based on the traditional crops: corn and beans. In Guatemala, tortillas can be made from white corn, yellow corn, or blue corn. Beans are typically black beans. You all already know that there aren’t many foods I don’t like but black beans are not the one. Gross!
Breakfast is all about beans, tortillas and egg. This could be tarted up into a dish one usually associates with Mexico: huevos rancheros (one of my absolute fave breakfasts ever…I always sub in the black beans for kidney beans though), which adds in salsa and guacamole (and potentially feta and chorizo if you’re feeling fancy). Salsa in Guatemala isn’t as spicy as it is across the border in Mexico.
For someone who identifies as a ‘foodie’, it’s shameful that I don’t actually know what tamales are. Let’s find out! A tamal is a corn dough, wrapped in a corn husk or leaf and steamed. Other fillings such as meat and cheese can be added. They were eaten by the Aztecs and the Mayans and are still widely eaten throughout Latin America today. In Guatemala, the dough, or masa, is typically wrapped in a banana leaf and there are many varieties. Red tamales have a tomato-based filling (which is what makes them red) and include achiote (see below). Black tamales have chocolate and raisins in (which makes them black).
Achiote comes from the seeds of a shrub and is primarily used as a colourant without adding much flavour if used in small amounts.
Kak’ik is a spicy turkey soup and traditional Mayan dish. As it’s December, let’s just take a moment to consider the turkey, shall we? Turkeys are native to the Americas…hadn’t really ever stopped to wonder about that before but I guess that must be why they’re eaten on Thanksgiving.
Guatemalan enchiladas differ from the familiar Mexican enchiladas in that ground beef and veg in a tomato sauce sits atop a toasted tortilla, rather than being wrapped within a soft tortilla and baked with cheese. They’re also less spicy. One of the things I will enjoy the most about my little trip (whenever it happens) will be experiencing the same-same-but-different of the enchiladas as I cross national borders.
Food of the gods
The Mayans were the first to discover/enjoy chocolate, in a drink form, and many a fine cacao bean is grown in Guatemala. The Mayans referred to it as “the food of the gods” and they were not wrong were they! Today, there are over 9,000 cacao farms in the country. What a place!
Spanish influences
Empanadas are of course eaten in Guatemala, as they are throughout Latin America. They tend to be vegetarian in Guatemala and are quite often served with a guacamole topping.
Pan dulce translates as ‘sweet bread’. Particularly in and around Antigua, there are loads of bakeries producing fresh French-style bread and an abundance of different types of enriched bakes.
Pepián de pollo
Pepián de pollo is a traditional Mayan chicken stew with a gorgeously smooth tomato and onion-based sauce with a real depth of warm flavours. It’s big batch, one-pot style cooking so is a favourite for parties and celebrations.
The chicken is boiled separately and later added to the sauce, with the resulting broth being used to achieve the desired consistency of the stew. I used both legs and breasts but a whole chicken would be more typical.
What makes it interesting is the pepitoria, which is a powder made from grinding down seeds (for this dish, pumpkin and sesame seeds). This gives the sauce a rich, nutty thickness, similar in consistency to some curries that use ground almonds in the sauce. The sauce is further enriched in flavour by the process of charring or toasting each ingredient before zizzing it up in the processor into a smooth, homogeneous sauce. Colour comes from achiote (see above), warmth from a cinnamon stick and heat from dried ancho and guajillo chillies (both purchased on Amazon). Having never used these chillies before and not really being completely in the know regarding Scoville units, I did some guesswork on the chilli front but it worked out well; the stew had a lovely warmth rather than a wild kick, that allowed the other flavours to be heard. The stew is bulked out with extra veg (green beans and potatoes in this case). The potatoes really soak up the flavours well, especially as leftovers the next day! Sabroso!
I made my housemates eat pepián de pollo for our house Christmas dinner, which raised some questions initially, but it was well-received. I served the stew with rice, corn tortillas and testicles (avocado). I also made a meatless alternative using the same sauce and roasted aubergine chunks, which was also good. However, I know it’s quite fashionably to say these days that “it really doesn’t need meat” but I have to say that the flavour of chicken does really go well with the flavour of this stew.
Pepián de pollo was both a joy to prepare and to eat. I didn’t substitute a single hard-to-find ingredient and, as a result, achieved a dish that was like nothing I’ve tasted before.
I hope to find as much joy from the cuisine of…KYRGYZSTAN.
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