Guatemalan Cuisine Information
Many traditional foods in Guatemalan cuisine are based on Maya cuisine and prominently feature corn, chiles 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
There are reportedly hundreds of varieties of tamales throughout Guatemala. They 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 — 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. 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.
- Tamales colorados ("red tamales") owe their name to the tomato and achiote (annato seed) that give them their color, wrapped with corn masa and are stuffed with tomato recado -a flavorful thick sauce-, roasted red bell pepper strips, capers, green olives, and chicken, beef or pork.
- Tamales negros ("black tamales") 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/black corn.
- Tamales de elote ("sweet corn tamales") do not use the typical masa but instead are made out of sweet corn. These may contain whole kernels of corn in the masa and do not generally contain meat.
- Chuchitos ("small dogs") are a very typical kind of Guatemalan tamale made using the same corn masa as a regular tamale but they are smaller, have a much firmer consistency and are wrapped in a tuzas (dried corn husks) 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 very common and are commonly served at luncheons, dinners and celebrations. The masa can be mixed with tomato recado or with a meat broth.
- Tamalitos de masa ("small dough tamales") 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.
- Tamalitos de chipilín and tamales de loroco are other variants of the aforementioned tamalitos de masa, that have said ingredients added to the mix.
- Paches are a kind of tamale made from potatoes instead of corn.
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 chicha, rooster stew
- Pepián de indio (19th century recipe), meat and vegetable stew in a thick recado sauce
- Subanik, meat and vegetable stew in spicy sauce [1]
- Kak'ik, turkey soup with "ik" a spicy chile 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, 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
Desserts
- Pastel de banano, a type of banana bread
- Tortitas de yuca, yuca latke
- Chancletas de güisquil, sweet chayote covered in whipped egg whites and fried
- Arroz con leche, the Spanish version of rice pudding
- Quesadilla, a kind of flat rice cake
- Atol de elote, sweet corn atole
- Buñuelos, torrejas y molletes, different kinds of sweet bread soaked in syrup, which may or may not have a filling
- Mole de platanos, fried plantain slices in a chocolate-based sauce
- Rellenitos de plátano, small balls of mashed plantains filled with sweetened black beans, fried and sprinkled with sugar
- Garbanzos en dulce, chickpeas in sweet syrup
- Repollitos con dulce de leche
Snacks
- Tamales de frijol con chiltepe
- Shucos ("dirties"), the Guatemalan version of a hot dog, which includes guacamole
- Chicharrones y carnitas, fried pork meat chunks and fried pork skins, respectively
- Tostadas de guacamol, frijol, o salsa, fried corn tortilla with guacamole, fried black beans or tomato sauce
- Enchiladas, fried corn tortilla topped with lettuce leaves, pickled vegetables, meat, tomato sauce, boiled egg and onion slices, and sprinkled with cheese and chopped parsley
- Tacos de carne o pollo, fried rolled up corn tortillas filled with meat or chicken
- Yuca con chicharrón, boiled cassava served with fried pork chunks
Traditional food "Día de todos los Santos" (Nov 1st)
- Fiambre, which can be "white" or "red", depending on whether the pickled vegetable salad in it contains beets
- Ayote en dulce, a type of squashed boiled in a special sweet syrup
- Jocotes en miel, a variety of Spondias purpurea fruit boiled in syrup
- Empanadas de ayote, a type of squash pupusa
Other
- Salpicón, chopped meat, raddish and mint leaves served with lemon juice
- Chojín, a version of salpicón made with fried pork skins
- Caldo de huevos, an egg-based Consome typically eaten as a remedy for hangovers
- Guatemalan ceviche of fish, shrimp, snail, clams or a mixture of all
- Chirmol Chapín (Chirmol de huevos)
References
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