Guatemalan cuisine facts for kids
Most traditional foods in Guatemalan cuisine mix ancient Maya cooking with Spanish ideas. Key ingredients are always corn, chilies, and beans. Guatemala is famous for being the home of the Hass avocado. It's also where chocolate was first created by the Maya people!
Some foods are eaten on certain days. For example, paches (a type of tamale made from potatoes) are often eaten on Thursdays. Other dishes are for special events. Fiambre is a must-have for All Saints' Day on November 1st. Tamales are very popular around Christmas.
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History of Guatemalan Food
Guatemalan food traditions are not widely known. This is partly because of its isolated location in volcanic mountains. Also, a civil war in the late 1900s made it hard for visitors to come. Guatemalan cooking is strongly shaped by Maya traditions, with some Spanish touches. Many dishes are very local. You might only find them in specific towns!
Important Ingredients
Maize (corn) is a super important food in Guatemala. People have grown it there since ancient times. Hot chocolate also has a long history in Guatemala. Long ago, chocolate was a luxury. Cocoa beans were even used as money by the ancient Mayans! Later, in the 1500s, the Spanish brought pork and beef. These new meats joined local sources like turkey, other birds, and fish.
Cooking Styles
Many Guatemalan dishes are cooked without cooking oil. Ingredients might be placed right on a comal (a flat griddle). Or they might be wrapped in leaves. Many Guatemalan dishes have '-ik' in their name. This word means chili in several Maya languages spoken in the country.
Amazing Guatemalan Tamales
There are hundreds of different kinds of tamales in Guatemala! The main differences are in the masa (the dough), the filling, and what they are wrapped in. The dough can be made from corn, potatoes, or rice. Fillings can include meat, fruits, or nuts. Tamales are often wrapped in green 'maxan' leaves (Calathea lutea). Chuchitos, which look a bit like Mexican tamales, are wrapped in corn husks.
The masa is made from a type of corn that isn't sweet. In Guatemala, this is called maize. The sweet corn Americans eat on the cob is called elote there. Guatemalan tamales are usually wrapped in plantain or banana leaves, or maxan leaves. They are less often wrapped in corn husks. Also, Guatemalan tamales use cooked masa. Preparing it takes a lot of time and effort.
- Tamales colorados ("red tamales") get their name from tomato and achiote (annatto seed). These give them a red color. They are wrapped with corn masa. They are filled with a thick, tasty tomato sauce called recado. They also have roasted red bell pepper strips, capers, green olives, and chicken, beef, or pork.
- Tamales negros ("black tamales") are darker and sweeter. This is because of the chocolate, raisins, prunes, and almonds added to them. Other black tamales are not sweet. They are simply made from blue or black corn.
- Tamales de elote ("sweet corn tamales") don't use the usual masa. Instead, they are made from sweet corn. They might have whole corn kernels in the dough. They usually don't have meat.
- Chuchitos ("small dogs") are a very common type of Guatemalan tamale. They use the same corn masa as regular tamales. But they are smaller and much firmer. They are wrapped in tuzas (dried corn husks) instead of plantain leaves. Chuchitos are often served with a simple tomato salsa. They are sprinkled with a hard, salty white cheese from the Zacapa region. Chuchitos are very popular for lunches, dinners, and parties. The masa can be mixed with tomato recado or meat broth.
- Tamalitos de masa ("small dough tamales") are smaller than typical tamales. They usually have a plain taste with no filling. They are used for dipping into other foods like soup, salsa, or beans. They are not usually eaten alone. These tamales are a main food in western Guatemala. People there often prefer them over tortillas.
- Tamalitos de chipilín and tamales de loroco are other types of tamales de masa. They have these special ingredients added to the mix.
- Paches are a kind of tamale made from potatoes instead of corn.
Typical Guatemalan Foods
Main Dishes
- Tapado: A seafood soup with green plantain slices.
- Chiles rellenos: Bell peppers stuffed with meat and vegetables. They are covered in whipped egg whites and fried.
- Gallo en perro: A spicy stew. "Perro" is slang for "hot" or "spicy."
- Gallo en chicha: A hen or chicken stew.
- Garnachas: Small fried tortillas with toppings.
- Pepián de indio: A meat and vegetable stew in a thick recado sauce. This is an old recipe from the 1800s.
- Subanik: A meat and vegetable stew in a spicy sauce.
- Kak'ik: A turkey soup with "ik" chili.
- Caldo de res or cocido: A beef and vegetable soup.
- Caldo de gallina: A hen soup.
- Jocón: Chicken stewed in a green sauce.
- Hilachas: Shredded beef in a red sauce.
- Güicoyitos rellenos: Stuffed zucchini.
- Pollo a la cerveza: Chicken cooked in a beer sauce.
- Pollo guisado: A Spanish chicken stew.
- Carne guisada: A meat stew.
- Chuletas fascinante: "Fascinating chops," which are breaded, pan-fried pork chops.
- Ensalada en escabeche: A pickled vegetable salad.
- Pollo encebollado: Chicken in an onion-based sauce.
- Estofado: A stew with beef, potatoes, and carrots.
- Revolcado (or "chanfaina"): A tomato-based stew with spices and cow’s underbelly.
- Pollo en crema: Chicken in a cream-based sauce.
- Carne adobada: Marinated and preserved beef.
- Pulique: Another type of meat and vegetable stew.
- Mole de platanos: Fried plantain slices in a chocolate-based sauce. This is not a sweet dish!
- Suban-ik: Chicken and pork stewed in a red sauce inside mashan leaves. Often made for special events.
Rice Dishes
Guatemala has many different rice dishes. Some popular ones include:
- Arroz frito: Fried rice.
- Arroz amarillo: Plain yellow rice.
- Arroz con vegetales: Rice made with different vegetables like corn, carrots, and peas.
- Arroz con frijoles: Rice with beans (usually black beans). This is also called "casamiento" or "casado" in some places.
- Rice and Beans: Made with coconut milk.
- Arroz con pollo: Chicken and rice, similar to Paella.
Desserts
- Pastel de banano: A type of banana cake.
- Tortitas de yuca: Yuca (cassava) patties, like latkes.
- Chancletas de güisquil: Sweet chayote covered in whipped egg whites and then fried.
- Arroz con leche: The Spanish version of rice pudding.
- Atol de elote: A sweet corn drink.
- Buñuelos, torrejas y molletes: Different kinds of sweet bread soaked in syrup. They may or may not have a filling.
- Rellenitos de plátano: Small balls of mashed plantains filled with sweetened black beans. They are fried and sprinkled with sugar.
- Garbanzos en dulce: Chickpeas in a sweet, thick, mayonnaise-like syrup.
- Repollitos con dulce de leche: Small cabbage-like sweets with milk caramel.
Snacks
- Tamales de frijol con chiltepe: Bean tamales with a small, spicy chili.
- Shucos ("dirties") : The Guatemalan version of a hot dog. It often includes guacamole, cabbage, and mayonnaise. This type of hot dog was created in Guatemala City.
- Chicharrones y carnitas: Fried pork skins and fried pork meat chunks.
- Tostadas de guacamol, frijol, o salsa: Fried corn tortillas with guacamole, fried black beans, or tomato sauce.
- Tacos de carne o pollo: Fried, rolled-up corn tortillas filled with meat or chicken.
- Yuca con chicharrón: Boiled yuca served with fried pork chunks.
Traditional Food for Day of the Dead (November 1)
- Fiambre: This special salad can be "white" or "red." The red version includes beets in the pickled vegetable salad.
- Ayote en dulce: A type of squash 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 pastry.
Other Interesting Foods
- Atol maatz: A thick corn-based drink flavored with fire ash.
- Caldo de huevos: An egg-based consomme (clear soup). It's often eaten as a remedy for hangovers.
- Chirmol Chapín: A fresh tomato salsa.
- Chojín: A version of salpicón made with fried pork skins.
- Guatemalan ceviche of fish, shrimp, snail, clams, or a mix 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.
See also
In Spanish: Gastronomía de Guatemala para niños
