Guatemalan Cuisine: Fiambre Slideshow
On November 1st and 2nd Guatemala, like many other catholic countries, celebrates the Day of the Dead (Día de los Difuntos) and the All Saints Day (Día de los Santos). The cemeteries, from the most exclusive to the most modest and humble, become overwhelmed with people bringing flowers, crosses, food and even music (sometimes Mariachi music) to their dead relatives.
Two days ago I told you about the Giant Kites (over 15 meters wide) that fill the skies over the cemeteries of Sacatepéquez to help guide the dead back to their love ones. Unfortunately it was not possible for me to go to the near-by towns that have them. So, I found a site that has a Photographic Tour of the Giant Kites (thanks to blog dumitraqui for the link). You will have to know four Spanish words to navigate the show: Entrar (enter), Siguiente (next), Anterior (previous) and Inicio (home). More photos of the Giant Kites can be found at Flickr.
Fiambre, a salad made from cold cuts, all kinds of meats, fish, vegetables and pickled vegetables, is served on November 1st, after a visit to the cemetery. Fiambre is a cold meal of Spanish origin, possibly from the Extremadura provinces in Spain. Fiambre is a very special meal for Guatemalans and it is only available on November 1st and 2nd. Because fiambre is an extremely rare and unique meal which can include over 50 ingredients, I decided to show you the final part of the preparation through a slide show.
The photos were taken a Lo-Mix Cafeteria, which is a small restaurant with over 35 years of making fiambre. Lo-Mix is chosen by many Antigüeños as their fiambre provider and we have bought our fiambre from them since 2002. The owners of Lo-Mix told me it takes them about 15 days of pre preparation to get to the stage you will see in the photos. For those who live in Antigua and want to know where buy good fiambre, Lo-Mix is on 7a calle poniente N. 25B and their telephone number is 5656-9417.
This slide show is dedicated to Ale from Arte-sano. Bon appetite mano!
Other sites that cover Día de Muertos, Fiambre and the Giant Kites:
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November 2nd, 2006
I love it when DP blogs have food or meal photos, but your slide show has got to be the best one I saw up to now. Fantastic job. But what is that green vegetable (?) that’s shaped like garlic? It looks spicy.
November 2nd, 2006
now that looks really yummy…but then what is that teal color thing?
November 2nd, 2006
Great posting, Rudy. I think the strangest part of fiambre is when they use that black sausage I see in some of your photos. Do you know what it is that makes it so dark?
November 2nd, 2006
Great posting, Rudy. I think the strangest part of fiambre is when they use that black sausage I see in some of your photos. Do you know what it is that makes it so dark?
November 2nd, 2006
brilliant shot and equally brilliant post! it’s always interesting how different cultures experience All Saints/All Souls Day. No kites here in KL to guide the dead but a lot of candles are lit.
November 2nd, 2006
Boy! that’s a “buffet” for fiambre entusiast! many many thanks mano! you almost make my cry.
gracias viejo
abrazos.
November 2nd, 2006
dam! that look soo yumy!
November 2nd, 2006
WOW! Lots of familiar ingredients there, but we have nothing that puts them all together in that manner. It’s making me hungry! Our All Saints Day here is mostly about tidying up and taking flowers: very quiet, compared to yours.
November 2nd, 2006
Great Post!
November 2nd, 2006
Now there is one thing I had not thought about in years. You know you really have to stop posting such vivid, yummy pictures unless you are ready to send a plate overnight. All we have here is Halloween candy. Thank you for keeping memories alive.
November 2nd, 2006
Meg: I do too. Edwin, Nuno and Lisi have done great food photos.
Lisi: I believe is an raw onion colored teal for aesthetic effects.
LD: I would lie to you if I told you why the black sausage is black, but I promise I will investigate. The flavor is really awesome though, with lots of black pepper or all spice.
Edwin: welcome back… there are a lot of candles lit here too and they even make altars for the dead.
Ale: Buen provecho mano. Lo prometido es deuda. Espero haber llenado sus expectativas.
Pamela: sorry to hear that…
El Profe: ¿verdad que no está tan desorganizado como el fiambre de sistemas?
Sandra Sweeney: I am so happy you finally made it here. I promise I will send you an overnight delivery package next time.
November 3rd, 2006
Que pinche cabron sos, con el bajon que me ando echando y la saudade que llevo encima como una nube vos me mandas ese plato que me despierta olores, colores y recuerdos!!! saludos y felicitaciones.
erick.
November 4th, 2006
Meg: I am sorry I did answer your question about the green vegetable which is baby squash, or like zucchini.
October 5th, 2007
Just to answer your question guys, I am from Guatemala and I grew up there and I live there, so if you ask a Guatemalan what is the black sausage everybody will know.
The black sausage is called Moronga or Morcilla sometimes, and it’s nothing but the intestine skin filled up with blood, after the blood gets clogged it becomes a hard sausage, then is cut in slices and served, believe it or not that is it, no kidding, I never eat it alone because it kind of disgusting to me, but actually inside the fiambre I love it.
Un saludo tambien a todos mis compatriotas chapines si hay alguno que lee esto, buena onda mucha!, que viva Guate.
October 31st, 2007
[...] of the day of the dead and all saints day. With the day of the dead celebrations comes the fiambre, the food to share with our dead. Stay tune for background information on the kite flying rituals [...]
November 1st, 2007
[...] If you want to see how this meal is prepared, check out last year’s fiambre slide show. [...]
November 6th, 2007
[...] more on fiambre, check out the excellent slide show posted last year by Rudy at Antigua Daily Photo. Conceivably Related PostsThe Great Collapse of the Classic MayaFor [...]