Guatemalan Cuisine: Chapin Breakfast
First of all, my apologies to all those masochist Guatemalans who are abroad and visit this humble blog to get their daily doze of nostalgic pain. Sorry guys and gals!
Now unto the photo. This is Pollo Campero fast food version of the Chapin Breakfast or desayuno chapín (Chapin is the self-imposed nickname for Guatemalans). The traditional Guatemalan breakfast comes with refried black beans, sunny-side-up or scrambled eggs, chirmol (tomato sauce), fresh cheese, fried plantains (platano or platano macho), cream, tortillas or pan francés (French rolls), and coffee. This version of the Chapin breakfast is called: Huevos Divorciados (Divorced eggs) because it has two sunny-side-up eggs, each with its own sauce. The green sauce is made with miltomate (tomatillos) and the red sauce with regular roma tomatoes. More on Latin American salsas (sauces) on Wikipedia. Here is a recipe for Chicken Skewers with Chirmol Salsa. Bon appetite!
Etymological side note: The most famous and most-widely used Guatemalan red tomato-based sauce is known as Chirmol which is a deformation of the Aztec’s Nahuatl language Chili Mole. Chili for chile or hot pepper and mole for sauce. Miltomate is the name by which tomatilloes are known in Guatemala. Mil for milpa and tomate for small green tomato also known as husk tomato, jamberry, husk cherry or ground cherry. Don’t forget to read my entry on Milpa and Mayan Pizza.
Daily Content
November 6th, 2006
Yummy………………..
November 6th, 2006
Y dale con la tortura Rudy, you’re killing me man! that looks really good.
November 6th, 2006
Sompopo: I know can have this kind of breakfast in your own house. Lucky you!
Ale: Sorry mano… I will do more food photos this week to satisfy your masochist needs.
November 6th, 2006
For all you chapins living abroad… if the Gutierrez family keeps expanding their chicken chain as quickly as they have been, soon you’ll all be able to enjoy your huevos con chirmol and frijoles. Buen provecho.
November 7th, 2006
Miam miam!
November 7th, 2006
Here in Belize they have a soup they call Chirmole or black dinner which is a chicken broth heavily seasoned with black achiote paste, peices of boney chicken, onions, bits of tomato, and is served with a boiled egg floating in it, corn tortillas and a plate of rice. When I make it for my family they lovingly refer to it as dirt soup.
November 7th, 2006
Alice: I remember this is the fast food version.
Caribbean Colors: Your chirmole sounds delicious. I hope to try it soon. We are planning a short trip to Belize for the near future.
November 7th, 2006
Se te agradece la tortura Rudy. Excelente foto. Aprovecho para continuar con la tortura nostalgica, una piloyada, unos platanos en mole y derrepente te das una vuelta por el Cafe Ana y nos posteas un platote de pepian de gallina…ahhhh ya me dio hambre!
November 7th, 2006
mmmmm… mmmmmm… Va pues, sigamos con el masoquismo: Un suvanik, un pollo en jocon… con arrocito y tortillitas recien salidas del comal, chiltepe, un buen cafe (Por supuesto, cafe de Guatemala, el mejor del mundo)… Que ingratitud…
November 8th, 2006
Yum! So colorful!
November 10th, 2006
You’re killing me! we just left Guatemala, including a stay in Antigua, and desperately need more of this great food….I need comedores, little outside vendor stands, local cafeterias, and my suegra’s cooking!
Great site you have here…good work.
November 16th, 2006
YOU KNOW … CHIRMOL is the fact who contradict the traditional theory of ITALY about the zero use of TOMATOES in the old mexico and mesoamerica ….. THEY SAYS… AZTECS AND MAYANS tough tomatoes were POISON…
Chilmole. (Del mex. chilmulli, salsa o guisado de ají. MOL.). m. Especie de mole ordinario. En el interior chimole.
«Se comían las carnes con chilmole» (BERNAL DÍAZ, Hist. verd., cap. 152). «Mandó á otra que hiciese un poco de chimole, que es un compuesto de tomates y chiles, que en España llaman pimientos» (MOTA PADILLA, Hist. de la N. Galicia, cap. XXXV, n.º 5).
En Guatemala, chirmol (BATRES, p. 223).
November 16th, 2006
la gran patria vos… eso fue chile con huevo estrellado! por lo de más buena foto, ya me dio hambre.
February 27th, 2007
THOSE are my favorite beans! And cheese! Ohhhhh….sigh.
May 4th, 2007
K VIVAN LOS CHAPINES Y LA COMIDA.
May 10th, 2007
[...] in Guatemala on May 10th. Where do Guatemalans take their mom to dine on her day? But of course, to Pollo Campero. I decided to go there and see if I could snatch a shot for you, but I was too shy. The Pollo [...]
August 18th, 2007
Guatemalan Cuisine: Typical Guatemalan Breakfast…
Many of the ingredients present in the Guatemalan Kitchen Colors are necessary for the red and green sauces you see here. In the picture above, we can see another version of the typical Guatemalan breakfast, this one from Fernando’s Kaffee.
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July 10th, 2008
mmmm… I miss having frijoles every morning! But I sure do not miss platanos, I hated those things! (but whenever they cook them in my dorm cafeteria I have to eat them for old times sake hah)