Guatemalan Cuisine: Revolcado de Panza
Traditional Guatemalan cuisine refuses to be phased out in favor of international fast food like hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs and chinese food. Even though foreign fast food is convenient, it lacks the complexity in flavors that Guatemalan dishes have. Even a simple dish like Revolcado de Panza, a sort of tomato-based curry with spices and cow’s underbelly brings forth an avalanche of flavors, textures and feelings to the taste buds.
Traditional Guatemalan dishes take a long time to be prepared, sometimes even weeks like the Fiambre (a cold-cuts salad), so they can not compete with fast food junk food in the time of preparation. But who says they have to be prepared the moment you show up to order it? That is fine for sandwiches, but Guatemalan traditional meals are sold by having a ready-made buffet where one can go and just order portions.
Guatemalan cuisine can compete with prices since most meals are very affordable for being such complex food. For instance, the meal above which includes revolcado de panza (Q5/$0.65), 4 chiles rellenos (Q2.25/$0.28 each), 1 Guatemalan sweet bread and 2 pirujos (Q2/$0.25) and a cup of the best coffee in the world (Q2/$0.25) is only Q18/$2.30, at an exchange rate of 7.80 Quetzales per US$1. If we compare the cost of this Guatemalan full meal with the cost of Big Mac or BK Whooper, which is about Q22 ~ Q25, we can see that Guatemalan cuisine gives you much more for less.
Remember that you can browse the food and drinks category for a sampler of many Guatemalan dishes, some with recipes. Bon appetite!
Daily Content
June 27th, 2007
¡Yo quieroooooooooooooooo!
June 27th, 2007
Lo unico que nunca me anime a probar ese plato, but I know when my mom or my grandma make it when they boil the panza, it stinks up the whole house; maybe if I didn’t know what it was, I would have tried it, you know? Same with lengua, (tongue) and riñones (kidneys)
June 27th, 2007
Always informative, Rudy! Although this is not my favorite dish, neither are Big Macs. And I would be willing to go out on a limb and say the Guatemalan dish is definitely healthier. As they say, “When in Rome, eat as the Romans eat!” (or something like that). Ciao!
June 28th, 2007
Luis, pero lo único que tienes que hacer es ir a cualquiera de esos comedores o fondas que hay cerca de ese enorme edificio azul de PL.
Claudia, si es muy cierto, no a todos gustan los platillos basados en viceras.
ColtraneLives, let it be known that I am implying that Guatemalan Cuisine is better, yet it is
; rather, it is just different.
October 29th, 2007
I can be a very picky eater and if it smells a bit off, I try not to eat it. But panza is one of my favorite foods. Es de lo mas rico que I have tasted. It does take a while to cook, but when done right, it makes my mouth water. I think i’ll have some this weekend.
January 15th, 2008
Yo sigo pensando que la comida rapida no se puede comparar con la comida casera. Se me hace agua la boca solo de ver ese plato. Vayan alla por San Felipe o si no al Mercado.
May 1st, 2008
no saben de lo que se pierden los que no lo quieran probar pero ami solo de ber esa foto ya me dieron ganas de estar en guate.
October 12th, 2008
[...] let’s meet for lunch today, the meals are on me. But, the menu options are limited: Guatemalan Revolcado, Pepian, Hilachas, Subanik and [...]