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Yuca, also known as cassava or manioc, is root widely consumed in Latin America and Guatemala is not the exception. You can yuca (you-kah) in caldos, in soups, in recados, fried, boiled, mashed, as yuca chips (similar to potato chips). Yuca is sold as snack with portion costing a mere Q2/$0.24 topped with tomato sauce and chile. In the old days, yuca was sold with tomato sauce and anchovies or chicharrón.

In the picture above, you can appreciate what Q4 of yuca looks like and topped with a green avocado and chile sauce. I wonder if Amanda from AntiguaFC.com has considered selling yuca chips online; I believe this would be a hot seller, don’t you agree?.

When was the last time you had yuca and how it was served?

Coyoles, that’s something I haven’t figure out what to call them in English; or Spanish outside of Guatemala for the matter. I am not even sure what fruit is. A coyol, singular, comes from a palm tree, and quite possibly is just a baby coconut or palm tree seed.

Coyoles, plural, whatever they are, in Guatemala they are cooked and turned as preserves. Coyoles en miel, as any fruit en miel as explained yesterday, are slowly boiled with panela (unrefined brown sugar), canela (cinnamon), clavos (cloves) and water until you get the brown syrup known as miel (honey).

These en miel preserves, as mentioned to MO, are very old recipes; I am sure this en miel came with the conquistadores and they probably acquired it from the Muslins who lived in Spain. Remember, azúcar is an Arab word.

Los orígenes más remotos de la palabra azúcar se hallan en el sánscrito çarkara, de donde pasó a la lengua persa pelvi como sakar, y de ésta, al griego sakharon. Del griego pasó al árabe como sukkar y, más tarde, al árabe hispánico assúkkar; finalmente, en el siglo XIII, llegó al castellano como azúcar.

Los arboles que façen sombra dulz e donosa,
Son los Sanctos miraclos que faz la Gloriosa,
Ca son mucho mas dulçes que azucar sabrosa,
La que dan al enfermo en la cuita rabiosa.
Gonzalo de Berceo

A partir del español, la palabra fue incorporada al catalán y al francés con la forma sucre, así como al portugués con la grafía açúcar. Desde el francés, se propagó al inglés sugar, al alemán Zucher, al búlgaro shelker, al danés sukker, al holandés suicker, al polaco cukier, al rumano zakar, al ruso zakharu, al sueco socker y al turco sukker. (Source: La palabra del día)

Guatemalan Spanish word warning: Watch out, coyoles (kəˈjōˌllāz) is used in Guatemalan Spanish as cojones. So don’t go around asking for coyoles.

Many Guatemalan desserts are prepared exactly as coco en miel. I believe we already covered the en miel preserves before in Guatemalan Dessert: Jocotes en miel. Basically, en miel means in syrup (literal translation of miel would be honey, but in this instance it means syrup or almíbar in Spanish).

To turn any fruit to en miel (in syrup), basically you have to slowly boil it down into a syrup made from water, cinnamon, clove, and panela. Panela is an unrefined food product, typical of Central and South America, which is basically a solid piece of sucrose and fructose obtained from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice.

Often, you can also find jocotes en miel, camotes en miel, mangos en miel, papaya en miel, chilacayote en miel, ayote en miel, et cetera. What other en miel fruits or desserts can you name.

Come back tomorrow if you want to see coyoles en miel!

Blame this photo on Eric, who just yesterday invoked the tortilla-making ladies.

It is interesting how the aroma of freshly-made tortillas can be so haunting. This is especially true for Guatemalans who are not used having tortillas not made the same day or even within the same hour. It’s funny now that I think about it, I’d never seen tortillas sold in the supermarkets like they do in the U.S. or even in Mexico, packaged and with produced and expirations dates. How about that?

Well, the aroma of tortillas just coming out of the comal can be equal to the aroma of bread coming out the oven. Especially if you grew up with tortillas made los tres tiempos (can somebody explain this custom).

Tortillas, unlike bread, are even more versatile: you can fold or roll them; you can tear them apart; you can use them in tacos or burritos if they are large enough; you can fry them or toast them and use them as tostada shells; you can use them as utisels as explained by LD in her Miss Manners International entry: “Gotta love the tortilla, which is essentially another utensil. It can push food onto your fork, wipe up extra sauce in your place.” Tortillas can be tiny, like in garnachas, or huge like in tlayudas; tortillas can be thin like in the average Mexican tortilla or thick like the Guatemalan pishtones. Tortillas can be found in several colors like red, black, yellow and white. You can add stuff to the tortillas at the time of cooking and turn them into pupusas or Mayan pizzas as I like to call them. You can use tortillas as wrappers for the carnitas and chicharrones.

Man, I could on and on talking about different ways of eating or using tortillas in Guatemala. I feel again like Bubba, the character from the Forest Gump movie.

Did I miss anything?

Without the least intention of bragging (sure, Rudy, whatever you say), I would like to share with you our window view from our home studio from where AntiguaDailyPhoto gets published!

This photo first appeared in the Antigua News Tweets stream located on the sidebar, below the Support our efforts menu; yes right there to the right of what you’re reading right now. The Antigua News Tweets is the mechanism by which I post more frequent photos and news updates through the day. The Antigua News Tweets are essentially news updates pulled from AntiguaDP Twitter account often with images posted at the AntiguaDP Twitpic account. You don’t have to belong to Twitter or Twitpic to view them or to take advantaged of the Antigua News Tweets stream; you simply need to come the AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com site and look at the most recent news updates on the sidebar. However, if you have a Twitter account, you get to see the Antigua News Tweets updates as they’re published.

So, make sure you keep an eye for the most recent Antigua News Tweets on the sidebar.

Also, if you haven’t noticed yet, there are two new features present on the sidebar: AntiguaDailyPhoto Forums and Facebook Connect commenting.

First, the AntiguaDailyPhoto Forums is the place to post your questions and answers and interact with other AntiguaDailyPhoto readers. The latest discussions are posted on the sidebar below the most Recent Comments. You can enter the bulletin boards through the Antigua Forums option on the Main Menu. Right now we are asking everyone to share their Spanish Schools and Tutors experiences.

Second, the Facebook Connect commenting is a feature that allows people with Facebook accounts to comment without having to enter their name, email and web address. This feature is available right there in the comments form and on the sidebar under the Forum Last 10 Discussions. Hopefully, this new feature will make it easier for everyone with a Facebook account to leave their feedback and comments. Please, if you already have a Facebook account, give it a try and let us know what you think.

Last year I mentioned about that thanks to the wise weather gods, in Guatemala any time of the year is good for grilling and barbequing and to meet with friends for what is known locally as El Chuparrasco; a contraction between chupa for drinking and rrasco, short for churrasco or barbecuing or grilling.

I also alluded to the fact that the dried season, or rainless, that goes from the end of October to end of April is the best weather in Guatemala (which covers part of the Fall, full Winter and part of the Spring seasons) for barbecuing and in general. Well, guess what, this year due the lack of heavy rains, we are having an extended dry season and thus chuparrascos are happening all the time.

Oh life in Guatemala can also be very good, occasionally, don’t you agree!

Since Rudy is such a fan of framing I thought I would toss in a few framed shots of my own. Has “arches framed with arches” been done? Rudy’s post Stairway to Heaven actually managed the feat though he failed to mention it. But, this photo from Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua frames two full arches and two partial arches within one closer arch. Geez, how many times can you say arch in a sentence? Anyway, shall a competition commence Rudy? Can you beat the number of arches I framed within another arch? I imagine he’ll have a photo topping mine up in no time…

text and photo by Laura McNamara

As you’re gazing at Enchanting Nook #1 at the Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua, spin your head around to your right and look up. There you’ll find Enchanting Nook #2. These beautiful doors at the hotel always leave me wondering about what may be behind them. I picture myself there, peeking out from the tiny balcony so that I might soak up the energy from the single ray of sunshine that is perfectly highlighting the golden door. If a wanderer moves past, I might glance down with an innocently nosy curiosity about who would be treading below me… I will wonder if that wanderer will find the hotel as beautiful and alluring as I do.

text and photo by Laura McNamara

Rudy previously called it Stairway to Heaven. I call it The Enchanting Nook. Months ago, during my first visit to La Antigua in December of 2008, just a quick peek into the entryway of Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua was enough to draw me in so I could explore the beautiful grounds further. I had to laugh when I realized on this trip that I had been lured back to the very same place! It’s not just the decor, design and color of the hotel’s entryway… it’s the light. This place seems to be perfectly positioned to bounce and reflect everyday, natural light so eloquently – lighting up the neon-fanned leaves, the bronzed railings, the warm mossy and earth hues of the walls. This time, I was brave enough to venture beyond the magical stairway and the first floor.

Entonces… more photos of Hotel Centro Colonial to come!

text and photo by Laura McNamara

If you are a fan of people watching you are hard-pressed to find a lovelier place than La Antigua Guatemala to enjoy the lazy hobby. Whether you find a bench in Parque Central, Tanque de la Union, Cerro de la Cruz… or perhaps, you simply prop yourself against one of the many boldly-colored walls that line the calles and avenidas, like this man… the scene before you is always beautiful. I don’t think a day has gone by where I haven’t outwardly expressed my fascination with the beauty that abounds in this city. She’s like a diamond. You can look upon her faces, her edges, her corners from different angles and each time you will find a new hue to appreciate.

text and photo by Laura McNamara

Michele Woodey already so eloquently described the emotions La Antigua’s ruins evoke. In her Antigua Abstracted #3 post she wrote: “These are places where episodes of history become entangled with our dreams- where stories and fables are as intricately woven together as the creeping vegetation that threatens to overwhelm the architecture itself.” Yet, the very people of that “fabled history” are there, displaying their wares on the cobbled streets just as their ancestors did. The experience is surreal and I feel like I’ve stepped into a living painting. The entire city – with its colonial ornamentation and kaleidoscope of color – feels like a living painting. I know I have a fresh set of eyes but I just don’t think I’ll ever become weary of venturing out into the city each morning to find whimsical scenes such as these – scenes that I too get to color with my very own, unique hue. This certainly beats U.S. Midwest suburbia. The next time you pass by the Ruins of El Carmen, where the rainbow-colored wares of the Maya people are displayed under the looming, colonial fossil… I beg you to stop… breathe… and take a moment escape to another time, another era.

This city truly romances me like a lover…

text and photo by Laura McNamara

For me, nature’s patterns are often works of abstract art, displayed before humanity in a living, outdoor gallery. These leaves are unknown to me. But, I think each one looks like a little, oriental fan, delicately spreading out from its stem. What do they look like to you? Does anyone know what kind of tree these leaves represent? There is also something about green. I love the myriad of greens that spring from nature.

text and photo by Laura McNamara

I am always amazed by the great quantity and quality of the signage in La Antigua Guatemala. Incredible that even though signs are regulated in Antigua, you can find so many different and artistic signs. Today’s sign, for instance, is a piece of wood known in Guatemalan Spanish a lepa, which is a slice of the tree which still has bark, on it the Quetzali sign was carved and finally painted. Simple and yet so distinctive, in my opinion. What do you think?

Just by walking around the streets of La Antigua Guatemala you can learn a whole new vocabulary by reading sings. If you don’t believe me, take a trip to the Signs category where you will find a brand new vocabulary like paninos, berengenas, pietra, molletes, torrejas, gasolina, luz, sirenas, et cetera; there are 99 specimens categorized already. How many different languages can you find among all those words?

Today’s new word is tartines, a fancy French open-faced sandwich topped with spreadable ingredients. You can find the Tartines sign on 4a calle oriente, half a block from the Parque Central. Bon appetite!

Last night I talked to my lovely niece who just turned eleven recently and we spoke about being 11-year old now and before (in my life) and the differences. I also had a conversation with my dear sister about how with the passage of time we forget names, we forget faces, we forget people and events.

I want to dedicate today’s photo to all the people and things that went before. Today, I will send some emails to old time friends or even make some calls to long forgotten friends. There’s no better time like today, right?

There are places i’ll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends i still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life i’ve loved them all… In My Life by The Beatles.