AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com

Quiebradientes, teethbrakers, are typical and traditional hard candy from Guatemala. As the name implies, it is hard and it can break your teeth you have weak pearly whites. These candies may be appropriate to entertain the trick-or-treaters for a long while on the eve of Día de los difuntos, Day of the Dead, also known as Halloween; don’t you think?.

Here are many traditional Guatemalan desserts and sweets to take to the cemetery on Day of the Dead and All Saints’ Day.

Wow, I can’t remember when was the last time I have any of these desserts; maybe the espumillas back in May. How about you? When was the last time you had any of the desserts above?

For three years I have focused on world-famous and omnipresent dish of Fiambre as the main food served for Day of the Dead and All Saints’ Day in Guatemala. I believe that has been too much emphasis on a salad, which mostly has meats, all kinds: sausages, hams, chicken, sea food, meats pork and beef; don’t you think?

Once again, I have to thank Erin who mentioned last week it was about time to begin preparing “fiambre” and the dulce de ayote. It is amusing that one needs other people to point the obvious. I say this because every year my wife and I set up a Day of the Dead Altar which amalgamates the Mexican and the Guatemalan tradition with foods from both cultures and of course with plenty of desserts.

Chilacayote is basically a Guatemalan-type of squash sweet or candy. I don’t have the recipe, but I am sure Erin or other kind Guatemalan will come forward with the recipe for chilacayote, camotes and dulce de ayote… anyone, anyone?

Here’s one more dose of Sobrevivencia… A Guatemalan Mayan rock band. This time Sobrevivencia performs a rock version of “Guate caricia.” Enjoy!
(more…)

If there were an unofficial anthem for Guatemala, that would be El Grito. Most Guatemalan grow hearing El Grito and even dancing the “son” in school events.

Here’s a question for the Guatemalans living abroad, when was the last time you heard El Grito and what kind thoughts crossed your mind?

Here’s yet another dose of Sobrevivencia… A Guatemalan Mayan rock band. This time Sobrevivencia performs a rock version of El Grito. Enjoy!

These caramelized apples are a good example of the syncretism found in the Guatemalan gastronomy.

As Pascu mentioned yesterday, “I find Guatemalan cuisine unique: the blend of three cultures, each completely different. Mayan heritage brings the slow cooking stew style with thick sauces. African, the taste for deep fry food. Finally Spanish culture brought the oven, baked delicacies: bread, dough, roast, “dulces”… local fruits and vegetables mixed with 3 european basic ingredients: milk, sugar and eggs.”

Erin also added a few ingredients to stew, “It is important to keep in mind that the lists of local ingredients and dishes were enlarged and improved in many ways, during the colonial times. I am not taking out any credit to the local indigenous ingredients and methods; I am only saying that what we now know as ethnic food is a glorious combination of our past in its purest form, the colonial times, and some contemporary additions. Anyway, whatever the background in our extensive list of dishes, all of them are a feast to the senses. What a joy!”

How funny that Erin should mention Feast of the Senses since that was precisely the name of the exhibit of Central American gastronomy in which I participated two years ago. As always, follow the white rabbit to see some of the photographs that were on display at Fiesta de los Sentidos.

On a totally unrelated subject, it just occurred to me that the United States is one of the largest Spanish-speaking countries since it has one of the largest populations of Spanish speakers. Spanish has been spoken in the U.S. from a time before its independence; heck from before English was spoken there. And at the rate at which the Spanish-speaking population grows, faster than any other, you may have to hablar español sooner or después or move to Canada. Remember that you can always come to La Antigua Guatemala to take Spanish classes in the more than 65 Spanish Schools available in this tiny colonial town.

Por favor dejar sus comentarios y preguntas abajo; hay mucho espacio abajo y esta bitácora digital es ecológicamente verde, panza verde verde verde pues.

Here’s another dose of Sobrevivencia… A Guatemalan Mayan rock band. This Kaqchikel rock song is called Ruq’ojom Tat Mak (El Son De San Marcos); below you can also hear it performed in Spanish in case your Kaqchikel is a little rusty.
(more…)

If you want to know what plataninas, papalinas, poporopos and churros are, just follow the white rabbit!

Guatemala’s rich gastronomic heritage is “disappearing” right before our own very eyes. I try to capture and document some of it, but I am afraid I am doing it too slow.

Let me explain.

The other day I went to the tienda to buy some papalinas and I asked the girl at the counter for bag of papalinas. She looked dazed and confused and her hand kept on moving between the papalinas, plataninas and yuquitas. Finally, she admitted she did not know which was which. She solicited help to show her which was papalinas. She was about 18 years old so I inquired about her provenance; not willing to admit to myself that it was feasible for a Guatemalan teenager to not know what papalinas were.

In Guatemala, however, everyday the limits of what’s possible are pushed further out.

The tienda attendant was from a village not to far from La Antigua Guatemala.

Guatemala is certainly the land of “los desaparecidos (as).”

To counteract el olvido, here’s a dose of Sobrevivencia… A Guatemalan Mayan rock band. Enjoy and let me know if you need more doses of Sobrevivencia!
(more…)

First of all, my apologies to all those masochist Guatemalans who live abroad and visit this humble site to get their daily nostalgic capsule.

Loroco is the green flower you see on top of the pupusa above, which I call Mayan pizza because is made from corn dough and cheese. Pupusas are normally top with other ingredients like chicharrones, beans, chorizo (red sausage), et cetera.

Loroco is a seasonal delicacy which can be found mostly in Chiapas, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

My favorite loroco recipe is Pollo en crema con loroco, Chicken with cream sauce and loroco. It is simply delicious beyond words.

I can not explain the taste and flavor of loroco; Can somebody else help explain the flavor of loroco?

Back in June, a few photography enthusiasts from La Antigua Guatemala, myself included, funded the Club Fotográfico de Antigua (Antigua’s Photo Club). With each passing month the Club Fotográfico de Antigua (CFA) receives new members and visitors interested in sharing a good time while admiring the photographs taken by the members, participating in the monthly competition, exchanging photography tips and workshops.

September and October have been quite busy as we make the final arrangements for the first exhibition for the Club Fotográfico de Antigua, which is scheduled for November 6, 2009 in the cloister of Convento de Capuchinas.

The exhibition is a part of the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Consejo para la Protección de La Antigua Guatemala. The exhibition will have two objectives: to introduce the club to the local community and to collaborate with a local association in need of support through the sale of the exhibited photographs.

The opening of the exposition will be celebrated November 6 at 7 pm with a musical presentation by DJ BradElectro. JP’s Rumbar will be sponsoring the event with cocktails.

If you will be in Guatemala in November, you are cordially invited to join us and to purchase high-quality photographs to support a local association in need of funds.

Invitation for first expo of the Club Fotográfico de Antigua

There’s got to be as many salsa dancing schools in La Antigua Guatemala as there are Spanish-language schools. Unlike, the online Spanish tutors available from LAG, with salsa classes you must physically be in La Antigua Guatemala.

Interesting enough, Guatemala is not known as a salsa dancing Mecca and since I don’t dance it is hard for me to judge the quality of the salsa classes. One thing I do know, there plenty of venues where the salsa students take their newly acquired moves.

If you have taken dancing classes in La Antigua Guatemala, or Guatemala for the matter, can you share with us your experiences?

I ‘d like to know the name of this kind of bird, which comes to tweet and chat with our little white kitten everyday.

I know the bird is native to northern Central America and can be found often in Coffee Plantations of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Also, I know the bird belongs to Jay or Magpie family.

The jays are several species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the crow family Corvidae. The names jay and magpie are somewhat interchangeable, and the evolutionary relationships are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian Magpie seems more closely related to the Eurasian Jay than to the Oriental Blue and Green Magpies, whereas the Blue Jay is not closely related to either. (Source: Absolute Astronomy)

By the way, I don’t know why Guatemala doesn’t promote itself as bird-watchers paradise? Don’t you think we have hundreds of colorful birds with all kinds of forests and jungles.

I was explained by these chicharroneros how they make their chicharrones, chicharrines, carnitas and costilla. First buy the best quality pork skin, meat and ribs. Cut all of it into fist-size pieces. Let all the meat marinate over night with salts and spices in the refrigerator. Next day, set the fire and pour chicharrones into the caserola grande, large frying pot. Constantly stir the meats so they don’t stick to the pot. The chicharrones and carnitas are normally cooked in about 30 minutes, but we keep it on the frying pot for another 15 to 30 minutes so it gets a golden color and a toasty texture. The same applies for chicharrones, chicharrines, carnitas and costilla (ribs). Normally, 25 lbs. of meat turns into 15 lbs. of final chicharrones and carnitas. The pound of Guatemalan chicharrones sells for Q50

Bon appetite!

Because today is a holiday in Guatemala (read the aside below), we are going to skip all the controversial stuff and just have Empanadas de leche as dessert, postre in Spanish. It was a little over year ago that Lucía requested “photos of some ‘empanadas de leche’ (las que tienen manjar adentro), pleaseeeeyyyy?”

See, sometimes I take a little while to get to your requests, but I always fulfill your petitions. My to-do list of photos and information to publish in AntiguaDailyPhoto is quite long, but I eventually get stuff off the list like today.

Perhaps, some of you will be kind enough to provide a recipe for Empanadas de leche; how about it Erin and other cooking lovers out there?. Also, we should ask Amanda from AntiguaFC.com to carry empanadas on her wonderful site of flavors and colors of Guatemala; I mean, why not she’s already carrying all kinds of Guatemalan pastries and bread. Today, I even noticed she has pepitoria (ground roasted squash seeds); no more excuses not have mango and other fruits with pepitoria. You should ask Amanda for chile cobanero en polvo too!

Día de la Revolución Holiday Aside:

Today, October 20, is observed as Día de la Revolución (Revolution’s Day) and everybody gets the day off. Well, almost everybody, I will be working.

Do you want to know more about Día de la Revolución holiday? Read this Political Aside.

If you are planning to leave Guatemala before November 1, you will certainly miss the Giant Kites of Santiago and Sumpango. You won’t be able to see the kite runner in the cemeteries of Guatemala. However, if you are in La Antigua Guatemala, you can head over to Nim Pot to see some samples of the Guatemalan giant kites hanging from their ceiling. Don’t miss Día de los difuntos if you can though.

Profiled by El Chiltepe Aside: You know how much I hate to brag but every once in a while I have to share with you some of the accomplishments received thanks to the consistent work that appears in AntiguaDailyPhoto. The most recent accolade came from El Chiltepe, a magazine published out of NYC about design, tendencies, innovations and art. Below the introductory paragraph of the profile:

Hay muchas cosas que tomamos en cuenta para decir que alguien es sobresaliente. Además de ser geniales en lo que hacen, también juegan un papel importante en la sociedad que es el de compartir sus conocimientos con todos los demás y colaborar con su comunidad de alguno u otra manera y esto mismo fue lo que nos llamo la atención del guatemalteco Rudy Girón.

There are several things we take into account to name somebody outstanding. A part from being brilliant in what they do, they also play an important role in society, sharing their knowledge with everyone and collaborating with their community in one or another. This is precisely what caught our attention about the Guatemalan Rudy Girón.

… continue reading at El Chiltepe web site

To browse other achievements received by AntiguaDailyPhoto, check out the Portfolio page.

The “strong winds” begin making their way to Guatemala; Vientos fuertes would say Miguel Ángel Asturias. With the vientos fuertes also appear the barriletes, kites, and giant kites which help to reunite the dead with the living during the celebrations of Día de los difuntos, Day of the dead.

What do you know about the giant kites of Guatemala?

Some people out there can never see the good things, even if they were blinking right on their face. All they do is complain and nag about the most mundane stuff. I believe you have to show everything to give a more realistic picture. That also includes that good things that happen everyday but go unnoticed. I tell you this because I’ve heard only “quejas” about the current municipal administration from some people. They can not see some of the good things that are happeninig around Antigua and the villages every day!

Simple things like rechargeable solar blinkers being used at the entrance of La Antigua Guatemala at night by Municipalidad, City Hall, make a difference in the larger picture. So it does the use bio diesel fuels converted from burnt oils in municipal vehicles. The constant repairs of cobblestone streets and sidewalks make a huge difference too.

What do you think?