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You know La Antigua Guatemala is a cosmopolitan town the moment Baltika beer specials are found in the local supermarket. That’s right Baltika No. 7 beer is on special 2×1 for Q12.95/$1.65 at La Bodegona. It’s time to stock up on Russian beer supplies since with all this rain you’ll never know if it’s the end of the world as we know it.

This is the second time Baltika beer appears in AntiguaDailyPhoto, when was the first time and what was the post about?

We are so lucky in Guatemala to have an abundant supply of fresh and colorful vegetables all year long. This colorful side dish, for instance, can be had any time of the year for a few quetzales.
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Remolachas, beets, are another staple of the Guatemalan gastronomy. You will find often in salads, as a side dish, in curtido (pickled salad), in Guatemalan enchiladas and even in Fiambre.

In what other Guatemalan dishes can we find remolachas?

Chojín is a word that I learned recently. Most of my life I just thought that radish salad was ensalada de rábano. Chojín is basically a radish salad that is served as appetizer or side dish with Chicharrones, Chicharrines and Carnitas, tostadas, panes (sandwiches), et cetera. Same as with guacamol, chojín is often eaten with hot tortillas out of the comal. There’s a recipe for chojín at Guatemalan Genes in case you want to add the Guatemalan twist to your next meal.

Guacamol has to be among the most present sauces or salads in the Guatemalan cuisine; as well as chirmol and often together. Chirmol (Guatemalan tomato-based sauce) and guacamol (avocado sauce) are often found with typical dishes like parrilladas and chuparrascos. Guacamol is also found in tostadas. Guacamol, of course, is part of the diet of Panzas Verdes.

There are several recipes of Guatemalan guacamol, including one that is very similar to the Mexican guacamole. However, the Guatemalan guacamol is often prepared with chopped onions, lime juice, oregano (marjoram) and chiltepes. In my family I often had it mixed with what seemed to be pico de gallo. Guacamol is also the spread for tortillas con longanizas (Guatemalan white sausages).

I could go on and on about guacamol like Bubba about shrimp!

Did you know that aguacate, avocado, comes from the Mexican Nahuatl language word ahuacacuauhitl; do you know what it means?

Contrary to popular belief, Guatemalans do have a large selection of salads in their gastronomy palette, including, of course, one of the most ingredient-rich and colorful salads in the planet, the world-famous Fiambre. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the Fiambre slideshow.

Ejotes (green beans), pimientos (bell peppers), arbejas (green peas), repollo (cabbage), and onions are often used in the Guatemalan salads along with typical herbs yerba buena, mint, parsely and cilantro. Often, many of the vegetables are prepared in escabeche (pickled) before incorporating them.

So, the Guatemalan gastronomy is not just Amerindian curries, rice and beans as some misinformed foreigners have declared.

Stay tune for a few more Guatemalan salads in the upcoming days.

What’s your favorite Guatemalan salad?

Well, it was only a matter of time and natural that someone in La Antigua Guatemala would try to make a coffee jelly spread.

Now imagine a toasted bagel with cream cheese and jalea de café spread on top and, of course, a big mug of freshly brewed genuine coffee from Antigua. I am glad I am not you because I don’t have to imagine anything, I just have that for breakfast a couple times a week.

Of course, now it’s only a matter of time before the cafes in La Antigua Guatemala will begin offering toasts or bagels with coffee spread. Heck why stop there, I am sure jalea de café will go well on top of waffles and panqueques (pancakes) and even champurradas, don’t you think?

Make sure you take a few jars of Valle de Panchoy’s Jalea de Café so you can enjoy, like me, the flavorful and unique coffee jelly from Antigua Guatemala. I know I would!

The Piloyada Antigüeña is one of the most classic dishes from La Antigua Guatemala. Piloyada antigüeña takes its name from the piloy bean. Piloyada antigüeña is basically a bean salad with pork, Guatemalan white sausage, Frankfurt links, ham, salami, fresh cheese, bell peppers, cilantro, tomato, hard-boiled egg slices and onions.

If you beg really loud, perhaps Erin or someone else will share the recipe with us, anyone, anyone?

Last week Jonathan Gold from LA Weekly and Evan Kleinman host of KCRW’s Good Food program did a review of La Cevicheria, a Guatemalan owned ceviche restaurant in Los Angeles. In the podcast Jonathan declared the Guatemalan ceviche the best of all ceviches and was surprised since, in his opinion, Guatemala does not posses a ceviche tradition.

Huh? That’s exactly what I thought!

I am certain now that the only dishes that you can find everywhere you go in Guatemala are Ceviche and Chow Mein. That, in my humble opinion, should be enough to declare them Authentic National dishes, don’t you think so?

Right after listening to the podcast I decided to create the Ceviche category to collect all the different articles I have published about the ceviche. Guatemala does indeed have a strong ceviche tradition and that’s why ceviche stands, trucks and restaurants are one of the most often food offerings.

Guatemalans love ceviche so much that now one is begining to find Mexican and Peruvian ceviche trucks and restaurants as part of the ceviche options. There are at least three places, that I know of, where one can find Peruvian style ceviche in La Antigua Guatemala and Ubi’s Sushi version of ceviche is pretty darn good. Ubi’s ceviche is very Peruvian although the presentation looks more like a Thai seafood salad (another of my favorites).

I take this opportunity to thank our loyal and long-time reader Santiago for forwarding me a copy of his Peruvian recipe, which I now prepared at home in a regular basis.

Below you can listen to 3:20 minute review of La Cevicheria by Jonathan Gold of KCRW’s Good Food.

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Ah hah, I am very close to discover exactly what turns any meal into a typical Guatemalan dish. I believe that you can have a series of ingredients that can be group together like longaniza (white sausage), chorizo (red sausage), salchichas (wiener sausage, like in hot dogs), carne asada (charchoal-grilled beef steak), chicken, guacamol, chirmol, rice, salad, cheese, tortillas, bread, vegetables, etc., but you can’t call it typical until you also put black beans and fried plantain slices; only then you can call it a typical Guatemalan dish.

Wha do you guys think? Am I right or I don’t know what I’m talking about?

The typical lunch above is from Travel Menu, a tiny diner, which has a small menu with very good food which can be prepared with chicken, beef or tofu. Travel Menu was the first place my wife and I ate when we moved to La Antigua Guatemala in 2002 and still among our favorites. Travel Menu is a good choice if you’re vegetarian and one of the few places where you can eat tofu.

Like always, if you click on the links for Travel Menu, you will be taken to the Foursquare entry I created for you with address, phone number and map.

In my never-ending quest to bring you the cosmopolitan dining options available in La Antigua Guatemala. Ubi’s Sushi, managed by chef Jeremías, is the new sushi venue in Antigua Guatemala. I have tweeted a few photos from Ubi’s Sushi, including their delicious ceviche.

Also, like all the new places I am profiling here, I also created a Foursquare venue so that the address, phone number and map is available to you in case you want to check it out for yourself [without inviting me ].

If you’re vegetarian or would like to try some tasty vegetarian dishes, Ubi’s Sushi is the place to go; try their miso soup and a vegetarian roll.

On the other hand, if you just want to try a few different options of sushi, sashimi, jemaki, etc., try their Titanic Mix, which is good enough for two people.

Bon appetite my friends!

Here’s what a typical Sunday morning Guatemalan breakfast may look like. I say Sunday morning breakfast because normally one can only find tamales on Saturday night or Sunday morning. Guatemalan tamales are normally served along with pan francés (French rolls [how to say pan francés in English?]) and a cup of hot coffee or chocolate.

When was the last time you had a breakfast like the above?

The best Guatemalan ceviche has to be ceviche of concha and camarón. Concha is sort of a shell clam known in Mexico as “Almeja pata de mula” which is sort of a mixture between clam and oyster plus dark ink (blood).

Camarones are, of course, shrimps. Mix conchas and camarones with diced plum tomatoes, chopped onion, yerba buena (mint), culantro (cilantro) and chiles, all cooked and marinated with lemon juice (limón or lime) you have the authentic Guatemalan ceviche. Guatemalan ceviche is normally served along with soda crackers and/or tamalitos and always goes well with a cold Guatemalan beer.

Bon appetite!

How do you prepare your Guatemalan ceviche?

Guatemalan are living a new sense of freedom, not the kind that was expected by the signage of the Peace Accords of 1996. Rather, it is a gastronomic freedom. Some of the Guatemalan expats noticed that something had changed since their departure when they saw Pepitoria, chile, salt and lime-lemon juice granizadas (shaved ice).

Some Guatemalans even commented about it, like Manolo: “This post-modern new millennium Guatemala presented in LAGDP sometimes throws me for a loop… what the heck are ‘salty granizadas’?” or Edgar: “Don’t know if my train is going to fast, but I’ve never seen those salty ‘granizadas’. I’m sure that kind of ‘granizada’ surfaced in the 90′s.”

Even though Guatemalans are known for being extremely conservative it’s only obvious that they are now abandoning the safe harbors and adventuring into extravagant paths. Can you believe it? There is now fresh mango chunks with salt, pepitoria and lime-lemon cupsicles*? Well, mango popsicles seemed rather traditionalist after I was made aware of mora (blackberry) with salt, pepitoria and lime-lemon, as well as mora and pineapple with salt, pepita and lemon juice cupsicles. Let it be known you heard it first in AntiguaDailyPhoto.

I wonder what’s next for Guatemala now that Guatemalans have abandoned their conventional ways? Revolution?

*Cupsicle is a word coined by Manolo in Facebook while referring to the Guatemalan version of popsicle.

First of all, I am going to request the help of my dear epistolary friends Erin and Manolo for this entry. Erin can help explain how this meal is prepared and perhaps some background information about gallina criolla and tips. Manolo can really explain in full detail the implications of Criollo and La patria del criollo.

As some of you know, I can take the most innocent and harmless photograph and turn it into a deep thought provoking image. Take today’s photo as an example, a simple photo of caldo de res y gallina criolla, beef and hen stock-stew. That’s right that’s what Sanchocho is, a simple caldo de res y gallina criolla (domestic fowl). If Erin and Monolo come through, we will end up with a thought provoking entry for sure.

Let’s wait and see… Come on guys we’re waiting.