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Besides the typical papalinas (potato chips) found everywhere, in La Antigua Guatemala you can also find exotic chips made from eggplant, plantain (plataninas in Guatemalan Spanish), cassava chips (yuquitas in Guatemala), sweet potato chips (camote in Spanish) and other such exotic vegetables. Of course, you need an exotic sandwich to match the exotic chips and the torta cubana (Cuban sandwich) is a pretty good match.

Bon appétit!

Además de las típicas papalinas que se encuentran pordoquier, en La Antigua Guatemala uno también encuentra frituras exóticas como las berengenas, plataninas, yuquitas, camotes y otras verduras endémicas de la región. Claro que se necesita un emparedado que este a la altura de las frituras exóticas y la torta cubana hace una muy buena combinación.

¡Buen provecho¡

Tortitas de carne, beef patties, are a classic staple of the Guatemalan gastronomy. They are usually served with a simple tomato sauce on top of the patties with rice and salad. In the picture above, the sauce is actually the pepián recado (sauce or curry).

Does anyone have the recipe for this succulent Guatemalan dish?

Las tortitas de carne son una parte integral de la gastronomía guatemalteca. Normalmente, las tortitas son servidas con salsa de tomate encima, con arroz y ensalada. En este caso llevan el recado del pepián.

¿Quien nos puede pasar la receta de las tortitas de carne?

In Guatemala we are lucky to still have vendors who provides us with fresh goods every day. Perhaps, it is the fact that the vast majority of Guatemalans don’t have a refrigerator that make us have fresh goods like fruits, vegetables, meats, et cetera every day of the year. Tortillas are not the exception. In fact, in most places we have fresh and hot tortillas out of the comal three times a day. Bread is baked at least twice a day.

Do you know when was your bread or tortillas made?

En Guatemala somos afortunados que aún encontramos vendedores que nos proveen de productos frescos todos los día. Tal vez el hecho que la gran mayoría de guatemaltecos no tienen un refrigerador es lo que aún nos permite encontrar frescas frutas, verduras, carne, etcétera. Las tortillas no son la excepción. Al contrario, en la mayoría de lugares podemos encontrar tortillas frescas y saliditas del comal tres veces al día. El pan es horneado por lo menos dos veces al día.

¿Sabés cuando prepararon el pan y tortillas en el refrigerador?

Recently I had the opportunity to have breakfast at the restaurant inside Posada de Don Rodrigo. I ordered the Enchiltepado typical breakfast which comes with two eggs prepared your way, a sirloin steak (underneath everything), black beans and fresh Guatemalan cheese, everything bathed with a chiltepe pepper cream. It was simple and delicious. I must do it again!

If you don’t know what chiltepe peppers are, read the post What Makes Guatemalans Hot? to find out!

Recientemente tuve la oportunidad de desayunar en el restaurante que está dentro de la Posada de Don Rodrigo, en la Calle del Arco. Ordené un desayuno Enchiltepado que viene con dos huevos al gusto con un bisteq de lomito (debajo de todo) acompañado de una deliciosa crema de chiltepe, frijoles negros y queso fresco.

Si vos no sabés que es el chile chiltepe, lee la entrada What Makes Guatemalans Hot? para enterarte.

The food served at fair stands is becoming more colorful. Not too long ago I showed you black pupusas at Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which are very unusual.

If you never seen a photo of the Guatemalan torrejas, follow the white rabbit to Torrejas, Torrejas, Anyone? to get an idea of how torrejas are normally served. Now, compare the photo from the link against today’s photo of torrejas and you will understand the above statement.

Okay, let’s take a sweet tour through the Guatemalan comfort fair foods. Please, make sure you have some napkins close by; we don’t want to have any salivating accidents over the computer equipment.

• Buñuelos
• Torrejas
• Corbatas
• Churros
• Platanos fritos
• Rellenitos
• Algodones
• Dulces típicos

What other dishes available at the fairs should I include in the Guatemalan comfort food list?

Okay, it’s Friday and it’s time to give a free post card away again. Today’s game is very simple: the person that can name the most typical candies and nuts in Spanish from the photo above, wins this photo as a post card, which I will mail using the snail-mail postal service, including the Guatemalan postal stamps.

Good luck to all participants!

Simple Guatemalan fair food. Take some pirujo bread, add lettuce, mayonaise, tomato sauce, chile sauce and shredded chicken meat you have panes con pollo; a staple of the Lent season.

Do you want to know what to expect in terms of food and things to do for the season? Take a tour through the Guatemalan Fair series!

Guatemalan gastronomy is so rich with stews. If the stews are watery we call them caldos and if the stews are thick we call them recados. In Guatemala we have plenty of caldos and recados and sometimes is difficult to decide whether a stew is a caldo or a recado. Take Kak’Ik for instance, which is caldo that looks like a recado.

The picture above is from the three-meat Subanik from Cocina del Obispo located at the entrance of San Juan del Obispo. Cocina del Obispo is a great place to try out all the different Guatemala stews and typical dishes. Cocina del Obispo is a traditional house that is converted into a restaurant on the weekends, therefore all the dining tables are spread between garden, patios and dining room.

Anyway, henceforward we declare Guatemala as the Ultimate Stew Country!

How many other Guatemalan stews can you name besides pepian, tapado, subanik, pulique, hilachas, jocón, kak’ik, caldo de gallina, caldo de res, gallo en chicha, tiras de panza, pollo en crema, pollo a la cerveza, carne guisada, revolcado, caldo de mariscos, etc.?

How many of these stews have you tried?

The gourmet pizzas below are the creations of excutive chef of Santo Domingo restaurants Mario Enrique Campollo who is famous for creating international cuisine dishes combined with local ingredients. Mario Campollo began working for the Santo Domingo in 1991 as a cook when Santo Domingo was just a restaurant. As Casa Santo Domingo grew into hotel, museums and restaurant compound, so did Mario Campollo, later becoming the excutive chef. Through the years he has had the opportunity to work for short periods of time in some of the best restaurants in New York, Barcelona, San Francisco, Chicago and other major cities in Europe. He also studied in Italy and now likes the idea of teaching cooking classes.

The gourmet pizzas below were a great surprise since they were delicious, exotic and not expensive at all. As Mario shared with us, the prices at El Tenedor del Cerro restaurant are more affordable than at the restaurants inside Casa Santo Domingo. As soon as this past weekend, Mario told us, they will also begin offering a brunch buffet on the weekends at El Tenedor del Cerro.

Surrounding El Tenedor del Cerro you can also find a bar that caters just drinks to the many tables spread over the terraces, platforms they call them, where one can enjoy the magnificent views, especially in the afternoons with the sun setting behind the majestic volcanoes.

Having a delicious cup of authentic Guatemalan coffee or chocolate at sunset at terraces of Santo Domingo del Cerro is a must before leaving Guatemala. Mozas and Cabros work as well to enhance the sensory experience. You do that and you will agree with me: Life is good!

Sabe Rico Restaurant, Chocolatería & Delicatessen is a great place to have delicious and nutritious breakfasts in La Antigua Guatemala. The range options goes from typical Guatemalan breakfast, tamales, et cetera all the way to fresh fruits and home-baked artisan bread slices with home-grown basil pesto and bacon.

The Sabe Rico large cup of coffee is HUGE; one of the largest cups of coffee I have ever seen. I am sure Starbucks’ largest size is much smaller than Sabe Rico large cup.

Another wonderful aspect of Sabe Rico is the fact that tables are randomly placed in a beautiful and quiet garden in the back of the restaurant.

Guatemala is a country with lots of stews. Let’s call Guatemala, Stew country!

Just yesterday Arturo Godoy was sharing with us the photos he took at La Cocina del Obispo, which included a not too tempting shot of Subanik. Since I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about one of the most important dishes in the Guatemalan gastronomy, I decided to immediately share with you another version of Subanik.

Subanik, also known as “God’s meal”, is the perfect bowl of hot reddish-orange broth according to Cia from Writing With My Mouthfull. Subanik is a ceremonial dish of the Kaqchiquel Maya of Guatemala. It is traditionally steamed in a nest of about 6 to 8 large mashan leaves tied at the top with cibaque, or decorative rope according information shared by Brigid Schulte for The Washington Post.

Luckily for us, both articles include recipes in English to prepare Subanik in the United States, both articles also include recommendations for substituting ingredients not available in the U.S. and Canada.

Without further ado, here are the recipes for Subanik in English:

• Subanik: 8 servings, this recipe includes nutrition facts. This Subanik recipe is adapted from a recipe of the Antigua Cooking School in Antigua, Guatemala.
• Subanik: Guatemalan stew recipe adapted from Ezekiel, the chef for La Lancha, a retreat in Lake Petén Itza.

Please, let me know if you try cooking Subanik at home from these recipes?

La Cocina del Obispo Restaurant is located in San Juan del Obispo, perhaps a 10 minute drive from La Antigua Guatemala. The restaurant is family owned and opens only on the weekends. You’d be amazed on the variety of food.

Anyway, this time I went with Lomi Kriel and Norman Ávila. Rudy was supposed to join us, but he cancelled. Lomi had the Pepián, which by the way they even have been awarded a first prize for the best Pepián in Antigua Guatemala! Norman had a Churrasco chapín (Guatemalan barbecue grill) and I had Subanik; a classic dish from Las Verapaces. All food is fabulous there; the prices are excellent and the atmosphere is just amazing. I wish Rudy would have been there, he is a far better food photographer than I am; anyway, here is my attempt at joining the food photos with a portrait of each of my friends

The conversations were just great, we even talked about gadgets, geeks, history, and even beer

A bit later on, I’ll tell you about the other times I have been there. I just have to look up the photos in my external hard drives.

text and photos by Arturo Godoy.

While talking to my good friend @cvander about the reasons we go out to eat, he mentioned that the quality of the food is only one factor to consider. He also mentioned the ambience, the mood, the decor, the vibe and of course the service.

So, in short: ambience, food and service are the reasons for dining out. Oh how difficult is to get good quality in all three areas from a single venue; in my opinion. What do you think?

Nevertheless, if you’re looking for un unconventional place to eat with gourmet and vegetarian cuisine, give Sabe Rico a try.

I guess geeks will be geeks regardless where they come from. I mean, Guatemalan geeks eat no different than other computer geeks the world over. Fries and hot dogs, especially shucos, with coffee or beers are quite popular with Guatemalan geeks.

Geek food: food that, stereotypically, computer geeks, specifically programmers, eat. The food falls into three categories: high in calories, easy to make, and high in caffeine… (source Urban Dictionary)

After having devoured the German sausages hot dogs, fries and beer, I can assure you there was plenty of coffee and good talks.

Would you like to know where can you get these authentic German sausages in Antigua Guatemala?

Algodones are another very popular Christmas comfort candy found in town fair, church atriums and around plazas and parks. Algodón is the word we use in Guatemala for cotton candy or candyfloss; algodones in plural.

Since I was wondering for how long cotton candy has been a tradition in the Guatemalan fairgrounds I did a little search and this is what Wikipedia has:

Cotton candy was first recorded around Mid-18th Century. At that time, spun sugar was an expensive, labor-intensive endeavor and was not generally available to the average person.[4] Machine-spun cotton candy was invented in 1897 by William Morrison and John C. Wharton and first introduced to a wide audience at the 1904 World’s Fair as “Fairy Floss”[5] with great success, selling 68,655 boxes at the then-high $0.25, half the cost of admission to the fair. Fairy floss was renamed to “cotton candy” in the 1920s.[6]
Tootsie Roll of Canada Ltd. has a bagged product called Fluffy Stuff that it claims was introduced at the 1893 World’s Fair.[7]

…continue reading at Wikipedia

When was the last time you had cotton candy?