Guatemalan Cuisine: Chuchitos y atol de platano

Continuing with our milpa crops, here we have the most widely eaten Guatemalan tamal(e), which goes by the name of chuchito (puppy or little dog). Back on my first Guatemalan cuisine series, I brought to you another type of tamal named pache. Then, I said that tamales are probably the oldest food from the American continent with over 5,000 years of existence. Also, I mentioned that in Guatemala alone, there must be 100 different kinds, but if you ate a different kind of tamal every day from all the areas in Mesoamerica, it would take you over 20 years to try them all.

The chuchitos presented here come wrapped in dried maize husk, with tomato-based antigüeño sauce, a tiny piece of pork or chicken and chipilí­n, a green plant with a very special flavor and aroma. The drink is thicken hot beverage made from boiled plantains, sugar and cinnamon.

The Guatemalan labor code allows for two short breaks of about 15 minutes; one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The breaks are known as refacción, and the act of eating something in this short break is known as refaccionar. Bon appetite my friends!

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