Last week we did a mini series on campesinos and the milpa fields located on the skirt of Volcán de Agua. Today we show the most obvious and popular food, tortillas, that is made from maize harvested from the milpa fields.
Other Guatemalan food based on corn are: Tamales, tostadas, chuchitos, pupusas, atoles, dobladas, enchiladas, tacos, garnachas, tamalitos, quesadillas, elotes locos, just to mention a few of the possibilities. We can go on and on about Guatemalan food made with avocados, squash, chiles, beans, tomatoes, tomatillos, camotes (sweet potatoes), jicama (a tuber also known as sengkwang, yam bean, singkamas, Mexican turnip), amaranth (also called pig weeds), mucuma (a tropical legume) yuca, ichintal, güisquil, et cétera.
By the way, you can do searches on just about all the foods mention above in case you don’t know what they look or taste like. Enjoy!
© 2014 – 2020, Rudy Giron. All rights reserved.
Guatemalan quesadillas are not made with maize, they’re made with rice flour. I know about that, my family is from oriente. You can check this recipe: http://www.prensalibre.com/revista_d/Quesadilla-Zacapa_0_901110261.html
Great blog, by the way!
Hi Raúl, I thought it was a mixture of corn and rice flour.
Raúl, I think Rudy was referring to other quesadillas, the ones where you put queso fresco on a folded corn tortilla to warm it up on the comal.
Yes and no, Luis, I was thinking of the Guatemalan quesadillas because I thought they use corn flour in the mix. The other quesadillas do have corn tortillas and cheese as you mention.
Rudy, when I saw this picture, I thought of being squeezed into a mini-van with 12 other passengers for a trip out to Lake Atitlan. Why ? Because altitude sickness/carsickness seems to affect my fellow passengers, but not me. They bring a soda and chips to snack on, and their faces don’t look so good when the road gets curvy, but I bring a half-dozen fresh tortillas from a lady in the market. Nothing calms the stomach at altitude like some fresh tortillas. Of course, they are delicious anytime !
You have lots of love for tortillas and luckly you get them fresh near where you live, right?
Yes, I can get them fresh, but it’s not the same. Las manos de
las bellas indigenas crean las mejores tortillas … 😉
You know, that’s what Guatemalan living abroad say about most foods, including Pollo Campero, it just doesn’t taste the same as in Guatemala.