Shuco is a word that means dirty. It is not Spanish or Maya, but it is a word that represent their meeting point. Now why in the world would you use the world dirty for food; well, why not, if they can call them “hot dogs” in some other parts of the world. Anyhow, the … Read more
What do you prefer, a shuco hot dog or a cheveré? In case you can’t tell the difference, here are two visual representations of each. So, what’s going to be for you? Cheveré hot dog: Shuco hot dog:
Once again we have a premium hot dog joint in Antigua Guatemala. After we lost Wurst Eck and Jardín Bavaria and countless other joints, we were once again without a place to have premium German, Danish and Italian sausages, that is until Randy’s Sausages opened a few months back. The value and price point is … Read more
As I have shared with you before, Guatemalans love the grilled meats, especially charbroiled meats. Of course, sausages are a favourite when it comes to charcoal grilled meats. This picture is shows a sampling of morcilla [blood sausage], longaniza [white sausage] and chorizo [red sausage]. The most popular sausages eaten in Guatemala are longanizas and chorizos; they are an integral part of the shuco hot dogs and tortillas con sausages and chirmol. What’s your favourite Guatemalan charbroiled meat?
This Guatemalan shuco hot dog is a mixto [mixed], meaning it has more than one meat, four meats to be precise here: chorizo [red sausage], longaniza [white sausage], salchicha [franks] and salami. Even Wikipedia has an updated description for the Guatemalan shuco hot dog. Wow, it’s been a while since I last shared a picture … Read more
Panes con pollo, chevere hot dogs and shuco hot dogs are the sandwiches that are present at every town fair and velación, vigil. Of course, there is a big difference between a shuco and chevere hot dog as I explained before: To the uneducated eye the Guatemalan Chevere and Shuco hotdogs are just exotic hotdogs, … Read more
To the uneducated eye the Guatemalan Chevere and Shuco hotdogs are just exotic hotdogs, but to the Guatemalans these two hotdogs are very different. For starters, the Chevere hotdog is based on the Chevere brand style of preparation which is as follows: steamed bread bun, add one or two steamed hotdog links (salchicha we call … Read more
I have shown you the typical Guatemalan breakfast at least three times and each time has been somehow different, how so? Well, what can I say, there are a series of ingredients that can be assorted to make breakfast taste very Guatemalan. The typical Guatemalan breakfast must include, however, black beans, fried plantain slices, fresh … Read more
We get a lot of things from our neighbors from the big white north like remittances, retired chicken buses, junk cars, and so on. Now, it it looks like we are also getting the eating habits and as a result Guatemala has made the top ten of the most obese countries. 🙁 Other Latin American … Read more
The Guatemalan shuco hot dog comes with guacamol (avocado sauce), boiled cabbage, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, mustard, hot sauce, and one or more of the following: chorizo (Guatemalan red sausage), longaniza (Guatemalan white sausage), salchicha (normal hot dog sausage), ham, bacon, pepperoni, german ham and sausages, chichen breast, beef steak fajitas, polish sausages, et-cetera. Well, at … Read more
Guatemalan mixtas (mixed) are basically hot dogs which come with tortillas instead of a bun. Simple and great tasting. There are other kind of mixtas (which really just means mixed) like beers, like ceviches, et-cetera. You get the point, right. With this very simple dish we close yet another mini Guatemalan food series. Now you … Read more
The charcoal-grilled meat stall has gotten so hip that you now find it not only in fairs, but around La Antigua Guatemala in parks, markets and sidewalks. Back in February 20th, 2007, I showed you an extremely popular stall of grilled meats in Tanque de la Unión park from a bird’s eye point of view. In the picture above, chicken and beef steak were being offered along broiled potatoes. Q10 ($1.25) for a portion of the meat of your choice, chirmol (read the side note), guacamol and potatoes; definitely, not too bad of a deal.
Traditional Guatemalan cuisine refuses to be phased out in favor of international fast food like hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs and chinese food. Even though foreign fast food is convenient, it lacks the complexity in flavors that Guatemalan dishes have. Even a simple dish like Revolcado de Panza, a sort of tomato-based curry with spices and cow’s underbelly brings forth an avalanche of flavors, textures and feelings to the taste buds.
Traditional Guatemalan dishes take a long time to be prepared, sometimes even weeks like the Fiambre (a cold-cuts salad), so they can not compete with fast food junk food in the time of preparation. But who says they have to be prepared the moment you show up to order it? That is fine for sandwiches, but Guatemalan traditional meals are sold by having a ready-made buffet where one can go and just order portions.
“Chevere” is a Venezuelan Spanish word which means cool, fine, excelent, okay, just to mention a few of its meaning. Well, about the origin of the chevere word, I don’t know; perhaps it is not even Venezuelan. Nonetheless, the word is understood and used in Central America.
In Guatemala, a company of hot dogs decided to use as its name in the late seventies or early eighties. The company did things right and it was a total hit and the Chevere brand became almost as omnipresent as Coca Cola, Pepsi and the Gallo Beer. It was everywhere.
Normally, I try to publish clean, with almost no visual noise, photographs as in Shadow Casting Lamp, the wallpaper series, Palo de Izote Tree and Arches reflected on Tanque de la Unión. This is an extremely difficult task when you live in a part of the world which is very noisy, both visual and audio; … Read more