The typical Guatemalan sandwich is simply known as Pan (bread) or pan con carne (beef sandwich), pan con chile relleno (chile relleno sandwich), pan con longaniza (white sausage sandwich), pan con chorizo (red sausage sandwich), et cetera. The bread used for the Guatemalan sandwich is usually pirujo, sort of white bread baguette, but pan francés … Read more
We continue our Antigua Sandwich Week mini series with an open face sandwich: the Guatemalan take on eggs benedict includes dices of avocado and tomato over two slices of artisan home-made whole wheat bread, well at least the version sold at Café Barista in Antigua Guatemala. This eggs benedict breakfast also includes orange juice and … Read more
Here’s your illustrated Guatemalan Spanish word of the day: Hamburguesa or burger. I guess a hamburger is a kind of sandwich right. By the way, we use the word sandwich quite often in Spanish, although the proper word should be emparedado. In Guatemala, we often just call them panes, such pan con pollo or pan … Read more
Many places in the world have breakfast sandwiches. Guatemala is no exception. The typical Guatemalan breakfast sandwich usually has scrambled eggs and black beans, sometimes sausages or hot links inside a pirujo or francés piece of bread. Pirujos and shucos are the two native sandwiches from Guatemala.Pirujos are plain white dinner rolls that are the … Read more
Here your illustrated Spanish word of the day: Sibarita is a combination of sybarite, epicure, gourmet and foodie plus a taste of the best things in life. Here’s the latest sandwich for those looking delicious meal. This sandwich is walled with ciabatta bread and inside you will find healthy portions of prosciutto, manchego cheese, onion … Read more
Pan con pollo or chicken sandwich is among the most popular street foods one finds in Antigua Guatemala and the rest of the country for the matter. Most often, pan con pollo is a pirujo bread, sort of French baguette, with shredded chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado, but sometimes vendors use pan francés, … Read more
Here are your Spanish words of the day: Moronga, Morcilla, Rellena, or Blood Sausage Although blood sausages have their origin in Europe, I read they are quite popular in France and Spain, in Guatemala they are prepared a little differently. For starters, they add chopped onions, and yerba buena [mint] and chiles and other local … Read more
Everywhere in Guatemala you can find breakfast stalls similar to one shown above where the working class and anybody’s hungry can stop by to get an orange juice or licuado (smoothies) and a pan con pollo (chicken sandwich), or pan with you name it, chiles rellenos, guacamol, frijoles (beans), et cetera. The bread used to … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
But like in anything else in life, something good emerged from such a tragic history. Fried plantains, rellenitos (fried plantain mass filled with black beans), atol de platano (plantain-based hot and thick drink) and even the wrappings of traditional Guatemalan tamal came from the banana trees. Man, I could on and on talking about bananas recipes and dishes in Guatemala like Bubba did in Forest Gump about shrimp.
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.
Nowhere is Guatemala’s syncretism more evident than in its food. Here you have a sampler of what is considered authentic traditional Guatemalan dishes, yet you can see Chinese fried rice and chow mein, French roll sandwiches fill with Spanish-style pierna (leg), Russian potato salad, buche and tomato salad, revolcado Guatemalan curry, Guatemalan tacos (fried flautas), … Read more
This sandwich is called Pirujo and it takes its name from the bread’s name. Pirujos and shucos are the two native sandwiches from Guatemala. Please follow the shuco link to see some of the largest sandwiches around. This pirujo sandwich comes with guacamol(e), lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and beef or chicken, your choice, along with … Read more
Are pirujos and shucos sandwiches getting out of hand? Come on, who can eat a sandwich this big. Just to clarify, the sandwich pirujo takes its name from the pirujo bread, which is a sort of elongated French roll. On the other hand, shucos is the name giving to the Guatemalan hotdog. Both sandwiches come … Read more