Guatemalan tostadas are simple and tasteful. Normally, frijoles, guacamol or salsa de tomate, or beans, avocado sauce and tomato sauce. Sometimes, though, tostadas can have other stuff on them, such as enchiladas or any tostada with chojin, radish salad. Chomín, chau mein, is another possibility for tostadas. Which Guatemalan tostada is your favourite?
Rellenitos (little fillings) is the name given to a food made from plantain dough which molded into a semi-round shaped and filled (thus the name) with a black beans sauce or stuffed with manjar (custard). It is a sweet meal and normally eaten as junk food or as dessert. It is one of my favorite Guatemalan desserts and I am sure I am not the only one with a soft spot for this kind of meal. Check out this close-up shot of rellenitos to see the black bean sauce filling.
After all the pounds we have gained this week at the San Pedro Las Huertas Fair, it is nice to come across some healthy food. For Q5 ($0.65) we can take any fresh fruit bags and we will need the savings since we already lost quite a few Quetzales at the others fair stands. Now, even though I have shown all these Guatemalan fair food and even describe it as tasteful and delicious, I don’t want to pass it as healthy. Fair food is junk food. I am so glad these fair food vendors have not come across the Super Size Me concept!
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.
We continue our Market Day series with sampling of color and repetition found at junk food vendor inside the mercado of La Antigua Guatemala. Although we call them frituras, fried snacks, they are really junk food. Heck, now that I think about it, food is probably not the right term either as these are processed … Read more
Today I only have rellenitos at Q5/$0.60 per piece for you. I deliver the world over, 30 minutes or it’s free. Minimum 5 rellenitos per order. Rellenitos de platano con frijoles (stuffed plantains with beans). As I have explained before, Rellenitos (little fillings) is the name given to a food made from plantain dough which … Read more
Poco a poco, slowly, all the traditional and typical tiendas and tienditas, borough convenience stores, have been bought and turned into abarroterías de occidente, that’s what call them, although there is no set name, only a set style. What does a tienda de occidente, western highland store, look like? Well, first of all, they are … Read more
Here’s another picture from the series “Pase Adelante” of 24 frames of film with the typical convenience store, tiendas we call them in Guatemala. Tiendas usually carry the most often needed items, soda drinks, junk food next to vegetables and fruits. Sometimes they also sell freshly-baked bread twice a day, morning and afternoon. Here’s a … Read more
So what are rellenitos pues? Rellenitos (little fillings) is the name given to a food made from plantain dough which is molded into a semi-round shaped and filled (thus the name) with a black beans sauce or stuffed with manjar (custard). It is a sweet meal and normally eaten as junk food or as dessert. … Read more
As I’ve explained before, a tienda is the Spanish word we use in Guatemala to refer for convenience store. The original definition of Tienda is tent as I imagine the original stores were actually tents. Tienditas, are smaller tiendas, or little convenience stores, which sometimes get to be as small as a window, must of … Read more
Among all the junk food, chucherías pues, that you find at the town fairs, you can also encounter a fresh fruit booth such as the one shown above selling oranges and jocotes. Of course you know what jocotes are, right? If not, follow the white rabbit through the rabbit hole of the AntiguaDailyPhoto archives. Enjoy!
Guatemala has taken the concept of convenience store to new levels. Tienda is the Spanish word we use in Guatemala to refer for convenience store. The original definition of Tienda is tent as I imagine the original stores were actually tents. Tienditas, are smaller tiendas, or little convenience stores, which sometimes get to be as … Read more
Boy, do I sacrifice for you guys, or what? MO (Mario) asked for a shot of green mangoes and here I am going to buy a green mango with pepitoria, sal, limón y chile, just for him (and Raquel). 😉 See, many of the snacks in the Guatemalan junk food menu are actually healthy. Many … 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