Guatemalan Eats (Part 2)

A while back I was catching up with a friend from home, and she asked me about Guatemalan cuisine. I continue to love eating and trying Guatemalan food, but it's become so habitual to me that I've been forgetting to take pictures. I managed to round up the few more pictures, and here's a little bit more on Guatemalan food.

A favorite among the kids (and teachers) are mixtas which consists of a tortilla with avocado, a sausage, cabbage, ketchup, mayonnaise. We don't have them quite often (maybe only once a month for breakfast), and so when there are people selling them for fundraising, the kids go crazy.

Two mixtas for this little boy

At UPAVIM, there'll occasionally be women selling some food and snacks. Once I saw some yucas being sold, and I decided to buy some since I haven't tried them before. These yucas (cassavas) were served with salsa and repollo (cabbage mix) which was a tad bit spicy, and very delicious!

yucas

When my mom came to visit, she naturally wanted to try some Guatemalan food. We went to a traditional restaurant in Antigua  for one of her first meals, and tried some kaq-ik and chile rellenos.

kaq-ik and chile relleno

Kaq-ik is a traditional dish which comes from Cobán. The name kaq-ik comes from two Mayan words meaning "red" and "hot/spicy," and it is a tomato based soup-stew made with spices and chile. The meat is usually turkey, and it's often accompanied with a small tamale and rice. Chile rellenos are chile peppers stuffed with ground meat or cheese, which are then battered and deep fried. At the restaurant we had it served with salsa and rice. I had it another time in an eatery by a lake, and it was served between two tortillas.

chili relleno

Chicken is probably the most common meat here, and fried chicken is extremely popular. There is abundance of fried chicken stores (mostly food chains), and I've made it my mission to try them all before I leave. The one below is from the biggest and most popular chain: Pollo Campero. (I'm not doing very well on my goal though, and I've tried only one other. Haha!). The fried chicken is usually served with a side of french fries. Other chains also offer cabbage or tortillas, and Pollo Campero's comes with a dinner roll.

Pollo Campero

Another popular way of having chicken (or any meat) is barbecued or charbroiled, or asado. The dish below is pollo asado served with some baby potatoes and cabbage. The drink in the photo is horchata. It slightly differs from country to country, but in Guatemala it's primarily made of rice blended with water and spiced with vanilla and cinnamon.

Pollo asado

Since asado is very common, very prevalent along the streets are parillas (grills), and carne asada, is another go-to for many locals. It's one of my favorite ways to have beef here, and the meat is surprisingly tender.

Churrasco is another word which can be used for griled meat, but over here a churrasco is what you call the whole dish; the carne asada, guacamol, frijoles, tortillas, etc. all together.

One way we have beef cooked for lunch in school is hilachas which translates into "loose thread." The beef is shredded into strips and slow-cooked (as is common) in a tomato based stew with vegetables.

hilacha

Pork is not as common, and neither is fish. But I did get to try some fish when I was at Lake Atitlán. I tried some mojarra, which is a local fish, both grilled and fried, and it was delicious. Just the other day I visited another lake, and there were many eateries selling mojarra. It makes sense that there would be more fish in the waterside cities.

grilled and fried mojarra

Last, but not least, a sweet treat to end the post: chocofrutas -- frozen fruit dipped in chocolate. The fruits can be anything from bananas, watermelon, mango, pineapple, strawberry (my favorite) and more, and make a cheap (1Q!) refreshing treat on a hot day (or any day, really!).

Chocofrutas from the store right across UPAVIM