Eat your way around the world
THE SCENE I was happy. I drank frothy hot cocoa. It was rich and sweet and I could see the sun peeking through the grey clouds. The breeze smoothed my hair back like an old friend. And then I looked. The picnic table was moving - marching, marching, marching. I focused my eyes. Ants. Headed straight for the hot cocoa bars. Ready to carry mountains on their backs. Ready to eat sugar until they were too full to fit into their tunnels. Into the cracks and grass and wherever else … [Read more...]
Serves 1 When I don't have time for a bubble bath, I like to slip my dreams into a steaming hot cup of cocoa. Imagine my surprise (and joy) when I found out Guatemalans don't make their hot cocoa quite like we do here, in the USA. Like their neighbors throughout Central America, Guatemalans make hot cocoa out of bars of pressed cocoa. Dry and crumbly, these hot cocoa bars are nothing like the creamy bars of chocolate we snack on. The good news? You can find them in your local Latino market … [Read more...]
Makes 3 cups Is your blender lonely? Do you want to blast away from boredom? Try pepian, a thick mole-like sauce from Central America and beloved in Guatemala. With a quick whizz-whirr in the blender, this vegan sauce (a.k.a. recado) blends the smoky flavor of roasted, toasted seeds and other goodness with a half stick of cinnamon and dried chili peppers. If that sounds like a lot of different ingredients, don't worry, pepian is so balanced that even the pickiest eaters in your house won't … [Read more...]
Did you know there's a town in Guatemala called El Chocolate? It's true. It's a sign of the times. Guatemalans love, love, love chocolate. They grow it. They drink it. But for some reason, they just don't eat a lot of it. In fact, they drink chocolate way more than they eat the stuff. I have first-hand reports from my pen-pal Audrey (of Uncornered Market), that they had a surprisingly difficult time finding a regular bar of chocolate to eat during their stay in Guatemala. … [Read more...]
Makes 16 small or 8 medium tortillas This week's Guatemalan Global Table starts off with a popular treat - the corn tortilla. Store-bought corn tortillas can be so ... stale, dry and yucky. But, take five minutes to throw together a simple dough and you can smoosh out the best corn tortillas in the world - certainly as good as any you can find in Guatemala. Make them thick or thin, big or small - any way you shape them you'll be glad you did. And if you have kids, watch out. You just might need … [Read more...]
Hello and welcome to our Guatemalan menu, a welcome distraction from the storms that plagued the midwest last night (a.k.a. where I live). Tornado season reminds me, yet again, that I'm a stress eater. Big time. Last night, as the winds whipped and the hail fell, my appetite went through the roof. I may or may not have eaten 9.5 fresh corn tortillas and 139 mugs of hot cocoa, but who's counting...? Let's just say I'm still extremely full. The good news? Our Guatemalan menu is great for stress … [Read more...]
Follow the rainforest trails, past the ancient and active volcanoes, through patches of arid desert and towering Mayan ruins, and pull up a chair to the Guatemalan Global Table. Just don't sit too close - you need room for your belly to grow. And, I promise you, it will grow. For starters, you'll be chowing down on pupusa - the awesome corn (masa harina) snack packet we made for El Salvador [Recipe]. Then there'll be a heaping portion of Guatemalan mole, called recado or pepian, … [Read more...]
