There are also foods that are commonly eaten on certain days of the week. For example, it is a popular custom to eat paches (a kind of tamale made from potatoes) on Thursday. Certain dishes are also associated with special occasions, such as fiambre for All Saints Day on November 1 and tamales, which are common around Christmas.
History
Pre-classic and classic periods
Volcanic stone metate traditionally used to grind maize
In the early pre-classic period (2000 BC - 250 AD), agricultural techniques such as the slash-and-burn method began to develop as Maya settled into permanent villages.[2] During this time, Maya cultivated maize, beans, squash and chilli peppers. Local game included deer, rabbit, quail, duck, peccary, turkey and reptiles.[3][4] During the classic period (250 AD - 900AD), maize became a staple in the Maya diet. Before maize was consumed, it was processed in a technique called nixtamalization, involving cooking the corn with minerals, usually slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), giving the maize a higher nutritional value. After this process, the cooked maize would be ground into masa using a metate.[5]
Tamales are a traditional food eaten in Guatemala on special occasions, especially during Christmastime and around other holidays. They are pouches of masa usually filled with meat, such as pork and chicken, but sometimes filled with vegetables such as maize and potatoes, and are usually wrapped in banana leaves.
Style
Many Guatemalan dishes are cooked without the use of cooking oil, with ingredients placed directly on the comal or wrapped in leaves. Many Guatemalan dishes have the suffix '-ik' as part of their name; -ik means chili in several Mayan languages spoken in the country.[10]
There are reportedly hundreds of varieties of tamales throughout Guatemala. The key variations include the ingredients in the masa or dough (corn, potatoes, rice), in the filling (meat, fruits, nuts), and the wrapping with (leaves, husks). Tamales in Guatemala tend to be wrapped in green maxan leaves (Calathea lutea), while chuchitos, which resemble Mexican tamales, are wrapped in corn husks.
The masa is made out of corn that is not sweet, comparable to what is known as feed corn in the United States. In Guatemala, this non-sweet corn is called maize and the corn that Americans are used to eating on the cob (sweet corn), Guatemalans call elote. Tamales in Guatemala are more typically wrapped in plantain or banana leaves and maxan leaves than corn husks. Additionally, Guatemalan tamales use cooked masa, which is prepared in a time-consuming process.
Tamales colorados ("red tamales") owe their name to the tomato and achiote (annatto seed) that give them their color. They are wrapped with corn masa and are stuffed with tomato recado (a flavorful thick sauce), roasted red bell pepper strips, capers, green olives, and chicken, beef or pork.
Tamales negros ("black tamales") are darker and sweeter than their red counterparts due to the chocolate, raisins, prunes and almonds which are added to them. Other black tamales are not sweet but are simply made out of blue or black corn.
Tamales de elote ("sweet corn tamales") do not use the typical masa but instead are made of sweet corn. These may contain whole kernels of corn in the masa and do not generally contain meat.
Chuchitos ("small dogs") are a typical kind of Guatemalan tamale made using the same masa as a regular tamale, but they are smaller, have a much firmer consistency, and are wrapped in a tuzas (dried corn husks) instead of plantain leaves. Chuchitos are often accompanied by a simple tomato salsa and sprinkled with a hard, salty white cheese traditional from the Zacapa region. Chuchitos are a commonly served at luncheons, dinners and celebrations. The masa can be mixed with tomato recado or with a meat broth.
Tamalitos de masa ("small dough tamales") are smaller than the typical tamales because they are usually plain in taste, with no filling and are used to dip in other foods such as soup, salsa or beans, rather than eaten alone. These tamales are a staple of western Guatemalan cuisine which are favored over the typical tortilla.
Tamalitos de chipilín and tamales de loroco are other variants of tamales de masa with different ingredients added to the mix.
Paches are a kind of tamal made from potatoes instead of corn.
Bollito are similar to tamales, but filled with beans instead of meat.
List of typical foods
Guatemalan chiles rellenos
Main dishes
Tapado, seafood soup with green plantain and coconut milk
Chiles rellenos, a blend of shredded meats and peppers, covered in egg batter and fried
Gallo en perro, spicy stew ("perro" being slang for "hot" or "spicy")
Shucos ("dirties"), the Guatemalan version of a hot dog, which often includes guacamole, cabbage, and mayonnaise. This type of hot dog is a native snack only from Guatemala City where it was created.
Chicharrones y carnitas, fried pork skins and fried pork meat chunks, respectively
Tostadas de guacamol, frijol, o salsa, fried corn tortilla with guacamole, fried black beans or tomato sauce
Tacos de carne o pollo, fried rolled-up corn tortillas filled with meat or chicken
Yuca con chicharrón, boiled cassava served with fried pork chunks
Traditional food for Día de todos los Santos (November 1)
Fiambre, which can be "white" or "red", depending on whether the pickled vegetable salad in it contains beets
Ayote en dulce, a type of squash boiled in a special sweet syrup
Jocotes en miel, a variety of Spondias purpurea fruit boiled in syrup
Cuj, Miguel; Sattler, Mareike; de Beausset, Sasha (June 2020). "Maya K'iche' Food Groups and Implications for Guatemalan Food Guidelines". Food and Nutrition Bulletin. 41 (2): 261–274. doi:10.1177/0379572120912161. PMID32208857.
Gómez Menjívar, Jennifer Carolina (December 2012). "Feast your eyes on this: A gourmand explores the provocative culinary delights of seventeenth century Guatemala". Cincinnati Romance Review. 33 (1): 145–163.
De Jongh Osborne, Lilly (1935). "Eating One's Way through the Year in Guatemala". Bulletin of the Pan American Union. 69: 313.
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