Food photo dump from my trip to Guatemala! Henlo!! During my time at Guatemala, I had a variety of food that was homemade, street food, and restaurant-made! I'm going to post all of them here and briefly describe it so you can live through it vicariously through me! ^_^ DAY ONE. For lunch, we had a savory onion braised chicken thigh with carrot rice and some FRESH ASS pico de gallo that was a little spicy BUT SO GOOD (the best part to be honest), served with warm corn tortillas. The corn tortillas were softer than usual, but a good base as a wrap! For dinner, we had eggs, black beans, corn tortillas, and watermelon! Later on that night, we went out to the night market and I grabbed some pupusas (corn tortillas with a savory filling) per my friend's really hyped recommendation. I was my first time trying pupusas and I got one with queso (cheese filling) and one with chicharrons (pork rinds). The tortilla part tasted the same: soft and moist. I actually really liked the chicharrons because it was pretty salty, balancing the (blander) masa dough, and it was also a little crunchy and chewy, which I enjoyed! DAY TWO. By far the best lunch I've had here so far. It was a COMPLEX BUT SIMPLE SALTY UMAMI BUT ENOUGH SPICE FLAVOR IN THE CHILE RELLENOS, which is a pepper stuffed with a ground chicken and pepper mixture! It was served with a nice cool tomato salsa and warm rice, tortillas, savory black beans, and grandma soft broccoli. SO YUM. For dinner, (I'm not sure but) I think we had a Chinese Comalapan-style chicken chow mein LOL. It was unexpected, but it was tasty! It was pretty soy-sauce flavor heavy tho and a little on the saltier side. It was served with some sweet and sour ketchup hybrid condiment, sweet and juicy cantaloupe, and the tortillas we made that night! You can read about that here. ;) We went out to the night market again today and I shared some al pastor (pork) tacos, which was kind of strange to be honest... It was like ground and lowkey mushy so I wasn't a big fan. But the salsas and pickled vegetables made up for it and masked the weird texture LOL. My friend shared her pizza with me and you're probably judging as to WHY we would get pizza in Comalapa when we could get pizza in America. ITS OKAY. ME TOO. But this pizza was actually kind of different because the bottom was more crisp than those in America and the dough was lighter and less dense. The toppings weren't salty enough, and didn't taste like anything. But most customers would just douse it in mayonnaise and hot sauce. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ DAY THREE. For lunch, we had a warm, saucey, tomatoey beef stew, which was pretty comforting, with a carrot & pea rice and a squash, carrot, potato medley! I also got to try jamaica (pronounced hi-mai-ka), which was a tart hibiscus drink that kind of tasted like a less tart cranberry juice. Really tasty! For dinner, we had a more American breakfast inspired meal with potatoes and onions, eggs, and then watermelon and warm tortillas. There was this peculiar poop green hot sauce though that looked so suspicious.... but I tried it anyway and to my surprise, it went well with the eggs and potatoes as it was spicy and a little vinegary, but also thick... it's called Picamas for those who want to try! We went out to the night market this night as well, but I didn't get anything. DAY FOUR. For lunch, we had a smokey, salty carne (beef) patty with guacamole (w/o lime), a (bland) paprika-ish macaroni, fresh beet, onion, & green bean salad, and warm corn tortillas. This was another BOMB lunch as I DOWNED THIS LUNCH. Not that I don't finish my lunch, because I am a hungry girl who doesn't like to waste food. BUT JUST TO EXAGGERATE HOW TASTY IT WAS. :) They also gave us a more tart than sweet lemonade, which was really refreshing and nice! For dinner, I had the thing I've been avoiding for a while... plantains. I know they're just "bananas" and I shouldn't be so picky and annoying. BUT when I visited Cancun when I was younger, my family and I went to the buffet for breakfast like every day. There was this VERY TASTY AND DELICIOUS LOOKING BREAKFAST POTATO CASSEROLE that looked soooo cheesy and yummy. I took a lot because I was excited. When I sunk my fork into that casserole and tasted it, it wasn't what I expected. It wasn't savory and salty and fatty like I wanted it. It was plantains... sweet, starchy, and JUST NOT SALTY. I was devastated. And because of that one event, I have never touched plantains ever again. UNTIL IN GUATEMALA. To my surprise, the plantain was pretty tasty, especially with the crema. I think I was content and okay with it because the chayote, carrot, pepper rice was savory. I'm just more of a hoe for savory than sweet foods. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ For our last post-dinner snack today, I had some shredded beef tacos from the night market! I was eyeing this little taco tent for a while because whenever I passed by it, it smelled SO aromatic, like caramelized onions and garlic! I finally got to try it and it didn't disappoint. One thing different about this taco place was that they dipped the tortillas into some beef juice before warming it up on their pan, which actually made a pretty big difference. It was a pleasing balance of the savoriness from the shredded beef, coolness of the tomato salsa, butteriness from the soft onions, zestiness from the fresh-squeezed lime, and slight crunch from the toasty, flavorful tortillas! DAY FIVE. I am disappointed and even embarrassed to say that I accidentally deleted the picture of my last lunch at the school. :( It was such a tasty and different one too! Basically, all our previous lunches have been dry and on a plate, but this lunch was in a bowl (exciting!) and it was a warm, soup-like shredded beef tomato stew served on top of rice with tortillas (and a really spicy sauce that did not look like it (it was clear and not red/green!) and I was unaware of so I put like 3 spoons of it in my bowl). It was so nice and comforting and homey and I really enjoyed it past my constant sniffling from the painful spice LOL. Since it was our last dinner at the hostel, they prepared a fancier dinner with grilled carne asada over charcoal with fresh tomato salsa, good 'ol salty black beans, fresh lemony cucumber and tomato salad, starchy baked potato with a spicy green salsa, sweet and juicy pineapples and papaya, and as always, warm tortillas. The carne asada was the star of the dinner plate and had a very smokey flavor to it and had a delectable chew to it. The tomato salsa acted as a good "sauce" to the steak and everything else tasted like I stated above LOL. DAY SIX. Today, I got to try food from a restaurant called House de Sopas, which is translated to House of Soups. I was torn between getting the "Filete de pescado al ajillo" (garlic fish) or the "Pepian" (a traditional spiced chicken stew with root veggies). Luckily, my friend had the same dilemma, so he got the fish and I got the stew! His fish (likely tilapia) had a salty, crispy-chewy pan-fried crust to it. The fish was not soft and silky, but firm and a little rough but held its shape. Flavorwise not bad, but the texture wasn't the best. My pepian was interesting and something I have never tasted before, so I couldn't give you an analogy like for some of my previous foods. The pepian was REALLYYYYY earthy and somewhat one-dimensional? I am also very unfamiliar with Central American food and am not even sure of the basic flavors of their food! It was not very salty (which I actually liked) and had a flat but rich, toasty, meaty and deep flavor? I AM SO SORRY, I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT. The portion was very generous as I got a whole chicken thigh to myself (which was not super tender but not very dry) with a cup of rice, vegetables, AND tortillas. The vegetables (potatoes and onions) and rice were a nice addition to finish the hearty sauce. The avocado was ALSO a nice cool, creamy addition to the dish. As we walked the streets, my friends wanted to get some street fruit! She and two others got mango, watermelon, and pineapple with some seasoning spice (like Tajin) on it. The fruit was super juicy and sweet and the tajin added a nice kick to it!
For those who know me, I am a complete hoe for fried chicken. For THE LAST OF ALL MEALS IN GUATEMALA THIS TRIP, it just HAD to be fried chicken *happy eye roll*. We had fried chicken at this chain chicken joint called "Pollo Campero". They had three flavors: traditional, lemon pepper, and crunchy. Traditional was probably their original spice flavor with a thin crust to it. Lemon pepper was a grilled lemon pepper flavored chicken and crunchy was like the typical American fried chicken with the flaky textured bits of KFC and Popeyes chicken. I got the traditional flavor and to be honest, it just tasted like salt and a mixture of spices like cayenne, paprika, typical spice flavoring for fried stuff. The chicken was juicy and moist AS IT SHOULD and it was great. I felt gross afterwards but I'm more about living in the moment LOL. Hope you enjoyed seeing and reading about my food adventure in Guatemalalalalala! ^_^
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