Guatemalan cuisine

Guatemalan cooking rests on maize and on recados, thick sauces of toasted seeds and chillies with pre-Columbian roots.

Recados are thickened with seeds and charred vegetables rather than flour. The technique predates the Spanish arrival and has changed little.

Tamales are made on Saturdays, and each region has its own: with rice dough, with potato, sweet at Christmas, and black ones with chocolate.

4 dishes

  • Pepián

    Chicken in a thick sauce of toasted seeds and chillies. One of Guatemala's oldest dishes.

    110 min · Medium · Main course

  • Guatemalan tamales

    Corn dough with meat and recado sauce, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed.

    180 min · Takes practice · Main course

  • Kak'ik

    A red turkey soup with charred chillies and spices, a dish of the Q'eqchi' Maya.

    160 min · Medium · Soup

  • Rellenitos

    Balls of ripe plantain purée filled with sweetened black beans and chocolate.

    90 min · Medium · Dessert