Today, Guatemala is a country with a large percentage of Maya population, who preserve the customs and traditions of their ancestors.
Customs in the kitchen
Part of these customs are reflected in a gastronomy that combines typical local ingredients and flavors of the region.
According to history, during the colonization, the Spanish brought new ingredients to these lands, but they eventually adapted to the native ones due to the inability to successfully cultivate their products.
Dairy products, beef, and chicken are examples of those products now part of Guatemalan cuisine.
The traditional Guatemalan cuisine is mainly based on the Maya heritage, where corn and beans are the key ingredients.
Additionally, sugarcane, banana, cacao, and coffee cultivation play an important role within the diverse gastronomy it offers.
culinary influences
There are two main influences in Guatemalan cuisine, one local and one Garífuna.
In local cuisine, you can find traditional dishes like pepian, a spicy meat stew with vegetables seasoned with a sesame seed sauce; hilachas, suban-ik, beef stew, chicken broth, the typical black and red tamales, enchiladas, and corn tortillas in true Guatemalan style.
The Garífuna cuisine, which is clearly influenced by Caribbean cooking, uses ingredients such as seafood, yuca, coconut, banana, plantains, rice, and spices.
Guatemala is an incredible place where you can enjoy a lively gastronomy, a product of intercultural mixing that holds the best from different styles, ingredients, and techniques from other cultures, evident in their dishes full of exquisite flavors.
