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Happy Independence Day Guatemala!   September 15th will mark 189 years of independence, and to celebrate The Foodies’ Kitchen will feature a few regional recipes and some Guatemalan fusion recipes so all our viewers from abroad can get a general idea about our local cuisine and flavors.

We’ll begin by telling you about our local candies, but check in because in the upcoming days we will be posting more information and recipes.

Guatemalan candies are artisan sweets made mostly from milk, condensed milk, coconut, tamarind, nuts, seeds, fruit and a lot of sugar. There are around 100 different types of traditional candies; the most popular among them is probably the “Canillitas de Leche” which is made up of milk, sugar and cinnamon. If they are properly made they will have a creamy feel to them when you put a piece in your mouth. Among the other varieties you will find dried fruit – crystallized fruit is a better term for it- , guayaba curls, tamarind balls, coconut candy, marzipan candy, pepitoria bars, coffee candy, honey dops… the list is endless and their recipes date back to more than 400 years.

Figs, Honey Balls, Coconut Candy, Tamarind Balls, Guayaba Curls, Canillitas de Leche

 The best known artisan candy in Guatemala is Doña Maria Gordillo’s, which is located near Antigua Guatemala’s central park, it was founded by Dolores Ortiz, who was a cloister nun from 1872, and up to this day – four generations later- it still sells the best candy around.

Antigua, Guatemala

Note: Pictures courtesy of Flickr

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