Guatemalan Fruits

Guatemala: the land of eternal Spring, that’s what our country is called. We’re blessed with beautiful weather all year round, and even on rainy days when our “winter’ is at its worst, you will probably have a sunny morning or an afternoon with blue skies. With such wonderful weather, we can enjoy a wide variety of produce. Aside from bananas, mangoes, papaya, pineapples and such, there are a few fruits that are specific to our geographical area, and I am sure they will be new to a lot of our readers from abroad. You won’t find these at the supermarket, you need to go to the local markets to find most of them.

Níspero

This fruit is comparable with its distant relative, the apple, in many aspects, with a high sugar, acid and pectin content. It is eaten as a fresh fruit and mixes well with other fruits in fresh fruit salads or fruit cups. Firm, slightly immature fruits are best for making pies or tarts. The fruits are also commonly used to make jam, jelly, and chutney, and are often served poached in light syrup. It has a sweet, yet slightly tangy taste.

Zapote Mamey

This fruit has a rough, sandy peel that when cut open it reveals zapote’s terracota flesh. The texture is buttery (comparable to the texture of an avocado, but softer still) and the flavor is sweet and earthy. When these are in season, they are used as dessert after a meal, or used to make ice cream pops and smoothies.

Chico Zapote

Another variety, is Chico Zapote. Not at all comparable to Zapote Mamey. This fruit has a milder flavor, very sweet and malty. The chico zapote tree provides a natural chewing gum, chicle.

Mamey

The mamey tree, resembling southern magnolia trees, provides this yellow-orange fruit. It’s firm pulp has a sweet-tangy taste and it is used to make ice cream pops, fruit punch and jams.

Caimito

This purple fruit resembles a large plum, but when you cut it open you will find a white, somewhat translucent pulp with a milky texture. It’s flavor is sweet and subtle. It is best served chilled.

Jocote

This little fruits pack a lot flavor! When ripe, they turn bright red and their pulp is bright yellow with a sweet, juicy and tangy flavor. Aside from eating it fresh as it is, it is used to make “jocotes en dulce” around Christmas time. This dessert is made by cooking jocotes with panela, cinnamon, water, allspice and other ingredients.

Jocote de Marañon

Most of you are probably familiar with the cashew nut. This is the fruit where the nut comes from. This fruit has a tangy and astringent flavor, so it is mostly used to make sweetened juice ( agua de marañon).

Paternas

These are available in the southern coast of Guatemala and El Salvador. They resemble green beans and have a sweet cottony white interior.

Sources:

Wikipedia
Chow
Sabelotodo
Whatsupelsalvador

09:34 AM
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- caimito, chico, Fruits, Guatemalan, jocote, jocote de marañon, mamey, paternas, zapote
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Guatemalan Enchiladas

You’ve probably heard of enchiladas before, but you might be thinking about a rolled tortilla filled with chicken, or beef, topped with melted cheese and sauce, which is more of a Mexican enchilada. These enchiladas, our Guatemalan enchiladas, are made by topping a fried tortilla (called a Tostada) with lettuce, pickled beet and vegetable mix, ground beef and tomato sauce…and the last touch, a sprinkling of dried Guatemalan cheese (Queso Seco).

Historically, this dish dates back to the XVIII. Enchiladas do require some work, so it’s not a dish you regularly have at home. Thankfully, back at home we get to enjoy it pretty much every two months. this is one of the few ways that dad won’t get tired of eating his veggies. Thankfully, at my parent’s home we have Chila, who comes to help us with the kitchen, and is an expert when it comes to local food. So here you have it, Guatemalan Enchiladas!

Guatemalan Enchiladas

Ingredients:
4 carrots
4 beets
2 lbs ground beef
2 chayotes (güisquil)
2 celery stalks
2 red bell peppers
1 head of garlic (adjust to your taste)
1 lb of green beans
2 bay leaves (dried)
½ a cabbage
½ lb onions
10 tostadas
20 oz olive oil
10 oz white vinegar
10 lettuce leaves
10 tomatoes
3 hard boiled eggs, sliced
¼ cup dried Guatemalan Cheese (Queso Seco)
salt and pepper
chopped cilantro

Procedure:

Some of the steps need to be made a day ahead, once these ingredients are ready you can start assembling the Enchilada. Those ingredients are the filling, the onion escabeche, vegetable mix and tomato sauce. The recipe calls for 1 head of garlic, which you will use in the filling recipe, in the vegetable mix recipe and the tomato sauce recipe. Feel free to adjust the garlic amount to your own personal taste.

Filling:

Chop one of the red bell peppers, with half of the green beans, half of the carrots, half of the chayotes, half of the garlic head (or your adjusted amount of garlic), and half of the cabbage. No onions, beets, celery or tomatoes here.
Add a bit of oil to a large hot pan, and brown your beef.
Season with salt and pepper and add all the chopped vegetables.
Let it cook until all the liquid has evaporated.

Onion “Escabeche”

Cut onions into quarters, and then slice and separate the pieces.
Mix olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
Add onion rings and let them sit for at least 24 hrs in a covered jar.

Vegetable Mix:

Julienne or chop the rest of the vegetables you had left over. You’ll use the remaining carrots, chayotes, garlic (to taste), and cabbage this time you’ll include the beets.
Cook them in boiling water, with the 2 bay leaves, except for the beets. Those are cooked in a separate pot. Don’t over cook them, it should only take a few minutes.
Mix the vegetables, and let them cool.
Refrigerate and mix with the onion escabeche.
Let this mixture rest for at least half a day.

Tomato Sauce:

Cook the tomatoes, celery stalks and remaining red bell pepper and garlic (to taste).
Pure in the blender, return to the pot and season with salt and pepper to taste

Assembly:

Take a tostada, cover with a lettuce leaf.
Top the lettuce with the beef filling.
Top this with the vegetable and escabeche mix.
Next, top with tomato sauce.
Decorate with a few sliced hard boiled egg, sprinkle with dried cheese, and chopped cilantro.

Source: Hotel Panamerican, Guatemala

10:12 AM
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- Chapin, Enchiladas, Guatemala, Guatemalan
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Loroco & Tomato Rustic Tart

As our Independence Day festivities get closer, I wanted to try out a recipe that used a local staple ingredient to make a fusion dish. I knew I wanted that ingredient to be loroco. I thought up this recipe for a loroco and tomato rustic tart which I am glad to share with you, I do hope you give it a try! We ate the whole thing in one sitting for dinner.

You just need to make a pie dough, or buy frozen puff pastry dough. If you make your own dough, add 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper to the flour mixture before processing it. This is optional, to give the dough a little flavor. When your dough is ready fill it out with a mixture or locoro, onions, cream, tomato, parmesan and a good quality melting cheese. In my case, I bought Quesillo from San Julian, which is creamy and melts deliciously.

Loroco, is a vine with edible flowers that grows in El Salvador, the eastern part of Guatemala, and other Central American countries. It is an important and popular source of food in El Salvador and Guatemala. The plant’s buds and flowers are used for cooking in a variety of ways, including in pupusas.

Loroco & Tomato Rustic Tart

A The Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 recipe for pie dough (follow the link above),
or 1 lb store bought frozen puff pastry

1/2 lbs loroco, stems removed
1/2 medium sized white onion, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine
3 plum tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Quesillo (scamorza type cheese)
Salt and black pepper, to taste.

1 egg
1 tablespoon water

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Heat a medium skillet, and add the olive oil followed by the sliced onions and loroco. Cook until the onion is translucent.
Lower the heat, and add cream, salt, pepper and wine. Cover and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
Roll out your pie dough, or puff pastry, into 1/4 inch thickness. Don’t worry too much about the shape… it should be a sort of square or circle.
Place the dough on top of a large cookie sheet
Arrange the loroco and cream mixture in the middle of the rolled dough
Sprinkle with parmesan
Arrange tomato slices on top
Finally, arrange quesillo slices to cover most of the mixture.
Fold in the dough to make the tart, as shown.
Prepare the egg wash, by whisking 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the top part of the dough with it, to give golden finish. (this step is optional)
Transfer the cookie sheet with your loroco tart to the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
Serve warm.