Cooking Class - Pepian!

Food - what a great way to learn about people, place, cultures and traditions.  

All humans eat - so all communities develop food traditions and specialties based on the ingredients, seasonings, methods and other factors available to them.  One of my (Elyse's) favorite ways to travel and learn about different cultures is through eating - and learning to cook - local dishes. 

Last Wednesday (July 27) I took a 2.5 hour cooking class at the Tortilla Cooking School.  There were six of us that evening in the class - three young Americans and two Canadians - only one of us spoke Spanish fluently, so in addition to the teacher, a very patient and talented Mayan woman named Maria, we were also joined by Mars, a British volunteer who translated the instructions for us and took photos.

The menu for the evening: Pepian - a Guatemalan specialty - a thick stew, usually served with chicken, although we made a vegetarian and a chicken version, served with rice, a very fresh radish salad and followed by rellenitos - deep fried plantain bundles stuffed with a sweet chocolate-black bean sauce. (Yup - chocolate and black beans - an unexpectedly delightful combination!)  WE also tried a traditional drink called Atol - a warm drink of cornmeal and boiled water - it's pretty bland until you add either sweetener and cinnamon or salt and savory flavors - I liked it savory!

Lots of photos with captions here:

Charring tomatoes, onions and cilantro on a very hot platter (over a gas flame)
to start the ingredients for the pepian.

Peeling potatoes - my least favorite job in the kitchen

The team hard at work.

Another view

Vegetables simmering on the stove waiting for the pepian sauce

Many of the primary ingredients of pepian after being charred on the stove:
two different kinds of chiles, pumpkin seeds,   and sesame seeds

 

Charred tomatoes, tomatillos, onions and cilantro added to the mix

While we wait for the food to cook, Maria makes us all some plain Atol
and then offers us the savory or sweet additions

I chose savory: salt, a sauce of roasted pumpkin seeds (red) and some picante chiles (green)

The finished product.  It was interesting, but not something I would seek out.

Time to make the rellenitos!

Clearly, I'm doing it wrong!

Maybe a new Hannukah treat?

The almost finished products.

Now, let's try making tortillas!

Corm meal and water mixed by hand.

Cooked quickly on a very hot stove

Not bad fir first-timers!

The complete meal and a beautiful table

MUY DELICIOSO!!

A few days later I recreated the meal in our apartment for Shabbat dinner.  Not bad for a gringo!

 Hay Una Fiesta!

After another prolonged delay in posting, we have A LOT to present.  We have many pictures to share that attempt to capture the fascinating culture, people, geography, nature, and just simple photos of us for our parents to see!

For this post - Sunday and Monday of last week (July 24 & 25) marked not just Elyse's birthday, but the conclusion of the two week city-wide celebration of Las Fiestas Reales de Santiago.  

For Elyse's birthday celebration Sunday, after a brunch buffet at one of the fancier spots in Antiqua, we played tourists, walking around the city taking pictures of pretty things and ending at Parque Central, where we people watched for a few hours until it was time for la Quema de Toritos - the burning of the bulls!  No, not real bulls.  Simply a few brave souls running around carrying on their backs metal contraptions that shoot off fireworks as people scream and run away.  You have to see it to believe it.  A short video is posted below.

Monday was a full-fledged city holiday, with a parade that moved along at a snail's pace celebrating the city's colonial history and the city's patron saint, Santiago.  An evening concert featured many popular Guatemalan bands going late into the night.  We retired before the youngin' did and managed to capture a couple more photos of Volcan Fuego erupting in the night sky.  

Enjoy the photos!

Sunday, July 24

Catedral San José in Parque Central (Birds of Paradise behind Elyse!)

Beautiful entrance to Hotel Camino Real, with fountains on left and Volcan Agua in the background

A chicken bus! (Actually una camioneta, which is a retired school bus from the US decorated up and used for bus transportation around the country.)

A hummingbird feeding on our Jade Vine.

Marimba band performing

Marimba band performing

PEOPLE WATCHING

A street vendor working her fabric making craft

The public fountain in Parque Central up close!

Character balloons within transparent balloon with lights is a big thing

Selling coffee out of his backback!

WATCH OUT FOR EL TORITO!

A video of the madness! (If it doesn't work, we'll try to fix the posting later.)

Monday, July 25 - PARADE!

Protesters complaining that the mayor shut down a municipal butchery without any concern for the workers, held up the parade. Democracy is somewhat alive still in Guatemala!

It's not a Central American patron saint holiday with Jesus!  Young people carried a float of Jesus around Parque Central (very slowly, with lots of incense)

Watch out for the fireworks contraption!

Made it!

Time to take Jesus into the church!

CONCERT TIME!

VOLCAN FUEGO SPEWING LAVA TO END THE NIGHT!