Guatemalan food so far!

Well, I guess I can talk about food now. We have had several requests for it, so we thought it would be a good idea to share. We have a confession first. We really haven't gone out of our way to find Guatemalan food. We have seen some evidence of it on menus, but I have resisted since I'm not much of a fan of corn tortillas which are certainly ubuquitous here. Geordie likes them and has had them with his breakfast but not much else.

We have mentioned our discovery of Hector's No name restaurant in Antigua. It has very European food - and great french fries, although we only had those once. The menu is very small and the first night one of us should have ordered the special because it was chicken stuffed with leeks and he hasn't had a special on any other of the nights we ate there. The duck breast with a pave of potatoes and carrots and a lovely surprising creme fraiche topping was wonderful. Geordie had the boeuf bourgignon twice, the first more successful than the second (which was a little chewey).

In Montericco we stuck to fish, fried and for me a pasta or two. The pasta's were nice - I'm really into comfort food like that. But we really did need to go out and search for more authentic food, so when we were back in Antigua we made the effort. The first place we tried was good. It is mentioned in the guidebooks and truly does have all the food sitting on a stove that's at the entrance. All are in red sauces, and one of them was described as picante, but the others were not. There was pork, lamb, pork feet, beef, cow stomach, etc. We got to choose a meat and then two sides. I chose lamb ribs while Geordie chose the shredded beef. The lamb was tasty, and I had it with tiny potatoes and black beans. Geordie's beef had potatoes and carrots in it so he chose rice and potato salad. He enjoyed them both, but they weren't spectacular.

At another place Geordie ordered a turkey soup which I watched being dished up from a big pot. He was served it in a huge bowl, wonderful tasty broth, that one knew had to have been flavoured with some intriguing spices, and alongside it he was given three little bowls, containing onions and cilantro in one, a herb like sage or savory in another, a red powder, which was not chili in the last. He kept adding more and more of that, which changed the flavor but didn't make it hot. It was good. I had a simple roast chicken there whose skin was redolent of garlic. Yum.

At the next meal, I ordered something different - Pupusas with Pepian. These were two thin corn tortillas which were stuffed with chees and chicken, and fried. It was simple and very delicious. Even with corn tortillas I'll order that again. The pepian was a sauce made from pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, cinnamon and other flavours but it didn't tast at all strong. It was lovely. The garnish was a cabbage salad which I also enjoyed.

Geordie's meal that time was a dish like a Mexican tostado, a crisp tortilla layered with guacamole, spicy chicken, cabbage relilsh and lettuce. It was great although he enjoyed the fact that I got rice with my dish, so he could expand his meal - because it was dinner, while the food was really more snacklike. It would have been perfect for a small lunch.

Last night at dinner here in La Casa del Mundo we had a chicken and vegetable kebob affair, which was delicious. I can't tell you the other flavours but it was so well cooked, moist and tender with that smoky flavour from the grill. It was served with potato puree, a tomato and avocado salad, and we had a delicious corn soup to begin - again with the corn I don't like. Hmmm. Dessert was a sort of strawberry shortcake which was lovely and we ate the whole thing with a bottle of Cab Sauvignon from Chile - cheaper than other bottles we've had in Antigua.

There are lots of more food adventures to be had. I'll get to another report some day. Until then, buen provecho..