Discover culinary Guatemala

Cooking with Sonia in Antigua

In 2018 I visited Guatemala. On the first day I was immediately immersed in the culture by means of a cooking workshop. I had just arrived in Antigua and walked through the cobbled streets looking for the place where I had to go. There Sonia and Pablo were already waiting for me. After a short introduction we immediately got to work with some typical Guatemalan dishes made of local products. I learned to make a soup, a special kind of rice as a side dish, a stew and dessert.

While cooking I learned more about the products, the special days where the food is very important and I talked to Sonia about traditions, her view on the world and the differences between Guatemala and the Netherlands. Sonia told me that around December it can sometimes be around 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. According to her the water in the lakes feels like it comes out of the fridge. In my turn I told her that every year it gets so cold that the water even freezes. She looked at me full of wonder. I also told her that we don't have any volcanoes and I find the rumbling, that you sometimes hear in the background, very impressive. For her, this is the most normal thing in the world.

Having coffee at the local coffee shop

The next day I visited a coffee plantation just outside Antigua. I met Daniel, his son and son-in-law in the village. They took us to their plantation. Daniel is a partner of 'De La Gente', a cooperative that ensures that the farmers earn fair wages and have normal, acceptable working hours nowadays. At the plantation we got an explanation about the beans and we were allowed to work ourselves.  Then we went to Daniel's home where he lives with his family (4 families). Here we got a lunch and the process from coffee bean to coffee was explained. From drying to roasting and grinding an intensive process which takes a lot of time. This was also a special experience to look in the family home and learn how our black gold is made.

Discover culinary Guatemala

Of course you have to go to Guatemala yourself to discover the country and learn more about this special culture. Together with our local partner we have developed several tours to discover culinary Guatemala. For example, you can eat on the streets and dine in a colonial mansion in charming Antigua, eat a traditional Ixil Maya dish in the remote highlands, follow a cooking workshop, harvest superfood in the jungle and enjoy a spicy fish soup near the Caribbean coast. Feel free to contact us for the possibilities.