Okay, so I’ve been wanting to try something new in the kitchen lately, and I thought, why not dive into Guatemalan food? It’s a cuisine I know very little about, but it sounded super interesting. The whole thing started when I saw a picture of some colorful dish online – I later found out it was a kind of enchilada. It looked so good, I just had to figure out how to make it.
Getting Started
First things first, I needed to gather some info. I hit up the internet and started searching for “Guatemalan food and recipes.” The results were pretty cool – lots of dishes with spices and ingredients I’d never even heard of before. It said that Guatemalan food was all about bold flavors and unique combinations. I was getting excited!
Diving In
- Finding Recipes: I found a bunch of websites that talked about Guatemalan food. Some of the dishes that popped up were pepian, hilachas, and these things called enchiladas, which are apparently different from the Mexican ones. I decided to start with the enchiladas because that picture from before was still stuck in my head.
- Shopping: Next up, I had to find the ingredients. This was a bit of a challenge, to be honest. Some of the stuff was easy to find, like chicken, tortillas, and vegetables. But then there were things like achiote paste and pepitas, which I had to hunt down at a specialty store. I had to go to this place that was kind of far, but I found most things.
- Cooking: I found a recipe that looked like the picture, and I did my best to follow it. You need to cook the chicken, make a sauce with a whole bunch of spices, and then assemble the enchiladas with tortillas, meat, sauce, and a bunch of toppings like lettuce, onions, and cheese. It was a lot of work, but kind of fun too.
The Result
I cooked the enchiladas, and they turned out… okay. Not quite like the picture, but not bad for a first try. The sauce was definitely the star – it was smoky and rich, with a little bit of heat. I think I need to practice a bit more to get it right. I still have some ingredients, maybe I’ll try again tomorrow. I also found a recipe for pepian that looks amazing. Maybe after I master the enchiladas, I can try that one. This whole Guatemalan food adventure is just beginning!
