Mangos, Pinol, and other deliciousness

I feel I should briefly explain how mangos got into my blog title. I was trying to think of things that defined my experience in Guatemala up to that point. I didn’t want to belittle my work experience in any way, but I did want to emphasize the importance of food and culture in my time here.

Having just returned from lunch, I am full! I finally had my first pinol today. I have been told of the deliciousness of pinol since my arrival, but I mistakenly believed you could still get it for dinner. Every time I have tried to go, there is never any left. So today, after I ate my tamales de flor de arroz, I ventured up to the market with my own bowl (as I had been warned that the pinol ladies sometimes used sketchy water to wash the dishes) and made my way through the maze of stalls to find the evasive pinol. I knew it was a soup of some sort but I really did not know what to expect other than that. After asking a few people, I arrived at a stall and asked for a 3 Q portion. The woman tore off some chicken and put it in my bowl then added the broth. It is a thick, corn based broth that is fairly salty and has lots of spices. At the least I could locate pepper and chile, but other than that I could not decipher the blend. Along with the tortillas and a liquado, it was the perfect Guatemalan lunch. Yum!

Normally for lunch, I make the trek from way down at the office up to my favourite comador (aka eatery) La Cobanera. Everyone who works in the kitchen is really nice, and the food is pretty standard but definitely good. There are only ever two options, which change daily, but they involve chicken prepared in some way and beef prepared in another. Along with it there is always rice and tortillas and then some sort of vegetable. I like when they make the mix of carrots and this Guatemalan squash stuff with a little bit of mayonnaise, though the field cucumber doused in fresh lime juice is a tangy, refreshing treat too. Sometimes there are beets, other times stewed squash, and once there was avocado. Oh- also its so good when there are yellow corn tortillas instead of white ones. They are sweet and somehow just more delicious.

For breakfast I usually pick up a bit of pan dulce (sweet bread) in one of its many shapes from a panaderia on my way to work. One of my former housemates commented on the fact that really all the bread tastes the same, with the exception of their version of French bread; it just comes in different shapes. I think his observation is fairly true. Upon entering the bread shop, the only question I am really left to ponder is which bread looks the freshest. It doesn’t matter if it’s the little round bread with the blob of sugary confection on top or the longer bread in the shape of a tree leaf with sesame seeds and sugary confection on top, its going to taste the same. Sometimes it will be so stale that its barely edible, and others it will be fresh out of the oven, there really is just no telling.

While that doesn’t really sound like a very substantial breakfast, it is usually supplemented with mangoes at the office. Who knew there were so many different varieties of mangos? The ones that come from the tree at work are medium to large- sized and are amazingly sweet and juicy. They are so flavourful! I used to think that mangos tasted like peaches mixed with the flavour of pine, but now I realise that analysis is symptomatic of my limited mango exposure via imported mangos in Canada. These ones actually taste like honey. They are perfect. Lately, the woman who cleans the office has been bringing in a basket of little mangos from her house in the nearby community of Pichec. They are called mangos de leche (milk mangos), though to me they taste nothing like milk. Sandra always squeezes them to mush inside the skin and sucks out the sweet juice. However, now that it is rainy season, you have to be careful about worms, so I peel them like a normal mango and chow down. I learned that this is important strategy when I was eating a big one at work and I felt a worm crawling up my arm. Worms or not, when they are still warm from being sun kissed, they are such a wonderful treat. Sadly, mango season is coming to and end. It has been sweet and delicious while it has lasted, and I have definitely had my fair share. I will miss my 11 o clock mango break, but apparently the infamous Rabinal orange season is around the corner.



This post has gotten really long, and I still haven’t discussed the glories of a Guatemalan breakfast. Or avocados, cilantro, guacamole, barbequed green onions, barbeque in general, gringas, dobladas, or market pizza. I will leave you drooling with those thoughts as I head up to the market to get my favourite after work snack- tortillas filled with onions and meat, grilled and topped with ketchup, mayo and piquante. Mmmm!