More on the delicious Guatemalan food

I feel like its time for another entry about food. I have been reading people's Sunfest entries from a fantastic London Festival and its about time. Also, today in the oppresive heat on the way back from a delicious lunch at La Cobanera, I stopped to buy helados because the sun was just too strong to walk in it for too long. There are places where you can get real ice cream here, but these helados are more like frozen fruit juice (refresco). They are so sweet and fruity and delicious, and though they probably add sugar because it is Guatemala, its all natural. So good!

My thoughts are already approaching my dinner options for this evening. Usually I alternate between four market options.

1.Dobladas. They are these thim tortillas with potato and vegetables inside and fried. The woman puts guacamole and this red sauce on top and its muy rico. Sometimes she has these fried plantains with beans inside of them. Also a delicious desert. A whole meal for 5Q (less than a dollar).

2. Gringa Man. He is so friendly and happy and has a gentle smile. These are wheat tortillas like at home (very different from the corn tortillas I speak of most of the time). He fries it just enough to melt the cheese and then adds the beef which comes in a tasty sauce then adds his mixture of onion and cilantro. I always add the red tomotoey sauce and the green cilantro or avacado sauce and sometimes a bit of lime. The Canadians used to have Gringa Wednesday, but I get them any day of the week.

3. Chef. These is a kind guatemalan man who barbeques in the market and wears a chef uniform. His barbeque is to die for. I usually get chicken which is always so moist and tasty. The meal comes with a tortilla on the botton, barbequed green onions salted and with lemon juice, the meat with his tomoto sauce on it, 2 tortillas and a side of beans or avacado- whatever he has. All for 10Q (just over a dollar), though I just discovered that you can get a 5Q portion.

4. Pizza. Its a good fall back and they make a decent slice. It only has pepperoni and ham but the dipping sauce combination of ketchup, mayo and picante make a perfect combo.

Sometimes I will go to Cobaneras for a breakfast for dinner also. Gautemalan breakfast is like no other- its the perfect start to a day of hiking or exploring, but too much for a day at work. It involves beans either whole, in liquid form or refried, crema, which is kind of like sour cream meets creme fraiche that most people mix into their beans, cheese which is kind of dry and salty but not so bad, and eggs any way you like. I have only recently tried eggs again for the first time and I'm back on board as long as they are scrambled with onion and tomato, covered in the bean/cream/cheese mixture and stuffed in a corn tortilla. Overall guatemalan breakfast or dinner is a wonderful thing.

Accompanying dinner, I usually go for a liquado. This is a fruit smoothie made with fresh, local, sweet, delicious fruit. The lady I always go to has three options- strawberry, banana or fruta (a mix of melon, pineapple and strawbery and sometimes blackberry). I alternate between fruta and strawberry with milk so its like a yogurty smoothy, or so I can convince myself I'm getting more vitamins and minerals. Occasionally if the power is out, I have to only have a refresco of either blackberry (mora) or tamarindo, but they are still really good.

I will leave you in suspense for my tales of the other individual ingredients that are used like cilantro and avocados. All guatemalan food adventures have been flavourful and delicious beyond words. There is more than one reason to use foods and ingredients that all come from less than 100 miles away.