Discover Guatemala’s culinary delights

Cooking with Sonia in Antigua

I visited Guatemala in 2018. On the very first day of my visit, I was immediately immersed in the culture through a cookery workshop. I had just arrived in Antigua and was walking through the cobbled streets looking for the place I needed to be. Sonia and Pablo were already there waiting for me. After a brief introduction, we got straight down to work on some typical Guatemalan dishes. Together, we made soup, a special type of rice to serve as a side dish, a stew and a dessert.

Whilst cooking, I learnt more about the ingredients commonly used in Guatemala. We talked about the special festive occasions where food plays a very important role, and we discussed traditions, her view of the world and the differences between Guatemala and the Netherlands. Sonia told me that around December, the temperature can sometimes reach around 10 to 15 degrees. She said that at that time, the water in the lakes feels as though it’s come straight out of the fridge. For my part, I told her that it gets so cold where we live every year that the water actually freezes. She looked at me in amazement. I also told her that we don’t have any volcanoes and that I find the rumbling, which you can occasionally hear in the background here, very impressive. For her, this is the most normal thing in the world.

A cup of coffee with a local coffee farmer

The next day, I visited a coffee plantation just outside Antigua. I met Daniel, his son and son-in-law in the village where they live and run their coffee plantation. Together, we visited their plantation. Daniel is a partner in ‘De La Gente’, a co-operative that ensures farmers are paid fairly and now have normal, reasonable working hours. At the plantation, we were given an explanation about the beans and were allowed to get stuck in ourselves. Afterwards, we went to Daniel’s home, where he lives with his extended family (four households). Here we were served lunch and the process from coffee bean to coffee was explained to us. From drying to roasting and grinding, it’s an intensive process that takes a lot of time. This, too, was a special experience – visiting the family at home and learning how our ‘black gold’ is made.

Discover the culinary delights of Guatemala

Of course, you’ll need to visit Guatemala yourself to explore the country and learn more about this unique culture. Together with our local partner, we’ve developed a range of tours to help you discover Guatemala’s culinary scene. For example, you can enjoy street food and dine in a colonial mansion in charming Antigua, sample a traditional Ixil Maya dish in the remote highlands, take part in a cookery workshop, harvest superfoods in the jungle and savour a spicy fish soup near the Caribbean coast. Please feel free to contact us to find out more about the options available.