Guatemala

Menu: Kak’ik & champurradas | Recipe Source: atastefortravel.ca

When I was researching Guatemalan recipes and came across kak’ik—spicy charred vegetable soup with dark turkey meat—I was immediately intrigued. Something about a bowl of heavy broth with a giant bone floating in it felt like tavern food pulled straight from a fantasy novel, and once that idea lodged in my brain, there was no going back. The combination of tomato, hot pepper, cinnamon, crushed cloves, and cilantro made this dish strongly reminiscent of Indian food, but the deep flavor imparted by simmering the turkey legs for nearly an hour gave the meal a unique, hearty twist. We paired the kak’ik with white rice and a sprinkle of mint, and it was 1) genuinely delicious 2) my favorite soup to come out of the project by far.

The champurradas turned out to be the perfect coffee-dunking cookie, which makes sense because coffee beans grown in rich, mountainous, volcanic soil are Guatemala’s primary export. The cookies were golden and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the combination of bitter coffee, light sweetness, and the faintest punch of sesame was absolutely to die for. I had no idea that sesame seeds- an ingredient I associate strongly with Asian dishes- are a common addition to many Central American dishes and desserts. While the sesame plant is indigenous to Africa and only arrived in Central America as a byproduct of the Columbian Exchange, its nutty, gentle flavor pairs perfectly with classic Mayan flavors like achiote and cobanero: two ingredients that played a starring role in the kak’ik!

Ready to cook?

Kak’ik (link): I followed this recipe exactly aside from cooking the turkey legs whole and only cutting them up at the very tail end!

Champurradas (link): This recipe offered a choice between using the dough to make champurradas (flat-rolled dough cut with a circle cutter) or folded churros, and after initially trying to do the churros, I ended up making 1/4-inch thick circles because the dough held together better that way (it was slightly crumbly, possibly from me subbing milk for oat milk and shortening for Earth Balance). The suggested oven time was 7-8 minutes but my cookies were still extremely pale when the timer went off, so I let them go for another 4 or so minutes. I also sprinkled the cookies with both white sugar and sesame seeds instead of only sesame!