Guatemala: Brace yourself. Tamale season is upon us!
Hello friends of Kryddhyllan! How’s everyone holding up? The unspeakable has happened, and before we even had a chance to enjoy that light jacket weather or snap an homage to the beauty of fall whilst standing amongst the foliage and holding an ultra-sweet, coffee-ish type of beverage, winter went ahead and crept sneakily up on us. Or rather, it hit us like a bullet train, enshrouding the glorious oranges and reds in a vast, never-ending palette of greys and…. Dark greys. For all of us in Stockholm, can anyone even confirm the last time we saw the sun? Yes, in the season of unbearably short days, it can be hard to find the motivation to even get yourself out of bed and out the door in the mornings, let alone cook meals that don’t require more effort than opening a package of something frozen and zapping it in the microwave. But hear us out for a second: winter may seem hopeless and bleh, but it provides the perfect opportunity to treat yourself to a trip! A taste trip, that is.
This week’s flavor destination takes us to a country far, far away. A country home to 21 different dialects (although Spanish is the official one) and longstanding Mayan roots, 30 different volcanoes, the first ever chocolate bar (which the Mayans and anyone with a soul lovingly refer to as the “food of the gods”), and a booming coffee export business. No silly, we don’t mean Mexico. We’re not talking about Costa Rica either. No, the beautiful country of Guatemala has often flown under the radar compared to its more touristy neighbors (although it has all the things that they have, just watch this video). Until now.
We got the chance to catch up with local Guatemalan transplant Stephanie, who moved to Sweden after catching the highly infectious Swedish love bug, and now lives in Stockholm together with her Småländsk husband and adorable Italian Greyhound Valentino (check out his Insta here). She welcomed us into their incredible flat (an exciting mix of Scandi-chic minimalism injected with a lively boost of Guatemalan sculptures, art, and other small treasures – who remembers worry dolls? They’re Guatemalan, and Stephanie has a whole set of coasters inspired by them), poured us an ice-cold glass of homemade horchata (recipe below), and put us to work in preparing one of her absolute favorite Guatemalan dishes. And when you try it this weekend, it’ll soon become one of your favorites too. The richness of the flavors will make you forget about the perpetual drizzle outside your window, transporting you to stuffed banana-leaf heaven that keeps you reaching for “just one more”. Ok, enough talking, let’s get down to the recipe!
Guatemalan Tamales (with chicken)
Enjoy with: Horchata (a rice and milk beverage) or why not some authentic hot chocolate, Mayan style!
Listen to: the poetic sounds of Ricardo Arjona, and his musings on what the world would look like if women were in space, or South America was the “West”.
Serves: 6-8 people
Ingredients:
2 yellow onions
9 red tomatoes
Corn flour, 4 cups (the one to make tortillas)
1 dried chili
2 red cubanelle peppers (long bell peppers)
Sunflower seeds (⅓ cup)
Sesame seeds (⅓ cup)
350 g of chicken fillets
Olive oil, about 1 cup
Butter, about 1 cup (melted)
Banana leaves, about 4-5 large ones
Salt
Lime and white bread for serving
Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 250 C.
In a large pot, bring water to a boil and boil the banana leaves for about 10 minutes (so get rid of some of the bitter flavour).
While the leaves are boiling, put the tomatoes on a baking tray, peel the onions and slice in half, and rinse the peppers and slice in half. All the vegetables go on the baking tray and into the oven. Roast until they start to blacken.
Put a skillet on medium high heat and add the sunflower and sesame seeds to toast. Remove when the seeds start to brown.
Once the banana leaves have boiled, drain and set aside.
In a large pot, pour 4 cups of corn flour and 10 cups of water and whisk together, making sure there are no lumps.
Once the vegetables are roasted, take them out of the oven and put into a blender. Add seeds and dried chili. Blend until smooth.
Pour the tomato sauce through a sieve to get rid of some of the seeds.
Slice the chicken fillets into long, thin strips.
Pour the melted butter and olive oil into the corn mix, and raise heat to medium. Keep stirring until the mix starts to boil. Once it has a thick texture, set aside.
Take some aluminium foil and cut into large squares (the width of the sheet should be slightly longer than the length).
Now you are ready to assemble the tamales! On a aluminium sheet, put a banana leaf. Ladle a few spoons of the corn mix in the middle. Put a few strips on the chicken on top, and pour some tomato sauce over. (vegetarians can use red peppers or olives)
Time for the wrap: bring the lengths of the banana leaf together and roll down to seal the tamale. Fold in the edges below, to make a sort of package. Repat with the aluminium foil, so that you get a foil package
Bring water to a boil in a large pot and put in the tamales. Lower the heat to low, and let simmer for about 3-4 hours (especially with chicken, vegetarian versions take about 2 hours)
Once cooked, open up the banana leaf on a plate and serve with some lime, white bread (preferably french) and extra tomato sauce
Interview Time!
Kryddhyllan: Ok, first question! What is your favourite food from home?
Stephanie: My favourite food from home is called cocido, which means “cooked” or “boiled”, and basically, it’s a lot of vegetables and meat that you boil for a long time, and then you use the broth to make a soup. You eat it with lime, rice, and all these super delicious boiled vegetables.
Kryddhyllan: Yum! And why is it your favourite food (apart from being delicious)?
Stephanie: Both my grandmothers know that I really like it, and every time I go to visit them, they prepare it for me, so it reminds me of my family. I don’t see my grandmother on my dad’s side that often, but she will prepare the soup two or three days before just to ensure that all the ingredients will be in the dish.
Kryddhyllan: That’s so nice! And what brought you to Sweden?
Stephanie: Love! Love! *laughs.
Kryddhyllan: Always.
Stephanie: The same reason why many are here *laughs.
Kryddhyllan: Did you meet your husband here?
Stephanie: No, we met in Italy, and then I moved back to Guatemala and we did distance for a few years, and then we decided that we really wanted to be together, so we got married and now I’m here!
Kryddhyllan: Yay! And since moving here, have you found any new favorite dishes?
Stephanie: I really like pyttipanna *laughs. Rasmus (my husband) makes an amazing homemade pyttipanna, so it’s not from the bag, and I have actually learned how to appreciate beetroot. I always thought I never liked it, but there are so many dishes here with beetroot, so now it’s my new favorite vegetable.
Kryddhyllan: Damn! Did you know anything about Swedish food before moving here?
Stephanie: Before I met Rasmus? No. I only knew about IKEA hot dogs.
Kryddhyllan: Hot dogs? Not even the meatballs?
Stephanie: No *laughs. Just the hot dogs. But when I met Rasmus, he made meatballs for me, and when I came to Sweden we tried meatballs at a restaurant.
Kryddhyllan: Where did you try them?
Stephanie: At Sturehof.
Kryddhyllan: Good choice! So if you had to choose, what would you say is the best and worst thing about Swedish food?
Stephanie: The best? Maybe I would say that it’s very homey and cozy, and the worst is that there’s too much butter sometimes. It’s a very heavy food, it’s not something you’re used to eating.
Kryddhyllan: That’s very true.
Stephanie: But another positive thing is that it changes so much throughout the year, so you have these very typical or specific things according to the months. For example, dill for me is summer. It’s a summer herb, and you feel fresh.
Kryddhyllan: Dill is very summer. Ok, time for a hard question. If you had to pick one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Stephanie: Ceviche, forever!
Kryddhyllan: Okay, guess that wasn’t a hard question. And why?
Stephanie: It’s so tasty, when you’re hungover it’s the best cure. And because it has so much lime, which is my favorite citrus fruit ever. I could put it on everything
Kryddhyllan: Good tip! Gonna try that next time we’re hungover.
Stephanie: Yes, write that down!
Kryddhyllan: And what would you say is your “spice of life”?
Stephanie: Cilantro, or coriander as you say here. It’s so refreshing, but Swedes don’t like it that much.
Kryddhyllan: It might be more that lots of people think it tastes like soap. But if you get over that then it’s amazing. You just have to try it a few times.
Stephanie: It’s such a good herb.
Kryddhyllan: Okay, two more questions left. What’s the best meal you’ve ever had in your whole life and why?
Stephanie: It was a gift for our wedding, and we ate at Vollmers in Malmö. It was like 14 courses and we ate for four hours, and every single dish was amazing. Everything was locally sourced, and at the end of the menu they wrote how many Swedish miles your plate had travelled. It was really cool and such a nice experience.
Kryddhyllan: I feel like Malmö has a good food scene. Okay, last question: what is your favorite restaurant right now? It could be anywhere in the world, doesn’t have to be Sweden (but it also could be Sweden).
Stephanie: If I had to choose Sweden, I would say that it’s Chelas in Hornstull. It’s such good Mexican food and it really tastes Mexican. It’s not just tacos they have other Mexican dishes so it’s interesting for those who only associate Mexico with tapas. And in Guatemala, it’s this Japanese place called tepanaki where they cook in front of you. It’s so good that I always go back when I visit Guatemala. I love the fried rice and the meat that they cook and the fire. It’s not even Asian but I love their fried banana with ice cream.
Kryddhyllan: Well that’s all the questions we had, thank you so much! Let’s eat some tamales!
Stephanie: Thanks for coming by!
