Fiambre is an extremely rare and unique dish which includes over 40 ingredients; basically it’s a salad made from cold cuts, all kinds of meats, fish, vegetables and pickled vegetables. It’s served on the 1st and 2nd of November for Day of the Dead and All Saints Day. Fiambre is a cold meal of Spanish origin, possibly from the Extremadura provinces in Spain. Fiambre is a very special meal for Guatemalans, and it is only available on November 1 and 2.

Poor guy, he should’ve been at Monoloco, the popular sports bar in La Antigua, on Thursday night, Dec. 16, for Mustache Night.

Guests had Jimmy’s pencil-thin variety, while Miss Kate had a José Quervo flair. There were a few Snidely Whiplash and Fu Manchú styles in the house, too, even a hint of Hitler.

Guests sporting un bigote received a free beer, and it didn’t matter whether the mustache was authentic or artfully applied by one of Monoloco’s versatile bartenders. Enthusiastic patrons also enjoyed Beer Pong competition – a sudsy variation of ping-pong.

Guatemalan Fiambre (photo by Rudy Girón)

written by Arturo Echeverría

Nobody knows the origins of fiambre; one of the most special of all Guatemalan foods, however, legends say that it was accidentally invented by either:

1. A newly hired chef starting immediately by preparing a big banquet, only he couldn’t really cook; or
2. A family visiting the cemetery on November 1st and while the adults concentrated on prayer, their kids had fun by flinging the picnic food at each other — and the remnants were later salvaged by the annoyed adults.

Regardless of its origin, fiambre, in my opinion, is the supreme Guatemalan plate. If this is not the food of the gods, it must be something very close. Fiambre is only eaten on November 1st, the Day of All Saints, and it is so complex that it can easily take as many as 50 or more ingredients.

Fiambre is basically a big salad or a plate of assorted cold cuts, including diverse vegetables, meats, pickles and much more. It must be prepared at least one day before serving and marinated overnight in a thin sauce blend of vinegar, parsley, lettuce and hard-boiled eggs called a caldillo. Without this vital step, the dish will be flavorless. Also, the more meats that are added, the richer the taste.

Accompany this legendary dish with an ice cold Guatemalan beer or one of the country’s award-winning rums.

written by Dianne Carofino photos by George Carofino

No visitor to La Antigua—no matter for how short or long a stay— has savored the flavor of the city without a visit to the local mercado, with its stalls of colorful and sometimes unfamiliar fruits and vegetables, all separated by narrow, crowded aisles. It can be an enticing but bewildering experience. If the purpose of the visit is to prepare a meal with your purchases, the confusion increases. Which of the güisquiles—white, green or bristly— is best? How much should you buy? What is a fair price?

Alma Diaz, an Antigüeña, offers to help me navigate the mercado. I eagerly accept her offer, first asking about the story I heard of two friends who met at the mercado and didn’t recognize each other at first. Each was “in disguise” to get the best prices: no makeup, no jewelry and old clothes. Alma agrees that it is a good idea to leave jewelry, cameras and other valuables at home, since crowded areas attract petty thieves. She also advises carrying only a plastic shopping bag and hand purse with small bills and coins.

As for getting the best prices, Alma suggests asking several vendors how much for a particular item, then choose the vendor with the best produce and make your offer based on this information.

As we weave our way through the stalls, we pass booths that offer clothing, from boxer shorts to wedding dresses; plastic piggy banks in every color; suitcases; back packs; in fact, every imaginable item. We finally arrive in the food market. Hurrying past the meat stalls, with hanging sausages, chicken and beef, our olfactory senses get a workout.

Finally, we arrive at Irma’s stall, piled high with as much produce as many small supermarkets. Irma is Alma’s marchanta, her usual go-to vendor. Alma feels that it is important to establish a relationship with a vendor, in order to receive the best produce at the best price. Although Irma is from Sumpango, she is at the main produce market in Guatemala City every morning at 4 a.m., coming back with fresh produce in time for the opening of the Antigua mercado.

Today, Irma has large, green bunches of macuy, bledo and chipilín, which grow naturally near Antigua. These green, leafy vegetables are responsible for the Antigüeños’ nickname panzas verdes, says Alma. When Antigua was evacuated to present-day Guatemala City after the 1773 earthquake, those who stayed behind were said to have panzas verdes (green tummies) because they had only these greens to eat. Another story of the origin of the nickname is that Antigüeños eat so many locally grown avocados that they develop panzas verdes.

Avocados are abundant today, as are red radishes and oyster mushrooms, grown in Tecpán cooperatives. Ichintal, the large tan roots of the güisquil, plentiful from October to April, are piled high in a large, round straw basket. Prices are very low when compared with prices in the United States, and as we buy, Irma takes a few quetzales off her initially quoted prices.

We notice commercially packaged, name-brand corn in this and other stalls and learn that products for export become available in the mercado if the exporter has excess produce.

We move on to another stall, where we buy panela, brown sugar, in a 2½ pound loaf. This sugar has more of a molasses taste than the modern, packaged version. We also buy a pound of tamarindos, long, flat, bean-shaped pods, which we’ll use for a beverage. We move farther back in the market, passing smaller stalls, some selling seasonings such as the ground red achiote, which provides both color and flavor. There are also ajos criollos, tiny bulbs of garlic, which Alma says have a better flavor than the larger variety.

At the very back of the market, we come to a colorful, chaotic scene. Perhaps 100 vendors are seated on the ground surrounded by produce, which they or their families have grown. The riotous color is overwhelming. From little girls to elderly women, all the vendors wear colorful, intricately woven blouses (huipiles) of blues, reds, greens and oranges in all shades and patterns. The sounds too are different. Conversations are in languages other than Spanish—no doubt one of the many Mayan dialects still spoken in Guatemala. Men are loudly hawking hand-carved wooden spoons and other kitchen utensils. Prices are even lower here than in the main section of the mercado.

In this area are also large trucks with their back gates open. They sell produce to some of the vendors. To get the very best prices, Alma suggests coming to the market at four in the afternoon. and buying directly from these produce trucks.

Chateau DeFay

A rewarding excursion to Guatemala’s first winery to produce wine from locally-grown grapes since colonial times

text and photos by Ira Lewis

Hidden behind a coffee finca on the lower slopes of volcano El Agua is the first winery to produce wine from Guatemalan-grown grapes since colonial times: Chateau DeFay. Jacques and Angie DeFay recently presented their first vintage after years of finding the right grapes, some false starts, lots of very hard work and years of nurturing the vines. The vintage is 2007, but the wines have only just become available to the public.

After a four-kilomoter drive down a dirt road from Santa María de Jesús toward Palín, it comes as quite a surprise to find this turreted chateau, which would be perfectly at home in Bordeaux or Italy. A gate on the left with the discreet initials “CDF” marks the entrance.

The three wines of the first vintage, even coming from young vines, show promise. Could Guatemala be another improbable area that will become a wine-producing country because the right soil and weather conditions exist? It all starts with one winery.

For example, North Carolina was not a wine-producing state 20 years ago. Then tobacco demand fell, a few farms planted grapes and some started to make wine. As the potential became apparent, experienced vintners came into the area and now wine cognoscenti are starting to refer to the North Carolina Piedmont region as the Sonoma Valley of the East Coast.

Jacques DeFay had previously made two visits to Guatemala, totaling about seven weeks, when he was working for the Inter-American Development Bank. When he decided to retire, he and Angie returned to Guatemala to look for a farm where they could grow raspberries. After looking for some time, they bought the coffee finca on the lower slopes of El Agua 10 years ago. There was not enough water for raspberries, but Angie planted asparagus, which she still grows, and presents as a tasty preserve—a very light pickle which enhances the natural flavor of the asparagus.

Even though people said he was crazy, Jacques decided to try grapes, and the first vines were planted nine years ago. Strictly by trial and error, he tried several varieties before finding some that took well to the volcanic soil and the seasonal variations of the area. No one could give advice except “don’t waste your time.”

Once he had his grapes, Jacques drove ahead with his plans for a winery. This was not to be a hobby but rather a serious winery producing the best wine possible from Guatemalan grapes.

A chateau was built which, besides having family living quarters, could also be used for wine tasting, receptions and other events. An 18-hole miniature golf course was placed on the landscaped grounds as well as a round, glassed-in barbeque pavilion.

Stainless-steel winemaking equipment was imported from the United States by way of Italy and France, and an Italian winemaker, Bruno Coppola, was hired to develop the wines. Jacques had worked with very little assistance developing the vines but decided he really needed a trained winemaker to properly control the winemaking process. Coppola was trained in Italy, worked there at his uncle’s winery, then added four more years experience in wineries in the Sonoma Valley and two years in New York, where Jacques met him. He’d gone on to Brazil and then to Italy as a consultant when Jacques persuaded him to come to Guatemala.

The three wines of the first vintage show great promise. Two of the three, Angie’s Blend and White Merlot (rosé) are different from the dry, full-bodied wines most appreciated in Guatemala.

There are other wines of the world, which have different standards and different tastes. They are neither better nor worse—they are different and many are excellent. It is next to impossible to find in Guatemala a Beerenauslese from a top Rhine vineyard, a great Sauterne or a dry Oloroso sherry, because they do not conform to the accepted taste standards.

Angie’s Blend is one of the few dessert wines on the market here. When served with some pieces of good chocolate or a simple pound cake, Angie’s Blend gives you an epicurean dessert. The most expensive wine in the world happens to be a dessert wine, a Sauterne made by the Chateau D’Yquem.

The Germans also use these off-dry, fruity wines to stand up to highly spiced dishes—curry or Kak-Ik. It also works well with strong cheeses.

The French make and enjoy some really excellent rosé. White merlot is a wine to sip and enjoy, a tasty aperitif that starts with a sweetish grape flavor and has a dry aftertaste. It also would go along with mild chicken and other not-so-strong, dishes.

The Chardonnay comes with a strong mineral taste from the volcanic soil. Alongside a good California Chardonnay or a Blanc de Blanc of France, it loses right now. Still it has some levels of taste that show promise. It is worth trying with strong fish dishes or strong boquitas. It should be served very cold. With a few more years to develop, it could become a very good wine.

Visit www.fincadefay.com
Complimentary tastings on Saturdays and Sundays, 10am to 4pm, by appointment only on weekdays. There is also a special tour of the vineyard and winery for approximately $3 per person.
The facility is also open for special events such as weddings and receptions, anniversary parties and graduations.

You can enjoy a tasting of the Chateau DeFay wines at La Casserole on Callejón del Hermano Pedro in Antigua. More varietals are being added each year.

Dessert de la Casa/sweet cinnamon-flavored nachos by (photo: Rudy Girón/rudygiron.com)

(in no particular order)

Dessert de la Casa
(sweet cinnamon-flavored nachos)
Monoloco
5a av. sur #6, interior 5

TRES LECHES
Quesos y Vinos
1a calle poniente #1

CAPPUCHINO PIE
Cafe Condesa
West side of Central Park, inside La Casa del Conde

TIRAMISU
Capt. Bry’s
El Pescador Italiano
3a av. norte #1-B
CHONGOS ZAMORANOS
Fridas
5a av. norte #29, Calle del Arco

SAJLAB 
(a fabulous Egyptian dessert)
Gaia
5a av. norte #36-A

MOLE DE PLÁTANO
La Fonda de la Calle Real
La Calle del Arco y a la “Vuelta”

KEY LIME PIE
Restaurante las mil Flores
3a calle oriente #16-A

MOUSE DE CHOCOLATE
Nicolas
4a calle oriente #20

ESFERAS EN ALMÍBAR CON AZAFRÁN Y JENGIBRE
Welten
4a calle oriente #21

*Another delicious list next month