Pepian de Pollo
When visiting Guatemala, no trip would be complete without sampling the country’s national dish: Pepian. You’ll find it on almost every traditional restaurant menu. This hearty stew features slow-cooked meats; vegetables like onion, tomato, Poblano pepper and chunks of potato; and seeds and nuts like peppercorns, pumpkin seeds and cumin seeds. Because it really refers to a sauce containing peppers, it’s actually considered a “mole.”
The dish gets its dense consistency from being thickened with seeds and nuts. Of course, the recipe varies a bit from chef to chef; however, this gives you a general idea of what the toasty, rich and spicy flavor is like. Fun fact: Although the national dish of Guatemala it actually comes from Mexico, created by the Aztecs and altered by the Spaniards.
Jessica Festa is the editor of the travel sites Jessie on a Journey (http://jessieonajourney.com) and Epicure & Culture (http://epicureandculture.com). Along with blogging at We Blog The World, her byline has appeared in publications like Huffington Post, Gadling, Fodor’s, Travel + Escape, Matador, Viator, The Culture-Ist and many others. After getting her BA/MA in Communication from the State University of New York at Albany, she realized she wasn’t really to stop backpacking and made travel her full time job. Some of her most memorable experiences include studying abroad in Sydney, teaching English in Thailand, doing orphanage work in Ghana, hiking her way through South America and traveling solo through Europe. She has a passion for backpacking, adventure, hiking, wine and getting off the beaten path.
