Slow Food Central America
I should really be saying Slow Food Guatemala, Slow Food Mexico, and the rest but when you are anywhere in Central America it is very much a Slow Food place with good, clean and fair food. My first experience with Mexico City was during an APEC meeting for women leaders and my first realization , too, is that in Central America the air is generally thinner. I confirmed this when I ran after a tour bus and could not seem to breathe any easier. Take note- you are 5000 feet above sea level.. like running a marathon in Baguio air and more (Baguio is about 1300 meters or 4265 feet).
In Guatemala it is cool all day due to its similar elevation to Baguio, at 1300 meters the minute you set foot at the airport. And elevation is not the only thing you need to know about. You have to be conscious that Guatemalans are very Latino in nature and you will feel readily at home with them , as a Filipino.? We share a lot of customs and habits and food! Though they serve more beans , frijoles, corn and tortillas, when you go to the market you will find more similarities. I saw Chico, Guyabano, Sayote, Guava, and even caimito(star apple), which they also call by these same names.
At the market you also find Zapote and ?Anonas which are street names here in the Philippines! How similar are we, indeed. When you check the map, Mexico is connected to Guatemala, Guatemala connected to Honduras and El Salvador also known as the triangle, and further east you have Nicaragua, Costa Rica and then Panama. With Belize jutting out at the Northeast side. These seven countries compose Central America with similar food all across but with their own local specialties. We managed to cross the border to El Salvador and had their El Salvadorean Pupusas, a tortilla impregnated with melting cheese and peppers or chorizo, and other fillings as you wish. Again, this is ?slow food preserved by patronage of the locals. Though there are a bevy of American food chains, QSRs (Quick service restaurants),? and American brands we chose to go local whenever we looked for food outside our hotel.
With our similarities I am convinced we welcomed a lot of Mexicans in the 1600s through the 1800s , and not mainland Spaniards. Central America resonates with many things Filipino. Longganisa is also another specialty which we tried in a sandwich, freshly grilled at the Tienda (store) or the public market. In the Tienda, you see retail sachets of chips, soap, drinks like you are in Marinduque or Antipolo. You will really feel at home here.
At the Finca (farm) where we were luckily invited to stay, a Hacienda-type of accommodations in a coffee farm, we were served colonial style, like you were in Bacolod among the hacienderos. There was a crew of cooks and servers, cooking house specialties like Chicken Pepian (which I have tried in Ilocos at the Verzosa house before), Frijoles (again!) and Huevos revueltos (Scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes).
The Finca Pastores has a vegetable garden from where our food came from. They grow cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, carrots and more. Farm to table in the real sense of the word. While we drink their coffee brew of the day and smell its aroma, we also smell the unique scent of fermenting coffee beans on the patio as they are raked to the proper degree of dryness? in the mild morning sun.
In the evenings we get to drive to nearby Antigua to sample other local fare like Jocon, Pepian and Chuchitos,? in Guatelaria, a restaurant proudly announcing? to be a Slow Food establishment.? And it is. Another similarity is our love for rum. They have Ron Zacapa which will stand beside our Award-winning Tanduay rum. They have a Casa Del Ron where Ron Zacapa specialties are mixed as cocktails similar to our Desteleria Limtuaco museum in Intramuros.
More Slow Food is served at breakfast where Tocino is actually crisp bacon, Quesillo (fresh white cheese) and the fruits are oh so familiar – Pineapples, papaya and watermelon (which they call Sandia). A local favorite is a tortilla sandwich with mashed beans and fresh white cheese, as well as Panqueque which you may have guessed is Pancake!
In every new town we visit, I try to check out the market to get a glimpse of local fare.? And here I found local fruits which they proudly preserve. And this is what pains me here in the country. When I was last in Bukidnon all I saw were imported apples, grapes and oranges. I hope we sell more local fruits and teach our children more of our heritage in terms of food—fruits and vegetables included.
Do try to visit Guatemala or any of the seven countries in Central America. You will not only find it affordable but a very pleasant experience in terms of food and drink, specially coffee. With coffee, they also dunk pastries and bread. We stopped by Café San Martin on the way to the farm and bought Champurradas, Churritos and Pan dulce which we sampled with freshly brewed coffee from the Fumagalli estate. And we were at the estate, take note. What better way to enjoy slow food, slow coffee, ever slowly.
Did I have any fast food while in Guatemala? As our flight was an unholy hour of 2 am, the only shop open at the airport was a fast food one and yes, we tried their version of burgers and fries. But my memories of Guate (Guatemala’s cute nickname)will be about the Finca Pastores, the people and the local food. And I am manifesting that soon I will get to visit Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua. By the way, the roads are good and a main highway ?actually threads the countries for a nice road trip. Just take your passport with you. And your tumbler of coffee.
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