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Guatemalan Tamal Family

Specialised

⚠ SEVERAL DISTINCT DISHES, SEPARATELY NAMED BY GUATEMALANS, AND THIS SYSTEM KEEPS THEM SEPARATE. TAMAL COLORADO — large, soft, masa loosened with lard and coloured with a red recado, meat with olive, caper, raisin and pepper, wrapped in MAXÁN leaf inside a banana leaf and steamed; the Christmas and Saturday-night tamal, and part of the national intangible-heritage declaration. TAMAL NEGRO — the sweet dark one with chocolate, prune and almond. CHUCHITOS — small, firm, denser masa, a little recado, wrapped in the MAIZE HUSK not the leaf, sold from baskets, eaten with tomato sauce and hard cheese; ⚠ A CHUCHITO IS NOT A SMALL TAMAL COLORADO. PACHES — ⚠ MADE FROM POTATO, not maize masa, with recado and pork, in maxán or banana leaf; strongly associated with QUETZALTENANGO and eaten on THURSDAYS; ⚠ FILING PACHES UNDER A MAIZE TAMAL WOULD BE A CATEGORY ERROR. TAMALITOS — plain small maize parcels in husk, eaten as bread. TAMALES DE ARROZ, finer and whiter. TAMAL DE CHIPILÍN. ⚠ AND THE NICARAGUAN NACATAMAL AND HONDURAN MONTUCA ARE COMPARED, NOT MERGED: the nacatamal carries rice and potato inside and is much larger; the montuca is fresh maize, not nixtamal.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

Languages: Spanish, K'iche'

What is recorded

  • Guatemalan tamales are recorded as several distinct dishes separately named locally: tamal colorado, large and soft in maxán and banana leaf; tamal negro, sweet with chocolate and prune; chuchitos, small and firm in maize husk; paches, made from potato rather than maize masa and associated with Quetzaltenango and with Thursdays; tamalitos; tamales de arroz; and tamal de chipilín. Filing paches under a maize tamal is recorded as a category error. The Nicaraguan nacatamal and Honduran montuca are compared rather than merged. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • part of Guatemalan Dishes and Regions documented

    ⚠ Several distinct dishes separately named by Guatemalans. Paches are POTATO and are not filed under a maize tamal.

Recorded as relating to this foodway

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.