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Lake Atitlán Foodways

Lago de Atitlán

Regional

⚠ A LAKE IS A FOOD SYSTEM AND NOT A VIEW. Atitlán is a caldera lake at 1,560 m ringed by twelve villages named for apostles, whose people are TZ’UTUJIL (Santiago Atitlán, San Pedro, San Juan), KAQCHIKEL (Panajachel, San Antonio Palopó, Santa Catarina) and K’ICHE’. The lake foodway: PATIN — small lake fish, mojarra and the tiny pepescas, wrapped in maxán or hoja de milpa with tomato and chile and steamed, a Tz’utujil dish; CRAB (cangrejos) from the shallows; and the steep shore terraces growing ONION and garlic at San Antonio Palopó, coffee and avocado on the slopes, and maize wherever it will hold. ⚠ THE ECOLOGY IS DAMAGED AND THAT IS A FOOD FACT: LARGEMOUTH BASS was introduced in the 1950s and is documented as having devastated the native fish and the Atitlán grebe, which is extinct; and a severe CYANOBACTERIA bloom in 2009 and recurring eutrophication from untreated wastewater and agricultural runoff have damaged the fishery the lakeside villages depend on.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

  • Tz’utujil community documented
  • Kaqchikel community documented

Languages: Tz'utujil, Kaqchikel, K'iche', Spanish

What is recorded

  • Lake Atitlán is a caldera lake at approximately 1,560 m whose lakeside communities are Tz’utujil, Kaqchikel and K’iche’. Patín, small lake fish steamed in leaf, is documented as a Tz’utujil dish. Largemouth bass was introduced in the 1950s and is documented as having severely damaged the native fishery and contributed to the extinction of the Atitlán grebe. A severe cyanobacterial bloom in 2009 and recurring eutrophication from untreated wastewater and agricultural runoff are documented damage to the fishery on which lakeside communities depend. documented

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