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Guatemala City Foodways

Ciudad de Guatemala

City

⚠ THE LARGEST CITY IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND ITS OWN FOOD SYSTEM. Guatemala City is where internal migration lands — a large Maya population from every highland department, ⚠ RECORDED AS AN INTERNAL DIASPORA WITH ITS OWN FOODWAYS rather than dissolved into a generic urban category, much of it displaced by the armed conflict and by rural poverty. The layers: the MERCADO CENTRAL and La Terminal; the street and market food — shucos (the Guatemalan hot dog with guacamol, cabbage and mustard), tostadas, chuchitos, garnachas, mixtas, elotes locos, rellenitos, plátanos en mole; the traditional comedor and the cevichería; the CHINESE community’s restaurants and the Zona 1 chow mein; Korean, Lebanese, Salvadoran, Mexican and Colombian kitchens brought by later migration; the Zona 4 and Zona 10 contemporary restaurant scene, which is ⚠ RECORDED SEPARATELY FROM TRADITIONAL REGIONAL FOOD rather than as its continuation; and the pan dulce bakery on every corner.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

  • Maya community documented
  • Ladinos community documented

Languages: Spanish, K'iche', Kaqchikel, Q'eqchi', Mam, Cantonese

What is recorded

  • Guatemala City is the largest city in Central America and holds a large Maya population drawn from every highland department, recorded as an internal diaspora with its own foodways rather than dissolved into a generic urban category, much of it displaced by the armed conflict and by rural poverty. Documented street and market foods include shucos, tostadas, chuchitos, garnachas, mixtas, elotes locos and rellenitos. Chinese, Korean, Lebanese, Salvadoran, Mexican and Colombian kitchens are documented. The contemporary restaurant sector is recorded separately from traditional regional food. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

Recorded as relating to this foodway

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.