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Q’eqchi’ Foodways

Ethnolinguistic

⚠ ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST GEOGRAPHICALLY EXPANSIVE MAYA PEOPLES, and a lowland one, which matters: the Q’eqchi’ heartland is ALTA VERAPAZ around Cobán, and Q’eqchi’ communities extend into Izabal, Petén, Baja Verapaz, Belize’s Toledo district and across into Mexico — much of that expansion documented as displacement from the nineteenth-century coffee estates and the twentieth-century conflict. The foodway: KAQ’IK — the turkey soup with chile cobanero, achiote, samat (culantro) and tomato, recognised as Guatemalan intangible cultural heritage and ⚠ RECORDED HERE AS Q’EQCHI’ AND NOT AS GENERIC "MAYA FOOD"; the orthographic forms kak’ik, kaq ik and kak-ik are the SAME DISH and are aliases, not separate entities. Also POCH, the maize tamalito; CACAO, drunk unsweetened and ceremonially; CARDAMOM, which Alta Verapaz grows more of than anywhere on earth; chile cobanero; and the tubers, greens and river fish of the lowland forest.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

  • Q’eqchi’ community documented
  • Poqomchi’ community documented

Languages: Q'eqchi', Poqomchi', Spanish

What is recorded

  • The Q’eqchi’ are among the largest and most geographically extensive Maya peoples, with a heartland in Alta Verapaz around Cobán and communities extending into Izabal, Petén, Baja Verapaz, Belize and Mexico — much of that expansion documented as displacement from nineteenth-century coffee estates and twentieth-century armed conflict. Kaq’ik, the turkey soup with chile cobanero and samat, is recognised as Guatemalan intangible cultural heritage and is recorded as Q’eqchi’ rather than generically Maya. The orthographic forms kak’ik, kaq ik and kak-ik denote the same dish and are recorded as aliases of one entity, not as separate dishes. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • part of Maya Foodways documented

    ⚠ Filed as a named Maya people, not as generic Maya food. Kaq’ik is Q’eqchi’.

  • related to Belizean Cuisine documented

    Q’eqchi’ communities extend into Belize’s Toledo district, much of that movement documented as displacement from the coffee estates and the armed conflict.

  • related to Guatemalan Cardamom documented

Recorded as relating to this foodway

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.