Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Tortilla Nation

Many people travel the world in search of culinary excellence. Popular destinations include France, Italy, Thailand and Greece, for those who love food and want to try new things. Unfortunately, Guatemala does not make that list. Not even close. Now, this is a personal opinion, so please take it with a grain of salt, but please, read on. Guatemala is “known” for its corn tortillas. These incredibly complex culinary creations involve the delicate mixing of corn with water. Corn + water = corn tortilla. Congratulations, you are now a Guatemalan chef. No, these are not the corn tortillas that your local Mexican restaurant serves. And no, Qdoba and Chipotle do not even use corn tortillas. But I digress. Corn tortillas are the staple of the Guatemalan diet. Whether you are served eggs and beans, grilled meat and green onions or you are lucky enough to receive chopped hot dogs and mayonnaise salad; it will always be accompanied by a corn tortilla. They taste like cardboard. They’re dry enough to make a fish thirsty. They don’t fold well enough to make a nice taco shape, and they are too small to carry much of your meal into your mouth. Guatemala is a beautiful country with warm and receptive people. I have enjoyed pretty much every second of the past 10 months. Come here to explore, go on adventures, learn Spanish, and meet new people. But don’t come here for the food.  

2 comments:

  1. Granted I haven't lived there for an extended period, but I happened to like the native food the times I have visited. In my opinion it's kind of unfair to compare a country's traditional food and American chain restaurants on the same scale.

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  2. Anonymous, I happen to love Guatemala's tipico food, too! This post was mainly supposed to be comical, and Cam is right, we do eat A LOT of corn tortillas. :)

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