Cooking Classes

Recently, several members of the Grupo Femenino Ix-canaan chose to spend a week working with a cooking instructor (far left) learning how to properly prepare a variety of excellent Guatemalan dishes. The classes were co-sponsored by ProPeten and the Guatemalan government.

The women attended classes mornings and afternoons for 5 days, learning to create a variety of Guatemalan main courses and desserts. The day that I dropped by, they were working on “Poultry Dishes” and had made three different recipes.

The first one was Pollo Guisado, (Chicken Stew), which is chicken legs (preferably legs … they give a much better flavor to the dish) and potato pieces (with other vegetables depending on your finances) in a sauce based on achiote (annato).

The second one was Pollo en Jocon, which is chicken cooked in a green sauce based on mil tomates.

The third one was far and away the best in my opinion. It was Pollo en Crema con Loroco … Chicken in Cream with Loroco (small green unopened flower buds that have a distinctive flavor). I’m sure loroco is one of those foods that you either love, or hate. So far, I love it. At least I do when it is cooked with chicken in a cream sauce. I am definitely going to learn to make this dish.

To accompany the three chicken dishes, the women had prepared a Salad of Vegetables en Escabeche

and a pot full of the fluffiest rice I have ever seen!

This group of women is working hard to prepare to open a cooking school for tourists who would like to have the opportunity to cook and eat these regional specialities.