World’s Best Pollo Guisado

Yes, its true. We have the world’s best pollo guisado right here in Peten! We discovered it shortly after making El Remate our home (13 years ago). In those days, we would go “to town” once a month for whatever supplies we needed. We would take the early bus in, and go to the market for breakfast. The first few times we went, we tried pollo guisado in different “comedors” in the market, and in the end, Comedor Elena won hands down, and we have been going there for our “breakfast” of pollo guisado at least once a week ever since.

Pollo guisado (pronounced “poyo ge-sado”) is a local version of chicken stew. It is usually made (and always tastes better) with chicken legs and thighs, and you can, of course, add various vegetables. This version is made with potatoes and tomatoes, and the sauce is red from the “achiote” (annatto in English) and is served with fluffy white rice with grated carrot. The meal comes complete with steaming tortillas, home made chile (you can see the corner of the bottle of it here … I don’t actually eat the chile peppers, but I love the onions that have been pickled with them, and it really “makes” this meal) and fresco, a kool-aid type beverage (I always order a glass of purified water with lemon on the side). And to top it all off, there is no waiting (comedors are like cafeterias, except they serve you) and the price is an incredible bargain by anybody’s standards at Q10.00 or about U.S. $1.35!! I also love taking my meals with the “real” people of the country … they have this wonderful custom of thanking everybody in the restaurant when they finish a meal, and all of us answer “buen provecho” like we are all one big happy family!!