I have been living in Guatemala for some time now and have tried many of their traditional dishes and loved most of them. Pepian is one that I found particularly interesting since I heard that it’s Guatemala’s National Dish.

This is just a spicy stew native from the one of the highest and coldest area of the country, department of Quetzaltenango and a long with jocón one of my favorite traditional dishes of this country.

In case any of you are interested in preparing the most traditional dish there is in Guatemala here is an easy way to prepare it:

First cut the pork and chicken meat in to cubes & cook it with some salt, half an onion, a tomato cut in half and a clove of garlic.

Then take the sesame seeds, the pumpkin seeds, 1 onion cut in fourths, 3 cloves of garlic, half of the cilantro & the tomatoes. On an old pan toast each ingredient separately, when you are done peal the tomatoes.

Once the meat is cooked and the rest of ingredients are toasted. Let cool the water where the meat was cooked & take all the fat off of the surface. Take all the toasted ingredients and put them in the blender with the broth and Blend away! You should get a brown salsa.

Peel and cut into small pieces the green chayote and the potatoes.

Take the salsa, the cooked meat, the potatoes, the chayote & some more cilantro and throw it all on a big pot. All you have to do now is wait until it’s all cooked & check if it needs more salt.

Digg In!!

Now for the Whole Recipe

Prep Time: 2 hours
Servings: 6 to 8

Ingredients

1 pound fresh tomatoes
4oz. cup raw unsalted pumpkin seeds
4oz. sesame seeds
1 pound of pork meat
1 pound of chicken meat
1/2 medium onion
4 big cloves of garlic
1 chayote
1 pound of potatoes
Cilantro
Salt
1 güaque pepper
1 pasa pepper

How to Prepare it:

Start by cutting the pork and chicken meat into small cubes. Cook it on a big pot with salt, half an onion, a tomato cut in half, a clove of garlic and two and a half cups of water.

While you wait take the pumpkin seeds and toast them on an old pan at a low setting until they are brown. Repeat with the sesame seeds, the onion and the garlic. When it comes to cilantro only dry it a bit on the pan – don’t let it get brown. Then the tomatoes – let them sit on the pan and move them every couple of minutes until the point where they can easily be pealed.

When the meat is cooked take the broth that is left, let it cool and scrape all the fat from the surface. Then take the tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, onion, sesame seeds & pumpkin seeds and put them on the blender along with the broth. Blend for at least 1.5min. You should get a brown, spicy salsa.

Peel and cut into small pieces the green chayote and the potatoes.

Take a big pot and put the meat, the salsa, the chayote & the potatoes in it. Let it boil for around 15min and try it so see if it needs more salt. Adjust it however you like. Then let it boil for another 15min at a low setting. And you are done!

Note: Guatemalan’s serve it with white rice & corn tortillas.

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Article by Marina Kuperman Villatoro

Marina Kuperman Villatoro CEO of TravelExperta.com, a travel resource site to inspire families to travel with kids of all ages. I've been an expat 10+ years in Central America raising 2 boys in a multicultural, trilingual household. We travel all over the world. Needless to say, it’s never boring! Join Marina on Facebook and Twitter for more Central and Latin American fun!