Whenever someone in Guatemala asks me what my favorite food is, I respond in .000001 seconds: tamales. They are just way too good.  In Guatemala, there are over 20 different types of tamales so I will try to just focus on a few.  They are traditionally eaten on special occasions: we are talking Christmas (like my family!) or family gatherings, birthdays or in the case of this post, the handing over of $10k worth of medical equipment (through FAPE´s health project) to a community.

The two stand-out tamales are paches and chuchitos. Paches are rice tamales with a big chunk of meat in the middle (with or without bones), wrapped in a small banana leaf and cooked in a huge pot of boiling water over a wood fire. Chuchitos are my favorite: read favorite food in Guatemala. They should be consumed by the dozens with a steaming cup of atole (Guatemalan corn drink) in hand. They are a maize tamale filled with pork, chicken or beef and you will be amazed (like I am) at how your taste buds start watering when you see these videos…