Guatemalan Kitchen Staples

Small batches. Every scrap used. Like budgeting for the week in Queens.

Before you begin: These recipes assume you have read the measurement conversions. "Handful" means 25g. "Until it smells right" means 180°C. Precision honors tradition.

Simple Pepián for Two

Stretches chicken bones and yesterday's tortillas. Serves 2 with leftovers for lunch.

Bowl of pepián stew with vegetables

Ingredients

  • 90g pumpkin seeds, raw and unshelled
  • 15-20g dried guajillo chiles (3-4 pieces)
  • 1 large tomato, roasted
  • ½ white onion, charred
  • 3 cloves garlic, skin blackened
  • 25g fresh epazote leaves
  • 500ml bone broth (from saved carcass)
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

  1. Toast pumpkin seeds at 175°C for 8-10 minutes, stirring twice, until nutty aroma rises.
  2. Rehydrate chiles in boiling water for 20 minutes. Discard stems and seeds.
  3. Blend seeds, chiles, tomato, onion, garlic to velvet-smooth paste. Oil should bead on surface.
  4. Fry paste in oil for 5 minutes until bubbles slow. Pour in broth.
  5. Simmer 25 minutes. Add epazote in final 3 minutes.
  6. Serve with torn tortillas. Save bones for tomorrow's broth.

Mole Negro Foundation

The 32-ingredient celebration sauce. Begin with these seven pillars.

Seven Pillars

  • 40g toasted sesame seeds
  • 30g almonds, blanched
  • 20g raisins, rehydrated
  • 15g corn tortilla, fried crisp
  • 10g dark chocolate (70% cacao)
  • 5g annatto seeds
  • 3g cinnamon bark
Full 32-ingredient protocol coming when I have weighed each component. Do not guess.