Friday in Xela: Dinner and Party Time!

Do you see the moon? That is precisely the moon that inspired the Huehueteco (the name for people born in Huehuetenango, another department in The Highlands that we will visit soon) Francisco Perez to write his most remarkable composition: Luna de Xelaju, a waltz composed to be played by a Guatemalan Marimba; however, the melody and also the lyrics are so beautiful that many players and singers along Latin America have played and sung it with different arrangements. Today, I will share with you two versions. I hope both of them work properly. Here is the first version, a classical one.

Now, shall we go out for dinner? If you are more interested in modern and eclectic places and food, I would recommend then the Pasaje Enriquez, one of the outstanding buildings across the central park that offers several options for dining, drinking, and even dancing in the Salon Tecun. At certain time, the place may turn out a little bit noisy since it is a favorite among young people.

Without leaving the central park area, you will also find more options suitable for every palate and budget, in a range that goes from hamburgers and pizza to veggie specialties.

If quite contrary, you are a traveler eager to learn about local culture and discover new flavors, I would recommend to look for a typical food restaurant. It's been a while since my last visit to Xela, so I am going to say that the best way to find the nicest place with good local food, would be by asking locals or at the hotel. What I do can tell you for sure, is that local food is beyond worthy.

One of my favorites is Jokom (also known as jocon), a simple yet flavorful recipe, great to innovate (just as I have done in several occasions): as finger's food, use chicken thighs and more consistent sauce; as an appetizer, use boneless chicken breast cut in cubes; as a meal, use a whole chicken (to obtain the maximum flavor) cut in pieces.

Do you remember I told you that Xela is a good place for some salsa dancing? Well, while cooking our delicious Jokom, here is the second version, kind of irreverent but cheerful  salsa/tropical arrangement for Luna de Xelaju.

Basic Jokom Sauce for 1 Whole Chicken (or 8-12 thighs)

My own version to be served as soup, before the main course.

In about 4-6 cups of water, precook the chicken with a stalk of celery, a carrot, an onion, a couple of garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Discard the vegetables. Reserve the stock for the sauce.

Blend together with the chicken stock, until the mixture is smooth: 1 cup of peeled and lightly toasted pumpkin seeds, 2 cups of fresh culantro, 2 cups of fresh green onions, 1 green bell pepper, 1/2 cup of miltomates (husks removed), and 2 cloves of garlic. Optional: green hot pepper. Everything has to be raw, otherwise, the sauce won't be of a vibrant green.

Combine the blended mixture with the chicken stock (you decide how soupy or thick you want the sauce), bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, let it simmer for 5 minutes, add the chicken pieces and simmer another 5 minutes. If necessary, before adding the chicken, you can thicken the sauce with white bread crumbs.

To serve it as a meal, add on the side Guatemalan-style rice (long grain rice with peas and fine juliennes of carrots, string beans, and red bell pepper) and if possible, white "steamed tamalitos" (small like-fistful portions of  corn dough softened with a little bit of lard or vegetable oil wrapped in young corn leaves).

A good resource to find out what's going on in Xela, is XelaWho.com, a friendly site with lots of information about almost everything and everybody in Quetzaltenango.
Enjoy your weekend!

Holy Week in Guatemala: Flavors and Aromas

As you have appreciated along this week, between spiritual issues and earthy manifestations, Guatemalans spare no effort in their task to commemorate the Holy Week.

Traditions and folklore are in the air and families and friends gather together to celebrate, to participate, to watch, to share, to cook, to eat.

The gastronomical culture during this time of the year, just as the colorful carpets we enjoyed yesterday, is related to two different sources:

1. From pre-Hispanic traditions, where the seasons were divided by periods of fasting and penitences related with the rainy, dry, scarcity, and abundance cycles.

2. The fasting as was practiced by the first Christians in Century III to be clean and ready for the Resurrection Day, today Easter Sunday.

As time went by, the fasting rule was relaxed by the Catholic church, and as of today, the only forbidden food is red meat.

Every celebration around the world is somehow related with food and the Holy Week in Guatemala is not an exception. The food during this time, however, is more of a colonial heritage.

I cannot share with you all the aromas that come to me right now, but I can certainly share with you some recipes of the food my mother used to cook for the season. If you decide to try them, then you are going to smell some of the aromas and savior some of the flavors of a Guatemalan Holy Week.

Biscayne-style Cod (Bacalao a la Vizcaina)

Put 2 pounds of cod to soak for 24 or 36 hours (covered and in the fridge), changing the water every 8 hours. Once this time has elapsed, remove the scales and bones and clean well with a cloth. Cut the cod into chunks.

For the sauce, in a casserole with 1 cup of water, bring to a quick boil 4-6 Roma tomatoes and 4 red bell peppers, just enough time to soften and peel them. Remove the seeds and stems from the peppers. Do not discard the water, it will be used in the sauce.

In a pan with 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, cook until lightly brown, 1 cup of diced red onions and 4-6 cloves of garlic.

Blend together the tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic with the reserved water, until everything is smooth. If necessary, add some bread or bread crumbs to thicken the sauce.

Put the sauce into a casserole, add 2 tablespoons of capers, 4 tablespoons of olives, 1 bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon of dried thyme. Simmer for about 15 minutes, add the cod chunks, and continue simmering for another 5 minutes.

Optional: Some people like to add thick slices or big chunks of potatoes.

To serve, garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

Guatemalan-style dried-cod-like Fish

This is the economic variation for the Biscayne-style Cod, and consists in replacing the cod with a local variety of salty sun-dried fish.

This local fish is softer than the cod, so it is not cut in chunks but in individual portion-size fillets, then battered and deep fried before going into the sauce.

Torrejas (the local variation for the Madrid Torrijas)

8 "molletes" (heavy sweet egg-based bread), battered and lightly fried. Set aside over paper towels to drain the grease, while making the sugar syrup.

For the sugar syrup, in a deep pot bring to a boil 1 quart of water with 2 cups of sugar, 1 large cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of sweet wine (cherry, vermouth, muscatel, or similar), add the bread and let it simmer at a very low temperature for about 20-30 minutes. The bread will remain in one piece while absorbing the liquid. This desert can be served warm or at room temperature.

Molletes (the luxurious variation for the Guatemalan Torrejas)

The only difference in this version is that the molletes emptied (very carefully to keep them intact in the outside) and filled with Manjar Blanco (blancmange) and raisins previously soaked in liquor.

Manjar Blanco (the easiest version)

In a medium pot bring to a boil 1 quart of milk, 1 cup of sugar, 1 pinch of salt, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 large lime peel (without the white biter part). When start to boil, reduce the heat, remove the cinnamon stick and the lime peel, and add 3 tablespoons of corn starch previously dissolved in 1/2 cup of water or milk, stirring constantly until thickens. 

Other specialties and delicacies during this season are sweet empanadas filled with a different version of manjar blanco, salty empanadas filled with salmon, sweet chickpeas in a light homemade syrup, battered pacayas (palm fruits/flowers), curtido (pickled vegetables salad, the same we use in Guatemalan enchiladas), and from my mother's homeland, Jutiapa, women's bread, for which by the way, there is a tradition to bake large batches to exchange with friends and neighbors.

El Quiche: A Culinary Celebration

Along this week we have been traveling through El Quiche department, and last Friday I mentioned Pulique, a typical dish in the Guatemala Highlands, of which natives from Chinique, one of Quiche's municipalities, claim to be the creators. I am not sure about that; however, I am sure that Pulique is a delicious meal!

As a Friday treat I decided to include two more traditional recipes from El Quiche and to set the mood, please let me share with you this musical slide show with all the photos we enjoyed this week and some others I didn't have the chance to post.

Chicken Pulique

You already know that recado is the shared name for any thick sauce used in the traditional cuisine. There is a wide variety of recados, and depending on the main ingredients and preparation methods, some can be brownish –like the pepian’s, others are green or red, and the pulique recado is of an intense yellow.

The unique flavor of this dish is provided by the apazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides), also known as epazote, vomiqueira herb, pazoli, huacatay, among others. In case you don’t find fresh apazote, you may try looking for dried apazote and using only 3-4 tablespoons. If dried apazote is neither an option, you may try substituting it by 1 part of sage and 3 parts of culantro.

Recado Ingredients

1 lb of fresh Roma tomatoes

½ lb of fresh miltomatoes (also known as tomatillos)

1 large onion (about 1 cup)

2 dried “guaque” chili (also known as guajillo), seedless

2 garlic cloves

1 cinnamon stick (about 1 inch)

1 teaspoon achiote (annato) powder (you may substitute it with paprika)

½ teaspoon black pepercorns

½ teaspoon cummin seeds

¼ teaspoon cloves

1 cup of fresh apazote

Salt to taste

¼ cup of corn flour (corn tortillas-purpose flour) to be added at the end of the cooking process

Other Ingredients

6-8 chicken thighs, skinless (or 1 large chicken cut in pieces)

Optional

Big chunks of güicoyitos (zuccini), potatoes, and carrots

Preparation

Place the chicken thighs (and vegetables if you are using some), with about 3 cups of water, salt, and pepper into a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the chicken is no longer pink and the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

In a separate pot with about 2 cups of water, cook all the recado ingredients (except the corn flour) for about 10 minutes, discard the cinnamon stick, and blend the rest of the ingredients incorporating the corn flour until everything is smooth and well integrated.

The next traditional step, calls to fry the recado in about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (your preference of canola, corn, or olive oil), bring it to a boil and let it simmer until it thickens, about 3-5 minutes. To avoid extra fat, I only bring the recado to a boil and let it simmer to thicken.

Once the recado is thickened, add it to the pot with the chicken (and vegetables), verify the seasoning (salt and pepper) and consistency (if too thick, you may need to add water or chicken stock; if too thin, you may need to add a teaspoon at a time of corn flour and mix well), and let simmer altogether for another couple of minutes to let all the flavors mingle.

You can serve Pulique with Boxboles (recipe below) or rice pilaf on the side and garnish it with some apazote (or culantro) fresh leaves.

Boxboles

To give you an idea about this delicacy, I would say that Boxboles are the Mayan version of the Greek Dolmades because just like these, Boxboles are stuffed leaves.

Ingredients and Preparation

20 güisquil (also known as chayote or pataste) or pumpkin leaves. I know, right now you are thinking, where am I going to find those “güisquil” or even the pumpkin leaves? Don’t worry, I live in The Woodlands, so I am thinking exactly the same... Try with any greens (collards, spinach, etc.) you can find in your city, removing the woody stems, if any. Wash and dry them very well. Set aside.

Mix together the following ingredients, until everything is well combined and the dough-like mixture is soft but firm

2 cups of corn flour (corn tortillas-purpose flour), mixed with water as per the instructions in the package

2 tablespoons of butter

½ cup of sour cream

½ cup of dried cheese (Zacapa, parmesan, cotija)

1 pinch of ground thyme

1 pinch of ground bay leaves

Salt and pepper to season

Make small thick sticks (thumbs-like) with the dough and wrap each one in a leaf.

To cook the Boxboles you may use the bain-marie (double boiler) technique or a steamer for about 30 minutes.

Tip to serve the Boxboles

You can use them on the side of a dish like Pulique, or as apetizers covered with this simple sauce: blend together with a very small amount of water, 2 roma tomatoes, 2 green onions, 2 tablespoons of roasted pumpkin seeds, and depending on your taste, hot pepper flakes or powder, until the mixture is very smooth. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for about 2 minutes.

Chilacayote Beverage

Don’t make that funny face! I am not making any of these names. They are real, edible, glorious ingredients to satisfy even the most sophisticated taste.

The chilacayote (also known as fig-leaf gourd, alcayota, chiverre, cidra, among others) is a Cucurbita ficifolia that according to Wikipedia is cultivated around the world and it happens that is one of the specialties in El Quiche.

All you need is one small and clean chilacayote, cut in pieces and cooked at medium heat for about 20-30 minutes with water, 1 large cinnamon stick, about 10 each all spice and cloves, and panela or sugar. Let it cool and serve with ice. Before serving, you can add freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice and rectify the sweetness. Personally, I like to garnish my glass with some of the chilacayote strings. Buen Provecho!

Santo Domingo Xenacoj and a Bonus!

During this week we have visited some other towns that belong to the Sacatepequez Department, and with the remaining visits, this one and the one I am getting ready for tomorrow, we will finish the first chapter of our journey: Guatemala Modern and Colonial.

The "Colonial" official classification is almost entirely dedicated to Antigua Guatemala; however, for what I have seen, every town, even the smallest ones in Sacatepequez, were tremendously impacted during the colonial times, being these, the towns surrounding Antigua, where we can find much more authentic expressions, where we can start to experience the syncretism that has occurred between the ancient Maya beliefs, credences, traditions, and folklore, with the Catholicism as has been practiced since the Spanish colonial times.

Since we already are on our way out from Sacatepequez, before entering the Pan American Highway to continue our journey next Monday to the next chapter: The Living Maya Culture, I want to invite you to make a stop in Santo Domingo Xenacoj. 

The magnificent textiles produced by women in this town, make this one, a valuable visit. The photos I am using today are from Arte Maya Tz'utuhil.

And last but not least, here is the bonus: my very own Black Pepian recipe. Give it a try, it is good!

Black (darkened) Pepian

This is kind of a soupy dish that is a whole meal by itself. The most traditional way to serve it is in a clay bowl with “tamalitos blancos” on the side. The common and modern way to serve it, is with white rice (like rice pilaf) on the side and fresh hot tortillas. Speaking about tortillas, in Guatemala, even in the modern Guatemala City, tortillas are still made by hand in clay comales. For presentation, I like to garnish it with some toasted sesame seeds.

Recado Ingredients (“recado” is the name in Guatemala for almost any thick sauce used in the traditional cuisine)

1 lb of fresh Roma tomatoes

½ lb of fresh miltomatoes (also known as tomatillos)

1 large onion (about 1 cup)

1 fresh bell pepper, seedless

1 dried “guaque” chili (also known as guajillo), seedless

1 dried “pasa” chili (also known as pasilla), seedless

5 garlic cloves

½ teaspoon of whole pepper corns

½ teaspoon of whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

½ cup of sesame seeds

½ cup of pumpkin seeds, peeled

Other Ingredients

2 lbs of meat (chicken, turkey, pork, or beef; my personal choice are boned ribs), cut in pieces about 2 inches

1 lb of new potatoes

2 “güisquiles” (also known as chayotes), cut in long strips (a little bit thicker than a finger)

½ lb of fresh string beans (if possible, tied together in small bunches of 4-5 units)

- culantro (also known as cilantro)

- green onions

- garlic

Preparation

I usually start by cooking the meat in a dutch oven or a pressure cooker (for tenderness) with about two quarts of water, culantro, green onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. Once the meat is cooked, I remove the pieces and set them aside; degrease the resulting broth and separate about 2 cups for the recado.

In a pot with the rest of the degreased broth, I cook the potatoes, the güisquiles, and the string beans bunches, until they are tender but firm. Never overcook the vegetables!

While (or before) the vegetables are being cooked, without adding oil or water, roast  all the recado ingredients (in a non-Teflon pan over the stove, or in a cookie sheet protected with aluminum foil in the oven, turning them occasionally to allow all the ingredients to roast evenly) and blend them together with the reserved broth (I usually grind the roasted ingredients in the food processor without adding the broth to obtain a more homogeneous paste and then finish the recado in the blender with the broth). Roasting the recado ingredients will not just enhance the flavor, but also will make the recado looks dark.

Once the recado is ready, add it to the pot with the vegetables and incorporate the meat. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes to let all the flavors mingle and get the meat hot.
Note: If you think the recado needs to be thickened, toast a couple of tortillas and grind very fine before adding to the recado. You may also use plain breadcrumbs. I would suggest you to avoid the use of flour or corn starch, because you will be adding only extra carbs and modifying the consistency of the recado.

The Journey Continues Through Jocotenango and San Antonio Aguas Calientes

Photos in this page by galasdeguatemala.com, used with authorization.

Since our last stop was Antigua Guatemala, I think that we should travel around it. The closer town is Jocotenango, which was named because of the abundance of jocotes (hog plums) in the region. 

According to some authors, the name comes from the kakchiquel voices "xocotl" and "tenango", being the last one a suffix widely used across Guatemala that means "place with abundance of" and you will be delighted, especially with some jocotes en miel, which is like a jocotes preserve made with panela (a solid piece of boiled and evaporated unrefined sugar cane juice, also known as rapadura and piloncillo, among other names).

If you would like to learn about the whole process involved in coffee production, while in Jocotenango a visit to the Cultural Center La Azotea is a must. The center includes a small coffee plantation, an equestrian club, a museum dedicated to the customs and costumes of the villages nearby, a museum dedicated to the Mayan music and musical instruments, and of course, a museum dedicated to the coffee industry in the region.

In the town of Jocotenango we can also find clay pottery, being the specialty in this field, the reproduction of fruits in big sizes, piggy-banks in the form of owls (for good luck), butterflies and birds. They also make fine wooden fruits.
A few kilometers away from Jocotenango, we will find San Antonio Aguas Calientes, which has a beautiful handicrafts market. The specialty in this town is the textiles, which are acknowledged all over the country for the high quality and beautiful designs.
The central square is lovely. You will see there a public washing fountain, whose circular and silent tanks keep the secrets of the women that come to wash their family's clothes and talk...

The most popular customs are related with religious festivities, which in addition to the usual paraphernalia, includes Pepian, one of the most traditional dishes in this region. Despite the long list of ingredients, the preparation is not complicated, so I promise to translate into English one of my proved and approved recipes to post it here this week.
Once again, my mouth is watering thinking about the gastronomical feast this unique dish means.
And, why not? Let me guide you to Parramos (a small town that doesn't belong to Sacatepequez, but is close enough to be included in our visit) to enjoy a succulent home made meal at La Posada de mi Abuelo, a cozy hostal in the middle of a coffee plantation.

San Lucas Sacatepequez

On the Pan American Highway, right on the crossroad to Antigua Guatemala we will find one of the most popular family outings: San Lucas Sacatepequez, or as locals call their town: The Door to the Guatemalan West.

The weekends' fair in San Lucas is the place where we Guatemalans from the city and surroundings go to satisfy some of our cravings for typical food, specifically for what we call "antojitos" (snacks); among my favorites: sweet corn atol (atol is a hot and thick beverage that can be sweet or salty, depending on the main ingredient or toppings), tostadas (fried corn tortillas covered with guacamol, or ground black beans, or fresh tomato sauce, all of them garnished with dried cheese and chopped parsley), charcoal roasted corn with salt, lime juice and red pepper powder, hand made black corn tortillas (my daughter's favorite) with  fresh string-like cheese (and lorocos when in season), and typical candies (different from those we found in Amatitlan), such as preserved yams, figs, chilacayotes, oranges, jocotes (hog plums), manzanilla, and many more!

 

My very own (and proud to show) chilacayote version!

To give you a better idea of what this fair is all about, I invite you to click on this video, which I am posting with the authorization of its creator, Luis Valenzuela, a young talented Guatemalan TV producer.

As part of the Guatemalan history, San Lucas Sacatepequez is much more than just a colorful fair. It is actually a town proud of its traditions, as they show every October 18th., when they celebrate a festival honoring Saint Luke, the saint patron. As I mentioned last Friday, the Christianity introduced during the colonial times combined with the local ancient Maya beliefs have turned out into unique expressions of faith and one of the highlights of this festival is the Dance of the Moorish and Christians, a dramatic representation of  old battles between these two groups.

I am not able to find the precise words to explain the dance and ceremony but, thanks to our good fortune and a little bit of perseverance,  I found another video also produced by Luis Valenzuela, which I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Amatitlan Lake

 Photos in this page by galasdeguatemala.com, used with authorization.  

If yesterday you enjoyed the view from the Naciones Unidas park, today I am sure you are going to enjoy this close-up approach and why not, a boat ride around the beautiful Amatitlan lake. I am happy to know that an ongoing, ambitious and well planned rescue project by the Authority for the Sustainable Management of Lake Amatitlan and its Basin will preserve this important natural resource and recreational area.

I am not sure about the origin of the name, but I learned in school that Amatitlan means Land of Amates and for me, it has to be true because there are lots of amate trees in the forests surrounding the lake. 

The Amatitlan lake is the fourth largest water body in Guatemala, located only 32 kilometers to the south of Guatemala City at an altitude of 1,188 meters above sea level. The lake consists of two basins connected by a narrow constriction, where a dry dock was constructed to let the railway pass through.

Along its history, the lake has been used in other multiple ways. In pre-Columbian days, it was a place for rituals where offerings were deposited. During the colonial times, the lake was a center of fisheries and its catchment area was the most important site of production of cochineal, which was the main product for export when industrial chemicals had not yet replaced the natural dye.

Today, Amatitlan and the surrounding valleys, mountains and nearby volcanoes present a unique landscape, making the area a recreation park that offers plenty of activities for adults and kids. Typical food such as fried mojarras (a fresh water white-meat fish), and typical candies such as the unique pumpkin seeds-based marzipan (a recipe from the colonial times where the traditional almonds were substituted by local ingredients) are a must when visiting this area. And if you don't believe me, try this simple recipe; I am sure you will love it!

Combine together: 2 pounds of pumpkin seeds, peeled and ground (how fine or coarse, it will depend on your preference for texture), 2 pounds of sugar, 4 cups of milk, and 1 cinnamon stick. Cook at medium heat and, stirring occasionally bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to the minimum and keep cooking stirring constantly, until it becomes a soft paste. Remove from heat and extend the paste in a layer of about 1 inch thick. Let it cool and cut in squares. To preserve the marzipan, in case you have leftovers or make a batch to share with friends, pack every piece with parchment or waxed paper as it is shown in the small photo above and to the left. In Amatitlan, we also find this marzipan in those small, round, wooden boxes and the trick to eat it is to break  the cap in half and use it as a spoon. Do I wish I was there? Si pues!

Before we finish our visit to Amatitlan, I want to share with you more music, in this case, not the traditional marimba but another rhythm very popular in Guatemala: Salsa. Click the video and enjoy!

Passing Under the Torre del Reformador

To be fair, I am going to start today thanking Maynor Mijangos from Galas de Guatemala, because in addition to let me use his photos, he mentioned this blog in his newsletter yesterday and as a result, this blog has two new followers and I am more excited than ever to continue guiding you through this journey. Thanks again Maynor!

As I mentioned yesterday, Guatemala City is kind of an spiral and that is why the zone that follows zone 4, is the 9, which is surrounded by zone 10 (to the East), zone 8 (to the West), and zone 13 (to the South).

One of the most notorious landmarks of Zone 9 is the Tower of the Reformer (Torre del Reformador) built in 1935 to commemorate the 100th. birthday of Justo Rufino Barrios, former president of Guatemala acknowledged for the numerous reformations he introduced to the country. This 75 meters steel structure resembles the Eiffel Tower, only you can drive underneath since it was built right over a crossing of roads.

Originally conceived as a residential area, Zone 9 is now in the process to become a commercial one since many of the big houses have been transformed into offices and some others have been demolished to make the space suitable for large buildings. Despite this, we still can see in the area beautiful gardens, ample boulevards with trees and nice sidewalks.

Photos in this page by galasdeguatemala.com, used with authorization.

Almost in the mid part of this zone we find the Plaza España (Spain Square), which shows the fountain built as a memorial to King Carlos III of Spain, originally located in the Constitution Square. My best memories about this place are the ceviches we used to buy some Saturdays, right on the street. Let me tell you, to-die-for! In case you are wondering what a ceviche is, my best explanation is a simple yet delicious recipe (I wish I had a photo to share):

Ingredients: 

4 cups (approx. 2 lbs) salad size shrimps, peeled and clean (or fish like mahi-mahi in small cubes)

2 cups of fresh Roma-type tomatoes, diced

1 cup of fresh onion, diced

1 cup of fresh cilantro (in Guatemala is called culantro), roughly chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (in Guatemala we use crushed Chiltepes)

2 cups of fresh lime juice (approx. 12 limes). Here is very important to clarify that in Spanish we call limón to the limes; I recommend you not to use lemons because the flavor is not the same.

Salt and pepper

Optional: 1/2 cup of ketchup and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

Preparation:

Blanche the shrimps in boiling water for 3 minutes, transfer them to a bowl with icy water to stop the cooking process. Drain well.

Return the shrimps to the bowl and add the lemon juice. Let stand covered in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Add the rest of the ingredients, season with salt and pepper, mix well, cover again and put it back in the fridge for another hour or so. Do not leave it in the fridge for too long as it may become soupy.

Serve with plain or salty crackers and a cold Gallo beer (may be available under the brand Famosa). Cheers!