Guatemalan Cuisine: Fiambre (All Saints’ Day)
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On November first, Fiambre is served in Guatemalan homes, this is a traditional food eaten every year on November 1 and 2. It’s a salad, served chilled, and may be made up from over 50 ingredients.
Guatemala, being a very religious country and like many other Catholic countries, celebrates the Day of the Dead (Día de los Difuntos) and the All Saints Day (Día de los Santos). Fiambre started out from a tradition,mostly practiced by local ethnic groups, of taking dead family members their favorite dishes to the cemeteries for the Day of the Dead. As all different families brought food to the celebrations, they became mixed, eventually mixing them together to this all-encompassing salad. This is one of the best ways to describe Guatemala as a multi-cultural country. Fiambre is referenced even back in the late 1500’s.
This dish varies from family to family, recipes traditionally passed on to younger generations. Because of this, on the Day of The Dead, it is customary to share your fiambre with other families and relatives.
Ingredients usually include numerous sausages and cold cuts, pickled baby-corn and onion, beets, pacaya flower, different types of cheese, olives, chicken, and sometimes even brussels sprouts or shrimp. Part of the tradition is to prepare the salad all together as a family, since the vegetables have to be cut into small pieces and usually takes a long time.
There are different types of Fiambre:
- Fiambre Rojo (Red Fiambre, with beets)
- Fiambre Blanco (White Fiambre, without beets)
- Fiambre Desarmado (Deconstructed Fiambre, from the department of Jalapa)
- Fiambre Verde (Green Fiambre, vegetarian and no cold cuts)
Here are some pictures of the Fiambre my family shares every year, prepared by my grandmother with the help of everybody! The preparation starts the day before.
Kitty
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Comments (2)
Aura Amelia
April 20, 2013 at 10:02 pm
My grandmother used to tell me the history of the fiambre:
“There was a wealthy family in the small town, and every year (on November 1st) after going to the cemetery to bring flowers, food and prayers for the dead relatives. They invited friends and family for a feast in their house. The maid was in charge of cooking different dishes for the event, she prepared herself cooking the meats and vegetables, cutting cheeses and and cold meats ahead of time. When the maid was coming back from the cemetery, meet her boyfriend. Started talking to him and lost track of time. When she came back to the house, everybody was seated at the table waiting for the food to be served. In a rush she mixed all the cooked meats, cold cuts, cheeses and vegetables, tossed them and served to the guests, everybody was pleased with the meal and became a tradition during the day of the dead.
True or false… Nobody knows, but for me, fiambre is my favorite dish from Guatemala. And the memories of grandma!!! And the memories… Priceless
Kitty
April 21, 2013 at 11:13 am
Thank you for the great Story Aura! We love Fiambre too and this is one of those dishes that every family has a variation for preparing it… but for all it’s such a family tradition that always brings back memories!
Kitty