Guatemalan Pepián de Pollo

The National Dishes Series

The fifth episode of the National Dishes Series — where a country gets picked at random and we cook their national dish while digging into a bit of history. This time: Guatemala.

Guatemala. The most populous country in Central America, with around 19 million people. They gave the world chocolate, Oscar Isaac, the chicken bus, and over 40% of the world’s cardamom — they overtook India as the largest producer. The name Guatemala comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and roughly translates to “place of many trees.” There are 37 volcanoes, three of which are still active. And over 40% of the population is indigenous Maya, with 22 Maya languages still spoken today alongside Spanish.

Pepián

Pepián is one of Guatemala’s oldest dishes — created by the Maya-Kaqchikel people, based in the Chimaltenango region in the western highlands. Before the Spanish arrived, this was a ceremonial dish, served at major religious and political rituals as an offering to the gods.

The original version was built around pepitoria — ground toasted pumpkin seeds — along with chiles and tomatoes. That seed paste is the backbone. It thickens the sauce, it gives it that distinctive nutty flavour, and it’s where the name comes from.

When the Spanish arrived in the 1500s the dish changed. Cinnamon, sesame seeds, garlic — all colonial additions, none of them native to the Americas. What you’re actually cooking when you make pepián is a fusion dish: pre-Columbian Maya seed-sauce technique, layered with ingredients the Spanish brought over. That combination stuck and became the version passed down through generations.

In 2007, Guatemala’s Ministry of Culture officially declared pepián as Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation — alongside three other pre-Columbian dishes: kak-ik (a turkey and chile broth from the Q’eqchi’ Maya), jocón (a green chicken stew from the Mam Maya), and plátanos en mole. All four are still cooked regularly across the country at family celebrations, All Saints’ Day, and there’s even a dedicated Festival Gastronómico de Pepián.

Verdict

Very rich sauce — the sesame and pumpkin seeds come through a lot, almost like it’s made from peanut butter in the way it coats your tongue. Very enjoyable, though quite one-note. It’s missing some acidity — no lime anywhere in the recipe, which was surprising, and I’d definitely serve some on the side. The avocado is a strange accompaniment given how fatty the dish already is — something fresher like a slaw or chunky salsa would make more sense. But the dish itself is excellent.