Salsa cruda is red, white and green, just like a Mexican flag.

 In a molcajete grind

• three serrano chiles (minus seeds)
• two cloves of garlic
• a pinch of orégano,
• salt and pepper to taste

Add

• three chopped tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp. of chopped white onion
• 2 Tbsp. of lime juice and mix.

Finish with some sprigs of cilantro.
This recipe is from ‘Los Cebollines’, a Mexican restaurant, in la Ciudad de Guatemala (Guatemala City)

The Back Story

We were running through the money. For some reason we thought 3000Q would be enough for the entire time we were in Guatemala and it was almost gone!

Part of this was my fault. At the main city market I spent 275Q on a silver locket and some old coins, ‘reals’. (I called the jewelry I made from these pieces ‘Mayan Journey’.)

After that intense shopping/bargaining experience we were both starving and selected ‘Cebollines’ (Mexican food!) from our guide book.

Only now we had to find the place, making our way along the crowded streets of Guatemala City. On the roads the city buses ran amok, red and smoking, and vendor stands took up most of the sidewalks.

Enroute I spotted a glass case containing patisseries and we dashed in. The store was tiny, only one person wide. We bought an apple pie and a custard-filled cake, also juice and yogurt for the next day’s breakfast. The owner approved, “nice breakfast!”

Further along we passed a MacDonald’s, which had a guard with a machine gun; and then a clothing store with lots of cheap stuff on sale and also a guard, this one with a bayonet.

The narrowness of the sidewalks meant we were walking single file in between the stalls and stores, and wouldn’t have been able to see the restaurant if it had been right in front of us. Finally we came to a mall. Al got out the map to check if Cebollines was nearby; meanwhile I turned around and there it was, just across the street.

Inside it was bright and cheerful, the waiters wearing chile pepper ties. We had ice cold beers — the beers so cold they flaked ice!

One of the waiters made salsa cruda for our totopes right in front of us, so tasty we made him give us the recipe.

The salsa cruda went with our quesadillas along with side bowls of guacamole and sour cream. Then we consumed chicken pastor tacos and a bean, corn and red pepper salad. Fabulous but pricey – another 200Q gone…