Pepián

Name: Pepián
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Guatemala
Ingredients: 1.5 kg chicken pieces, bone in; 1.5 litres water; 1 whole onion, halved; 2 tsp salt, or to taste; 100 g pumpkin seeds (pepitas), hulled; 60 g sesame seeds; 4 whole dried guajillo chillies, stalks and seeds removed; 2 whole dried pasilla or ancho chillies; 4 whole tomatoes; 6 whole tomatillos, husked; 1 whole onion, quartered; 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled; 1 tbsp allspice berries; 1 whole cinnamon stick; 4 whole cloves; 2 tbsp lard or neutral oil; 400 g potatoes, peeled and halved; 200 g green beans, trimmed; 3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Guatemala's national stew, thickened with toasted seeds and chillies and warmed through with allspice

Origin: Guatemala

From the journey of Allspice.

Pepián is generally reckoned Guatemala's oldest surviving dish and its national one, and it belongs to a family of Mesoamerican stews thickened not with flour or dairy but with ground toasted seeds. The method is the point. Pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds are dry-toasted until they pop and darken; dried chillies are toasted alongside; tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, and garlic are charred whole on the comal; and the whole lot is ground together and let down with broth into a sauce that is dense, faintly gritty, and deeply savoury. It is the same technique that produces the Mexican pipián and, at greater complexity, the moles of Oaxaca. Allspice sits in the spice component alongside cinnamon and clove, and Guatemala is inside the tree's native range, so its use here is indigenous rather than borrowed. It supplies the warm note that stops a sauce made largely of toasted seed and charred chilli from reading as merely smoky. The dish is Maya in origin and was recognised as such formally: pepián was declared part of Guatemala's Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2007. It appears at weddings, at funerals, and at the fairs of the highland towns, and Chimaltenango in particular claims it. What distinguishes it from a mole is restraint. A mole may carry thirty ingredients; a pepián carries eight or nine and tastes more directly of each.

Ingredients

Meat

1.5 kg chicken pieces, bone in

Broth

1.5 litres water
1 whole onion, halved
2 tsp salt, or to taste

Toasted Base

100 g pumpkin seeds (pepitas), hulled
60 g sesame seeds
4 whole dried guajillo chillies, stalks and seeds removed
2 whole dried pasilla or ancho chillies

Charred

4 whole tomatoes
6 whole tomatillos, husked
1 whole onion, quartered
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled

Spices

1 tbsp allspice berries
1 whole cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves

Cooking

2 tbsp lard or neutral oil

Vegetables

400 g potatoes, peeled and halved
200 g green beans, trimmed

To Finish

3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Method

Simmer the chicken gently with the water, halved onion, and salt for 35 to 40 minutes until cooked. Lift out the chicken and strain and reserve the broth.
Dry-toast the pumpkin seeds in a heavy pan over a medium heat, stirring, until they puff and begin to pop. Tip out and cool.
Toast the sesame seeds in the same pan until golden, then the dried chillies for thirty seconds a side until they smell toasty and change colour slightly.
Char the tomatoes, tomatillos, quartered onion, and unpeeled garlic on a dry comal or under a hot grill until blackened in patches and soft. Peel the garlic.
Toast the allspice, cinnamon, and cloves briefly in the dry pan, then grind them to a powder.
Blend the toasted seeds, chillies, charred vegetables, and ground spices with about 400 ml of the reserved broth until as smooth as your machine will manage.
Heat the lard in a heavy pan and pour in the blended sauce. It will spit. Fry it, stirring, for 10 to 12 minutes until it darkens and thickens.
Let the sauce down with the remaining broth to a coating consistency, add the potatoes, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Return the chicken with the green beans and simmer for a further ten minutes until the vegetables are tender and the sauce coats a spoon.
Taste for salt, scatter with coriander, and serve with rice and tortillas.

Notes

The toasted seeds are the thickener and there is no substitute for them. Do not be tempted by flour. Guatemalan cooks vary the chillies freely; guajillo for colour and mild fruit, pasilla or ancho for depth. Chiles chilteped or cobán add smoke and heat if you want them. Beef or pork work by the same method with longer simmering. It is better on the second day and freezes well. Serve with white rice, tortillas, and nothing else. Pepián is not a dish that wants accompaniments.

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control