COOKING WITH LOVE
by Dianne Carofino food photos: Rudy A. Girón
PROFILE
Carole Wilson Lewis
C
arole Wilson Lewis is one of many Guatemalan food lovers who enjoyed traditional Guatemalan meals as they were growing up but today do not know how to prepare it themselves. Therein lies the problem: how to learn to prepare traditional Guatemalan food in today’s decidedly untraditional world. Carole recounts that, as a child, she loved to spend time in her grandmother’s kitchen. During that time, she says, the family cook held a respected and full-time position, not only in her grandmother’s home, but in many Guatemalan homes. The cook’s position needed to be full time, because food preparation was so time consuming. Carole remembers that when she was very young, the cook still went to the Guatemala City mercado by horse and carriage. Then, when 64 » revuemag.com
the food arrived home, it took hours of preparation before the wonderful meals flowed out of the kitchen. Although her grandparents built one of the first modern homes in Guatemala, designed by a protégé of the well-known French architect Le Corbusier, Carole’s grandmother insisted upon building a poyo into her kitchen. There, alongside her modern appliances, the traditional poyo burned coals on its surface. On top of these coals, meat and a variety of vegetable were boiled together, producing the delicious broth of a cocido. A dos fuegos was used to produce a roasted meal. Food would be placed in a pan on top of the coals of the poyo. Another pan, also with coals in it, would be placed on top of the first, providing heat from both top and bottom. Preparation of tortillas would, of