In Guatemala, there’s a common saying, “A falta de pan, tortilla,” which translates literally to “In the absence of bread, tortilla,” and means, figuratively, “If you can’t get the best thing, take the next best thing.” It’s a snobbish and outdated aphorism, referring to a vestigial hierarchy of carbohydrates, to a time in which tortillas were eaten primarily by the country’s indigenous population and associated with poverty. Today, everyone in Guatemala eats tortillas, and, in any definition of the nation’s cuisine, they figure quite prominently—certainly more so than bread.
The tres tostadas, an appetizer, are finished with red onion, cilantro, and cotija cheese.
You’ll find tortillas at Claudia’s, in East Williamsburg, which was, until recently, a more casual café called C.Lo; its owners, the siblings Claudia and Mario Lopez, rebranded it as a full-service Guatemalan restaurant, with an expanded menu and new folk-art-inspired wall murals and upholstery. For a satisfying dish called tortillas montadas, small, thick, slightly sweet ones, blistered on a hot griddle, are smeared with smashed avocado, then piled high with a stewy scoop of carnitas, a shaggy hunk of brisket, or a spoonful of black beans and a generous segment of sweet plantain.
The chile relleno, stuffed with vegetables and fried in a buttermilk batter, is served with a side of rice and beans.
You’ll find bread at Claudia’s, too: each of the restaurant’s tamales comes with a tiny Hawaiian-style sweet roll, in addition to pickled red onion and jalapeño, and, at breakfast or brunch, a fried egg. Both are house-made, but the bun pales in comparison to the excellent tamal, which starts, of course, the way a tortilla does: with masa, a dough made from ground nixtamalized corn mixed with lard and water. For the tamal, the dense, starchy dough is steamed in a banana leaf, along with a bit of carnitas, brisket, or vegetables, a green olive or two, and a few capers—a perfect package on its own.
Masa shines at Claudia’s in several other dishes as well. For the huevos antigua, it’s steamed and sliced into thick rounds, two per order, each topped with a fried egg, mashed avocado, shards of chicharrón, red onion, and a splash of zesty chirmol, a traditional salsa made of charred tomatoes coarsely chopped with raw onion and mint. For a savory pastry called a doblada, it’s formed into a folded half-moon, like an empanada, stuffed with meat or vegetables, and deep-fried until its surface is bubbly.
Tortillas montadas (center), which the menu describes as Guatemalan tacos, come with mashed avocado and a choice of carnitas, brisket, or sweet plantain and black beans.
The rest of the menu tends not to distinguish itself, with a few exceptions. The chile relleno is fantastic, a buttermilk-battered poblano pepper with a lacily crisp exterior, filled with sofrito and vegetables and finished with a concentrated tomato sauce. The pollo campero, a crunchy filet of fried chicken served with a scoop of macaroni salad, is a respectable nod to Pollo Campero, the KFC of Guatemala, and you could do much worse than the churrasco, or skirt steak, which has a short-order simplicity, especially if you get it with yucca fries.
It’s disappointing, particularly in wintertime, that Claudia’s stews, an integral category of Guatemalan cuisine, are sadly bland and thin, lacking in heart and in flavor. Luckily, there’s another Guatemalan restaurant in Brooklyn that more than fills this gap: Ix, which opened in 2016, in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.
Banana-bread pudding is available at brunch and for dessert at dinner.
You could warm yourself up here without even setting foot through the door, by ordering a cup of sweet spiced cacao, or cocoa, from a takeout window that opens onto the street. (Some believe Guatemala to be the birthplace of chocolate.) But true nourishment awaits inside, in steaming bowls born of ancient Mayan recipes. The ruddy tomato-based hilachas features hearty shreds of brisket, creamy chunks of carrot and potato, green beans, and rice. The green jocón pairs the same vegetables with chicken instead of beef, and bathes them in a complexly layered broth, bright with tomatillo and cilantro. On the side: a wedge of lime, a bit of chopped raw onion, and, best of all, fresh tortillas. (Claudia’s dishes $6-$14. Ix dishes $7-$13.) ♦
2020-01-03 11:02:05Z
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/13/warming-up-guatemalan-style-in-brooklyn
CAIiEKRmKHkaAENvp1wD8iCuePEqGQgEKhAIACoHCAowjMqjCjCJhZwBMKDUywM
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Warming Up Guatemalan Style in Brooklyn - The New Yorker"
Post a Comment