Today is the day of the dead. I've heard that in other parts of the country they fly giant kites today, but here the primary form of celebration seems to be eating an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink salad, Fiambre (fee-ahm-brey). This one was made and brought over to my house by the wife of Victor Hugo, who runs the computer lab I worked in/studied for my first six months here:
Having heard much about fiambre over the past few days from excited Guatemalans, I was both excited and a bit scared to dig in. I decided to try to identify ingredients as I ate. Here's the list I came up with:
boiled egg
pickles
green olives
asparagus
white cheese - crumbly/salty
white cheese - soft
cheddar/american cheese
pickled garlic
baby corn
pickled onion
lettuce
cauliflower
fava beans
beets
green onion
ham
some other cold cuts
radish
tomato
peas
sweet corn
carrots
green beans
beef
broccoli
pacaya
red pepper
blood sausage
at least two other kinds of sausage/chorizo
herbs (oregano? mint? others?)
brussel sprouts
chicken
some kind of unidentified light-colored veggie, turned bright pink by the beet juice
I am positive that I'm still missing at least five ingredients - of course, I only made it about halfway through before tucking the rest away for later, so who knows what secrets the second half holds. And I have to say, even after eating, I am still both excited and a little bit scared.
