Ponche Navideño

December: the month of posadas. If you have developed a friendship with any catholic families during your time in Xela, you’ll eventually be invited to participate in una posada: a nightly religious street procession in the run up to Christmas which ends with a visit to the home of one of the participating families. Ponche is a popular drink to be served at one of these gatherings. It’s the perfect drink ‘para quitar el frio’. In fact, that makes it perfect for any night in Xela.

Forget the packet version you’ll find in La Despensa. Impress friends in Guate and back home with this Christmas winter warmer. Here’s the alcohol-free version. You get to decide how much Quetzalteca to add!

Ingredients
One ripe pineapple

6 apples (local apples from the market will be fine, but watch out for the worms!)

2 cinnamon sticks

8 onzas of raisons (pasas)

8 onzas of prunes (ciruelas)

4 whole peppercorns (pimientas gordas)

1/8 of a teaspoon of salt

½ cup of sugar

6 cups of water.



All the ingredients can be bought from the market.

Instructions

1. Scrub the whole of the pineapple. Cut off the top and split in two horizontally

2. Finely chop the pineapple inside of the skin by scoring lines one way across then the other. Scrape out the chopped pIneapple and continue to dice into very small cubes. Divide the pineapple skin into four quarters and set aside, these will go into the ponche to add flavor

3. Peel the apples and finely chop avoiding the cores. put into a bowl filled with water to prevent the flesh from browning

4. Quarter the prunes removing any stones. I added whole raisons (they swell when cooked) but you might want to halve or quarter them

5. Add the water to a large pan and bring to boiling point

6. Add all the chopped pineapple (including the skins), the apples, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks and cook over a fairly low heat until the fruit is just about soft, stirring occasionally

7. Add the remaining ingredients; the prunes, raisons, sugar and salt and cook again until the fruit’s soft (about 5-10 minutes) stirring occasionally

8. When ready remove the pineapple skins and serve hot. This drink gets better over time as the flavors infuse. The fruit absorbs a lot of the water so you may need to keep topping it up with more water before you heat it up. Watch out for the peppercorns and cinnamon when serving.

Enjoy las festividades navideñas a la chapín.

Pea and Watercress Soup

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
• 1 medium potato, cut into small chunks
• 750ml vegetable stock
• 300g fresh peas (or frozen if out of season)
• 100g watercress
• leaves from 2 mint sprigs, plus extra to garnish
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1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then gently fry the onion and garlic for 5 mins or until soft. Add the potato, stock and 500ml water, then simmer for 7 mins until the potato is just cooked.
2. Scatter in the peas and watercress, stir, cover, then simmer for 3-4 mins. Add the mint leaves and blitz with a hand blender until smooth. Season to taste. Serve ladled into bowls, scattered with more mint, some cracked black pepper and a dollop of cream if desired.

Jane's roasted butternut squash, ginger and parnsip soup

What you'll need

3 tbsp olive oil

1 medium butternut squash

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp of finely grated ginger (about a thumb of ginger)

1 parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks

750ml chicken or vegetable stock

Maldon sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Fresh parsley to garnish

SERVES 4

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/gas 6/400°F. Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds and put into a roasting tin, skin side down. Score the squash and drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil onto the cut side and bake for about 30-40 minutes until soft and caramelised.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of oil in a large heavy-based pan and fry the onion gently until soft for about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, then add the parsnips, seasoning and stock — bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until tender. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool a little before peeling off the skin. Then add to the parsnip mixture and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if too thick add more stock and serve garnished with parsley.

I served with blue cheese, fresh bread and a glass of red wine: the perfect accompaniments. 

Spicy cauliflower soup

• Simple and delicious!
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• Ingredients
• 1 cauliflower
• 1 large onion 
• butter (a knob of)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric (heaped)
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander (heaped)
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin (heaped)
• 1.5 litres chicken stock (hot)

Method

1. Chop the onion roughly and break the cauliflower into florettes.
2. Melt the butter in a large heavy-based pan over a lowish heat and add the onion and cauliflower, allowing them to soften for a minute or two.
3. Add the turmeric, ground coriander and cumin and stir, cooking for a further minute or two.
4. Pour in the hot stock and allow to simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Blitz with a stick blender or food processor and serve with crusty bread, sour dough bread worked amazingly well.