- [Announcer] "Travels and Traditions" is made possible by Chemex Coffee Makers.

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- I'm Burt Wolf.

- And I'm Nicholas Wolf.

- In this series of "Travels and Traditions" shows we will be traveling around the world, bringing you stories from some of our favorite restaurants.

- I'm very excited to join my dad and continue the legacy of "Travels and Traditions."

- I'm kind of excited myself.

(gentle upbeat music) "Travels and Traditions with Nicholas Wolf" is a series of programs in which Nicholas travels around the world discovering what people eat, why they eat it, and how their classic dishes are prepared.

Warning, these are not programs you should watch on an empty stomach.

- For those of you who missed the day your geography teacher covered Guatemala, it is located in Central America, just below Mexico.

The history of Guatemala goes back over 4,000 years, back to the beginning of the Mayans.

The Mayans were an ancient, advanced civilization who built giant temples, a sophisticated writing system, and there are rumors that they came up with the first Sunday brunch buffet.

I love the Mayans.

Today, over six million Mayans live in Guatemala, speaking over 20 Mayan languages, and living in nearly the same areas as their ancestors.

They grow the same crops, corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers, and they pretty much cook the same dishes as the ancient Mayans.

Their commitment to family and community can be found in a common saying that translates as, "What's Mayan is yours."

In 1524, the country was taken over by Spanish conquistadors who changed the saying to, "What's yours is Mayan."

The Spanish introduced foods like dairy products, olive oil, and garlic.

Garlic was the most important because it helped scare away the vampires.

The Spanish ruled Guatemala for about 300 years and their influence is everywhere.

In 1821, Guatemala became a fully independent country.

(upbeat music) Pizza is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the cuisine of Guatemala.

(scene swooshing) However, 25 miles south of Guatemala City is the world's biggest and hottest pizza oven, standing at over 8,000 feet tall, and reaching internal temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Well, that's not completely true.

It's not a giant pizza oven.

It's the Pacaya volcano.

The Pacaya volcano is one of the few erupting volcanoes open to the public, and it's been around for over 20,000 years, but it doesn't look a day over 19,000.

The hike starts out pretty easy and gets harder as you go.

You can walk or ride a horse.

(upbeat music) Along the way, there are scenic views of Guatemala's other volcanoes.

(upbeat music continues) It is about a 90 minute hike to the lava at the top.

What makes Pacaya so popular, aside from the pizza at the top, is the fact that the lava doesn't move very fast and that's a good thing for people like us trying to climb it.

Once you reach about 5,000 feet, the trail changes from dirt path to a vast lava field and you're on foot the rest of the way.

(upbeat music continues) David.

- Hey, nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

All right, I can't say I've ever cooked a pizza on a volcano, so you have to walk me through it.

- Yeah, this is Pizza Pacaya, only in the world.

- What do we start with?

- Start with tomato sauce here.

- All right, beautiful.

- Pizza is crusty.

Crusty here in volcano.

- Get the cheese on there.

- Yeah, this cheeses mozzarella.

- [Nicholas] Beautiful.

- And I have other cheeses, this case.

- All right, heavy-handed with the cheese, I like that.

- Yeah, it's full of cheeses.

What do you prefer the toppings?

- Let's go salami, prosciutto.

- Chorizo.

- Si.

(chuckling) (upbeat music) You got the spicy.

- Ah, jalapenos.

Yeah.

No tomato.

- We could throw a couple fresh tomatoes on there.

Take a close look at the toppings.

No pineapple in sight.

- No pineapple, no.

I have four years working here.

Two pizzas in four years with pineapple.

- It's a disgrace to the Italians.

- Yeah.

- All right, David, here you go.

- Thank you.

- Best part about it, you don't have to pay for gas or coal or nothing.

Volcano does all the work.

(metal door clanking) (upbeat music continues) This is good stuff.

- Are you hungry?

- Yeah, of course.

I burned so many calories on the way up here.

(David chuckling) - [David] Okay, moment.

- Sizzling.

The moment of truth.

(David laughing) Wow.

- Little rocks, eh?

- That crunch, that crunch.

- Yes, crunch.

- It's from that lava, it's so hot, it just makes a amazing crust at the bottom.

It's gonna sound cliche, but there's an earthy taste to it too.

(upbeat music) (motor humming) Even on the roads of Guatemala, no one uses their turn signals.

Tuk tuk, tuk tuk, tuk tuk.

In France, a meal is not complete without a piece of bread, however, here in Guatemala, a meal is not complete without a tortilla.

Here in the mountain village of Chichicastenango lives a Mayan family famous for their skilled craftsmanship.

Today, a Guatemalan historian is going to walk me through how the family's authentic tortillas are made.

Moises, what makes a Mayan tortilla a Mayan tortilla?

- We have three ingredients basically that we use to make a Mayan tortilla.

We have, for example, water.

We have limestone, and of course corn.

If you have a girlfriend and you want to marry her, your mom, she's going to call her and she is going to do a test for her.

She must to make a perfect tortilla like the one that she's doing it, and then she is going to taste it.

- By hand.

- By hand.

- No tortilla press, no cheating.

- No press, nothing, just hands.

And if she makes a perfect tortilla, then you can marry her.

- She's the one.

- And then she's going to take you to her father, and then he's going to give you a big trunk, an ax, and you must to cut it.

If you cut it, you're the right for her.

If not, you cannot get married.

- It's not the glass slipper, it's the tortilla.

- [Moises] The tortilla.

- [Nicholas] There you go.

- You know that the best tortillas are the ones that actually you take it directly here from fire.

- Straight off fire.

- Straight off fire.

- All right, how do I do this?

- You just put, yep, just take one.

Then you can put a little bit of salt in it.

- Make a little salt taco here.

- Like a little salt taco, and then you can just taste it, and the flavor that you can get really when you combine salt and corn, it's so tasty that you understand why.

in Europe, people, they eat bread, but in Guatemala we do tortillas.

- It's a very rich, smoky flavor to it when it comes right off the stove.

- [Moises] Yeah.

- Getting engaged by making a tortilla sounds a lot more cost-effective than buying a diamond ring, and not to mention tastier.

Before leaving, I made sure to check out the authentic Mayan masks they have on display.

This one over here is especially scary because it looks like my English teacher.

(upbeat jazzy music) (upbeat playful music) Licor Marrón is a chocolate cooperative that uses the same techniques as the ancient Mayans did thousands of years ago.

Guatemala is considered the birthplace of chocolate, so it's fair to assume they know what they're doing.

The beans are taken out of the pod and dried in the sun.

They are ground into a powder.

The powder can be used as is or mixed with a liquid.

Is this the same way the ancient Mayans would've done it?

- Yeah, it is the same process.

And after this, we separate the seed of the shell.

This process is by hand and one by one.

- So no machinery involved?

- No, no use machine, only by hand.

- And this 100% pure.

- It's 100%.

- All right.

It's pure cacao.

- Is it good?

- It's not sweet.

- All right, let me try it.

- It's very good.

- Hmm.

That's very rich, but no sugar, no milk, - No sugar and no milk.

- So it's like an ancient Mayan M&M.

- Mayan M&M.

The seed is antidepressive and relieve the stress, to reduce the cholesterol, and we produce anatomy, serotonin, and dopamine.

- So I can tell my doctor I'm eating healthy chocolate.

- Yes.

- So how does it become chocolate from this?

- Okay, the next process is the grinding.

Normally we put the seed here like this.

And grinding.

- [Nicholas] All by hand.

- All by hand, no use machine.

Only this, the Mayan machine.

- Can I give it a try?

- Yes.

- So these are how?

- No moment.

- All right, wait, show me how it's done.

- Your hand here and one.

- All right.

And if I do it long enough, I'll get a Mars bar?

- For one bar?

(Nicholas chuckling) Okay, we put the seed under this, under... - Like that?

- Like this.

And now you can taste the paste.

It's 100% cacao.

- I'm gonna need some milk and sugar in that.

- [Chocolate Maker] Reduce the bitter.

- [Nicholas] Next she explained the different types of chocolates they made, but I had a hard time following.

- The semis with chocolate contain 50% cacao, 35% (indistinct), 5% milk, and 10% (indistinct) chocolate.

For example base here, coffee, coconut, cinnamon, almond, ginger, and lemon.

We also make chocolate whiskey.

- I was very hungry that day, so let's get to the point.

Can I try one of these?

Which one's your favorite?

- Okay, you can try, this is bitter chocolate with coconut.

And this is bitter chocolate with cranberry.

- All right, let try the cranberry.

It's better than the Swiss, I'll tell you that.

- It's very soft.

It's very good.

- Yeah, it's smooth.

It just melts in your mouth, and it's not overly sweet or overly sour.

It's like a perfect middle ground.

- It's perfect chocolate.

(upbeat music) - La Esquina del Sabor is probably one of the most chicharrones places in Guatemala city.

Well, now I better explain to you what chicharrones is.

Chicharrones is your cardiologist's worst nightmare, fried pork skin.

So in the back here they have this big cauldron of melted lard and they cook the pork skin in here 'cause it gives it a meaty texture instead of cooking it in a vegetable oil or a seed oil.

- [Cook] We're going to put some orange juice.

- [Nicholas] Fresh squeezed orange juice, just before it's done, all right, I've never seen that before, I like it.

Little pork fried juice.

- Yeah.

- How do you know when they're done?

- You see?

- The bubbles on top.

- The bubbles is because- - It's ready, okay.

- Yeah.

- Whoo.

Final seasoning, little bit of barbecue rub.

- [Cook] Yeah.

- Oh, I smell that orange, that orange juice, whoo!

Mmm.

Tortillas are not doing it for me anymore.

Chicharrones is the new way to serve your guacamole, and that crunch, ooh, that's mighty good.

(upbeat music) Before coming to Guatemala, I made a couple phone calls and asked the locals where I should go eat.

Clio's, which is a French fusion restaurant, was on everyone's list.

The place opened in 2015 and is owned by a brother and sister, Olivia and Roberto de la Fuente.

So what inspired you guys to start a restaurant?

- Our grandmother, she always was cooking.

- We were always very close to farming.

- [Nicholas] Olivia and Roberto decided to show me their Guatemalan twist on a classic French dish, sous vide duck.

They season it with ground cumin, coriander, fennel, and a pinch of pepper.

- And cheese as well.

- Okay, now the sear.

They cook it skin-side down on an open flame to get the flavor, and then to the flat top where we get that crispy duck skin.

Meanwhile, Olivia's preparing homemade sweet potato puree, which is just a fancy way to say mashed potatoes.

So here's where we divert a little from the classic French recipe.

What type of chocolate are you using?

- Well, it's 70% chocolate.

And this is a mixture of sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, and dried chilies, chili guaca, chili casa, and main ingredients on a mole.

- And is this your creation, the sauce?

- It's actually a reinterpretation of local sauce with a French technique.

Okay, I think we're done to plate.

You can see it gets a good sear.

- Beautiful.

- Medium.

- Pink inside.

- Pinkish, yeah.

- Crispy on the outside.

- Yes.

Olivia can now plate it.

- Chocolate sauce.

- So we're gonna finish it with a little- - Finish it off with that chocolate.

(Olivia speaking indistinctly) And we are gonna end it with the cacao nibs.

- And now the best part, the flame thrower.

- Yeah.

- [Nicholas] Does it add to the flavor, or is it just the look cool?

- It just the look and the smell.

So you wanna try it?

- Let me dig in here.

(Nicholas speaking French) As the French would say it, right?

But that's beautiful.

I would never guess chocolate and duck to work, but it does, I cannot say anything about it.

It works, it's a great dish.

- Thank you.

- You guys killed it.

- Thank you.

- Before I left, Roberto and Olivia showed me their secret cheese factory.

Into the cheese dungeon we go.

- Welcome to our cheese cave.

- All right.

This is not the room for the lactose intolerant here.

- Not at all.

- What type of cheeses you got in here?

- We're actually ripening, we do like European-style cheese and we're gonna test to see if this one is ready to go for sale.

It's blue cheddar.

- [Nicholas] It's the cheese tasting machine.

- Yeah, there we go.

- Beautiful.

Smells like blue cheese.

- It is very meaty.

Watch out, it's a little sharp on the point.

- It's strong, that's a forte.

- Yep, yep.

- That's a great flavor though.

(upbeat music) The city of Antigua was built in 1549 as the capital of Guatemala.

It was the colonial headquarters of all of Central America, but an earthquake in 1773 flattened the place, so the capital was moved to Guatemala city.

Some of the original historic buildings survived the earthquake and many others have been rebuilt.

A lot of Antigua's history is shaky.

One of the buildings that is still standing is Casa Santo Domingo.

It's a hotel and a museum with a fabulous restaurant and the chef has a suspiciously tall hat that may or may not have ratatouille inside.

All right, Chef, next dish.

Looks like you got some wild salmon there.

- Yeah, we have a salmon.

- Show me how it's done.

- Okay.

We start with the- - Fish broth.

- [Chef] Yes, but use it for the risotto.

- [Nicholas] Onions, olive oil.

- Always olive oil.

- All right.

- [Chef] We use that with- - [Nicholas] The aromatics, we're putting it here.

- A touch of garlic.

We need a little bit of olive oil, a little bit more.

The risotto we precook.

We put some wine on here because if you don't put wine, you put wine here.

I love to make risotto.

This is one of my favorite dishes to made and to- - To eat too.

- To eat too.

- It's a win-win.

- It's time to- - Put the risotto in.

- The risotto had it.

We precook the risotto.

And mix.

The first time you have to put some, a little bit of salt.

Not too much.

Little bit like this.

I start with the stock, this stock.

- And we're letting the stock cook down now?

- Yes.

With risotto, you have to mix.

- [Nicholas] So it doesn't clump up.

- Mm-hmm.

When the stock- - Reduces.

- Reduce, you have to add a more stock.

- All right, I'm grabbing a tasting spoon too.

- Very good.

- Don't leave me out on this.

- Very good, it's very good.

- It's my favorite part.

- Now, need more flavor.

- Whoo!

- It's very good.

- That's good already.

Next, chef preps the filet.

Salt, pepper.

- Mm-hmm.

We have to need to put the salmon like this.

- [Nicholas] Skin down.

(pan sizzling) - Add a little bit of butter.

- Butter.

- Put it here.

Maybe it's too much, but.

- [Nicholas] Baste the salmon.

- It's for tasting salmon, I will cook in that way like this.

- Butter-baste the salmon, beautiful.

(spoon clonking) - Have to do like this.

(spoon clonking) This skin is already.

- [Nicholas] Check the skin, make sure it's crusty.

- It's crusty, yeah.

Other side.

(pan sizzling) Right here.

In puree, we have a sweet peas, mint, basil, parsley.

- Vegetable puree.

- Yeah, vegetable.

Now we have a very nice color.

- [Nicholas] And let it cook down.

- Yes, a little bit of salt.

The risotto is almost ready.

We have to- - Let the flavor simmer down.

- Let the flavor- - Condense.

- A little bit of butter and some cheese.

Okay, the risotto is ready.

Have to do it like this.

The sweet peas.

- Bring it over.

- But the risotto, put it in a dish, beautiful dish.

Risotto is very- - Very pretty.

- Very pretty, eh.

And the salmon now.

Put on the risotto.

This is lemon butter - Torch to melt the butter.

- Melt the butter.

Just a little bit like this.

- Beautiful.

Just like a steak.

- Just like a steak.

Put some local greens.

- [Nicholas] Garnish there on top.

- And that's it.

- Chef, if it tastes anything close to how it looks, you got a good dish going.

- [Chef] Yeah, I know.

Do you wanna try?

- Let's go.

Let's dig in.

Hmm.

- It's okay?

- Many chefs would say a cheesy risotto and fish wouldn't go together, but what can I say?

You did it right.

- Very good.

- It's a good dish.

(upbeat music) One of the most interesting steakhouses I've ever been to is Hacienda Real here in Guatemala City.

The architecture is fascinating with little hand-painted tiles covering the walls, and most importantly, there's a bar, just focused on selling tequila.

And as soon as I'm old enough to drink it, I'll come back here.

So he puts that fat side down so it renders.

- Exactly, so that's actually going to give all the flavor to that piece of meat.

The reason why they're cooking it like this, that is a special recipe, like the secret recipe of Hacienda Real.

So they have like a special sauce actually that they put.

- What's in the sauce?

(interpreter speaking in Spanish) (chef speaking in Spanish) - [Interpreter] Tomatoes, onions.

- He's not gonna give us the secret ingredients.

- I don't think so 'cause actually he's like laughing, you see?

- He's laughing, he's smirking, tomatoes, onions, and a few other things, yeah.

- Yeah, just a little bit of salt, you know.

- Some chefs say that the less you touch it, the better it'll be, but I see you constantly moving it around.

Tell me about that.

- He learned that you must to put it in the fire on every side so you will keep it more with flavor.

- Cooks evenly.

- Yeah, exactly.

- It's ready?

- It's ready.

- Look at that.

- That's delicious.

- Ooh, he is going with the sideways cut.

- Yeah, that's amazing.

(Chef speaking in Spanish) - [Nicholas] Mayo, perfect, look at that.

Beautiful medium there, and then the fat strip there, look how it rendered down.

It was huge before, now it's tiny.

Mmm.

(chef speaking in Spanish) - Like it?

- It's 11 o'clock, but it's never too early for steak, Chef.

Beautiful charcoal and the fat rendered down perfectly.

Cooked beautifully.

Did a great job.

- Gracias, gracias, Chef.

- [Chef] Gracias.

(upbeat music) Senora Pu is a Mayan descendant who opened her own restaurant that serves the authentic dishes of the Mayans.

The ancient Maya ruled Guatemala about 4,000 years ago, so that means the dishes she's cooking are also about 4,000 years old.

It's nice to have a family recipe that predates the fall of Rome.

(upbeat music continues) Can you tell me about your heritage, your Mayan heritage?

(Chef speaking in foreign language) - Gracias.

Falls right off.

Wow.

I'm ready to go build the pyramids.

I hope you enjoyed our trip to Guatemala and that you'll join us next time for what's cooking, right here on your local PBS station.

I'm Nicholas Wolf.

- [Burt] But wait, there's more.

For daily reels featuring interviews, stories, and recipes filmed during these shows, visit NicholasWolfTV on Instagram, or BurtWolfTV on YouTube.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Travels and Traditions" is made possible by Chemex Coffee Makers.

Makers have scientifically-designed coffee makers and filters since 1941.

Pure design, pure flavor, Chemex.

And by Artrepreneur, a global platform for artists, empowering artists to succeed, and connecting art lovers, designers, and collectors with curated works.

Artrepreneur.com.

And by YP Foundation, helping those in need through education and improving life skills.

Guided by the principles of good deeds, charity and public welfare, YP Foundation.

And buy Five Star Travel, Inc.

in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Since 1985, Five Star Travel has been developing and delivering detailed itineraries for trips, cruises, and vacations to destinations around the world.

Five Star Travel, Inc.

(gentle music)