Q'eqchi' Kitchen · Turkey Soup
Kak'ik (Turkey Soup)
Photo: AnnieLuCh / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kak'ik was formally declared part of Guatemala's national intangible cultural heritage in 2007, an official recognition of its status as one of the country's most treasured Maya dishes.
A deep-red broth built on charred tomatoes, dried chiles, and achiote, simmered with turkey and finished with samat (Mexican coriander) and mint. Market cocinas in Cobán ladle it over white rice with a wedge of lime and torn corn tortillas.
Why it's made this way: Cobán, the Alta Verapaz capital, remains a stronghold of Q'eqchi' Maya culture, and turkey — raised in the region long before Spanish contact — is still kept in nearly every rural dooryard.
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Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries.
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