Hispanic Heritage · Guatemala

Las Verapaces

Cobán · San Pedro Carchá · San Juan Chamelco · Tactic · Tucurú · Senahú

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Kaq'ik

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Explore the Verapaces through kaq’ik, a turkey soup associated with Q’eqchi’ Maya cooking. Its red broth brings tomato, achiote, chile, and aromatic herbs together in a bowl that is both clear and full of flavor.

La Gente

Herbs make this kitchen distinctive. Notice the relationship between the broth’s warm spices and its fresh green notes. The recipe explains a home preparation while leaving space for the regional ingredients and variations that give kaq’ik its identity.

Sabor

The Verapaces cook red and green at once. Achiote and tomato for the color, the cobanero chile for the smoke and the heat, and a handful of herbs in the pot, mint and cilantro and culantro, that no other Guatemalan broth uses together. Warm spices underneath. It is lighter than the pepián and hotter, and the heat is the point.

Spice DNA · Heat medium · Herb high · Smoke medium · Acid medium · Sweet low

Seasonings to explore

Sazón with Coriander and Annatto. The closest jar to achiote, which colors the broth.
Chipotle, ground. The honest stand-in for chile cobanero, which Badia does not sell and which is smoky in the same direction. Cobán would prefer the real thing and will understand.
Guajillo Pepper, whole dried. For the chile guaque in the recado.
Cloves, whole. Three.
Allspice, whole. Four.
Cinnamon Sticks. A short piece.
Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. In the recado. Adds a savory garlic base.
Cilantro flakes. For the day there is no fresh. The pot wants fresh, and mint, and culantro.

Badia does not sell the chile cobanero. Ask.

Cocina

Kaq'ik

Cobán's red turkey broth. Roast the vegetables, tie the herbs, color the pot, and let the turkey take its hour.

Serves 6

3 lb turkey legs or thighs, cut in large pieces
12 cups water
Salt
1 tbsp Badia Sazón with Coriander and Annatto, plus more for color
1 bunch cilantro, 1 bunch mint, and a few culantro leaves if you have them, tied together with cotton string
4 ripe tomatoes
6 tomatillos, husked
1 onion, halved
1 head of garlic, halved, or 2 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil at the blender
2 Badia Guajillo Peppers, stemmed and seeded, toasted and soaked
3 Badia Cloves, whole
4 Badia Allspice berries, whole
1 Badia Cinnamon Stick, 1 inch
½ to 1 tsp Badia Chipotle, ground, or chile cobanero to taste
2 green onions, chopped
Cooked white rice and tamalitos blancos, to serve

Start the turkey. Put the turkey in a large pot with the water, salt, the sazón, and the tied bundle of herbs. Bring to a boil, skim, and simmer 1 hour, until the meat is tender.
Roast. On a hot comal or heavy skillet, roast the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, and garlic until soft and blistered with black patches, 15 minutes. Toast the cloves, allspice, and cinnamon a few seconds beside them.
Grind. Blend the roasted vegetables, the peeled garlic or the minced garlic, the soaked guajillos, and the spices with 2 cups of the turkey broth until smooth. Strain into a bowl.
Color the pot. Lift out the herb bundle and discard it. Pour the strained recado into the pot. Simmer 15 minutes. Taste for salt. Add more sazón if the broth is not red enough; Cobán wants it red.
The chile. Stir in the chipotle or the cobanero. Start low. Cobán puts more on the table and lets each person decide.
Serve. A large piece of turkey in each deep bowl with plenty of broth, green onion over the top, a mound of white rice beside it to spoon in, and tamalitos blancos on a plate in the middle of the table. Cacao afterward if you are doing it right.

Pueblos de las Verapaces

Cobán · San Pedro Carchá · San Juan Chamelco · Tactic · Tucurú · Senahú · Lanquín · Cahabón · Chisec · Fray Bartolomé de las Casas · Salamá · Rabinal · Cubulco · San Jerónimo · Purulhá