![\"fiambre](\"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-1281446068-fiambre-1024x678.jpg\")
\u201dI learned to make fiambre watching my grandmother and mom preparing it. How they would go about getting the ingredients together a few days before the special day,\u201d Jeannifer says. \u201dNow that my grandma is in heaven, making this gives me a connection to her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeannifer grew up in Guatemala City and moved to the United States at age 16. Making this traditional dish every year on Day of the Dead helps her pass on her homeland\u2019s religious and cultural traditions to the next generation in her family. \u201cMy Abuelita had an altar where she used to put flowers and candles,\u201d Jeannifer remembers. \u201dNow, we mainly prepare this dish on November 1 in memory of our loved ones in heaven. That\u2019s how we celebrate them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"Jeannifer](\"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Jennifer-Hernandez-and-grandparents-1024x675.jpg\")
According to lore, the dish \u2014 the word fiambre<\/em> in Spanish means \u201ccold cuts\u201d \u2014 came into existence because families traditionally visited their loved ones\u2019 graves every Nov. 1, and took their favorite foods while they prayed and told stories of the dead. Over time, the graveyard visitors started combining their meals, the tale goes \u2014 and the resulting concoction became the official dish of Guatemala\u2019s Day of the Dead celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fiambre is traditionally served at the annual feast in one giant platter \u2014 all the components layered together beautifully\u2014 or separately in a series of containers. There are four ways of making it: 1) fiambre rojo, like Jeannifer\u2019s recipe, which includes beets that give the entire dish a red hue; 2) fiambre blanco, without beets; 3) fiambre verde, without meat; and 4) fiambre desarmado or deconstructed, in which each ingredient is served separately, like a giant salad bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201dMy family\u2019s recipe is special and unique because each family finds their own flavors. So that means you can add and take out whatever your family\u2019s tastes desire. And this is ours,\u201d says Jeannifer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time-intensive, nostalgic meal is made just once a year, says Jeannifer. Each household works for days to marinate, cook, pickle and otherwise prep the average 50 items that go into the dish. To save time, \u201dI go to Mexican grocery stores in Chicago and buy a lot of the ingredients already prepared,\u201d Jeannifer says.<\/p>\n\n\n While she\u2019s at the Mexican tienda picking up items like al pastor-style pork, steak and other ready-to-serve foods, Jeannifer says she makes sure to always bring home a package of tostadas. That is how her daughter likes to eat fiambre. Sophia takes a smattering of her favorite meats and the curtido, the vinegar-cured cabbage and other vegetables garnish, and stuffs them into a tostada, says her mom. \u201cWe tell her that she likes to eat enchiladas Guatemaltecas,\u201d jokes Jeannifer.<\/p>\n\n\n Sophia\u2019s way of enjoying fiambre may not be traditional, but that\u2019s the point of this dish. Every family customizes the sprawling buffet of ingredients, tailoring the meal to include their favorite flavors, as well as those of their much-missed family members who are no longer with us. (For more on the healing connection between Day of the Dead food, drink and grief, read our interview with Mexican therapist Valentina Prida<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Jeannifer](\"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Jennifer-Hernandez-Sophia-mother-576x1024.jpg\")
![\"Fiambre](\"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Fiambre-ingredients-and-dish-576x1024.jpg\")
Ready to Make Guatemalan Fiambre for Day of the Dead?<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Fiambre,](\"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/iStock-1281446067-fiambre-800x530.jpg\")
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