Original subtitles

[Lucia Barrios] If you go to the coast--

[clapping]

If you go to the jungle--

[clapping]

If you go to the highlands,

wherever you go in Guatemala,

you will always hear, you know, the clapping.

[clapping]

It's the heartbeat of the tortilla.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] You're in for a treat!

Eating a Guatemalan tortilla is an explosion of flavors.

[Lucia Barrios] I have tried tortillas

that have surprised me.

[Ana Silvia Monzón] Eating a tortilla right out

of the griddle

is one of life's pleasures.

It's part of what mothers teach their girls.

[Gaby Perdomo] There's a rich culture and history

around tortillas and corn.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] The tortilla is king in Guatemala.

[Bárbara Arroyo] It's part of who we are.

[Doña Feliciana Yaqui] That's how it's done.

[Narrator] Travel the world to rediscover

our most fundamental food.

And fall in love with bread all over again.

[♪ theme music plays].

[Narrator] Bienvenidos a Guatemala City.

The biggest, busiest,

most happening capital in central America.

Here, "Ladinos," with European mixed heritage

rub elbows with

over 20 indigenous groups of Maya ancestry.

And every corner and side street serves up

a complex mix of culture and flavor.

Would you look at that!

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] There is a cuisine that we eat in

Guatemala City which is a mix of the traditions were,

that were here already, before the Spaniards

and the customs and traditions that they brought.

[Narrator] Nicknamed, "The Land of the Eternal Spring,"

this small nation the size

of Tennessee has a whopping

360 microclimates, creating a rich array

of produce-centered food.

And at the center of it all, the tortilla.

The heart of every Guatemalan meal,

and maybe even the country itself.

In a restaurant high above the city streets,

one Guatemalan chef is on a mission to give the tortilla and

her country some long overdue reverence.

[Debora Fadul] There's just so much that

goes into making a tortilla.

Each step of the process is like a ceremony.

And for people here it's just, like,

"Oh tortillas? Yeah, that's easy."

That's where I say,

let's make it in a way that will make people value it.

My name is Debora Fadul, but everyone calls me Debbie,

so please go ahead and do so as well.

I am incredibly honored to have you here

in our restaurant today.

[Narrator] Head chef Debbie Fadul runs Diacá,

in a city with an emerging high end restaurant scene,

this tiny spot is a stand-out.

To get here, Debbie had to chart her own path.

[Debora Fadul] I went to Camille, an incredible

culinary school in Guatemala.

It's based on French cuisine and teaches French techniques.

But when I graduated,

I chose to stay in Guatemala instead of

leaving like everyone else.

I didn't want to leave Guatemala because

it's my home, the place I live in,

the place where my feet are planted.

[Narrator] And to Guatemalans,

nothing tastes more of home than the tortilla.

[Debora Fadul] Behind a tortilla there are many things involved.

There's culture, geography, nature, history.

You only note the true importance of something

when you understand how complex it is to create it yourself.

[Lucia Barrios] 10 years ago,

you would never hear of a trending restaurant

serving tortillas.

My name is Lucia Barrios.

And, uh, Guatemala for me, I think I have to say is my home.

Through documenting gastronomy,

I got to know it in a very deep way.

Debbie's restaurant is having a huge impact because

a lot of people are now paying attention to what she's saying.

It's impossible to talk about Guatemalan gastronomy

without talking about the tortilla,

because the tortilla is basically what we

eat every day, it's our bread.

[Debora Fadul] And in my home it was always tortilla over bread.

That's something that any Guatemalan will tell you,

the memory of seeing freshly made tortillas at home,

grabbing one while they're still making them,

sprinkling salt on it and eating it.

I'm salivating just thinking about it.

[Narrator] Ah, the tortilla.

The edible plate we know and love that cradles

your carne asada and envelopes your enchiladas.

It even has its own day of the week.

[Reporter] Today is National Taco Day.

[LeBron James] It's Taco Tuesday!

[Narrator] Tortillas have been pop culture

icons for decades.

But if you think the ones from your local drive thru are

the real deal, think again.

Guatemalan tortillas are smaller, thicker,

handmade with corn, and have a rich,

smoky flavor that takes some serious training to make.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] It is a wonderful tradition, uh,

that is simple, yet it takes a skill, uh, to make tortillas.

I am Amalia Moreno-Damgaard, I am a, an award winning author,

I am an entrepreneur, I am a, in Guatemala City

and it is such a pleasure to be in my homeland.

[Interviewer] It's impossible to talk about

the tortilla without doing that, is that true?

[Interviewer] Everybody starts to do it, when I ask

about it, the tortillas.

[Lucia Barrios] Yeah, because I feel like I just-- Yeah.

You know, I grew up like hearing this, you know.

[clapping]

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] But this is the right motion, right?

And that is an art form.

[Bárbara Arroyo] Not everybody can make a good tortilla.

I don't know how to make a good tortilla, unfortunately.

I wish I knew.

I've tried many times, but I've failed all the time.

[Bárbara Arroyo] Fortunately, there's Conny.

[rooster crowing]

[Conny Hernandez] Some people like the job.

Others don't.

If they don't like it, they won't learn.

I like making tortillas.

I like what I do, and I put all my love into it.

[Conny Hernandez] Mm-hmm.

[Conny Hernandez] I learned tortilla-making from my mom.

[Narrator] Six days a week, Conny Hernandez crafts her

country's most beloved food.

And her daughter Judith is by her side.

[Judith Hernandez] Well, she is my boss!

I just deliver the tortillas and help make them.

She pays me my wage. That makes her the tortillería boss.

[Narrator] Tortillas are flatbreads formed from masa,

a dough made with ground corn, water,

and salt.

Mix...

[Conny Hernandez] We add some water.

[Narrator] Knead...

[Conny Hernandez] We knead the masa thoroughly.

And we begin...

making tortillas.

[Narrator] And slap.

[clapping]

Finally throw it on the comal, aka the griddle,

and brown it to crispy-on-the-outside,

soft-on-the-inside perfection.

[Conny Hernandez] The more care you put into it,

the more people want your tortillas.

And it has to be a light color, as it gets your appetite going.

It gets people going, like, "Let's go to Mrs. Conny's!"

Hoping people don't go elsewhere, but Mrs. Conny's.

[Narrator] Tortillas are a female-forward art form

passed down through grandmothers and mothers and

for some, a decent way to make a living.

[Conny Hernandez] Since I am widowed without a husband,

it was hard providing for children by myself, so

my mom was like, "I won't continue with

the business, want to run it?"

And I agreed.

And I thank God for giving me a dignified job. An honest job.

It makes me proud to know I can be useful in many ways.

I figure I make around 500 tortillas.

[Judith Hernandez] I make a lot less.

I can only make around 300,

considering I go out on deliveries.

I'm practically carrying 200, or more than 200 tortillas.

So it's very heavy.

[Narrator] But don't you go worrying about Judith,

because those tortillas sell fast.

[clapping]

[Bárbara Arroyo] We eat tortillas three times a day;

for breakfast, for lunch and for dinner.

And that's why you see the signs in many places that says,

"Tortillas three times a day, Tortillas los tres tiempos."

[Lucia Barrios] I don't know any Guatemalan that

doesn't eat tortilla.

You can just go to the market and find a menu of tortillas

with 100 types of different options.

From the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor

absolutely everybody eats and loves tortillas.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] If there is no tortilla,

there is no meal.

It is the bread that everyone craves.

[Narrator] At about five cents a pop,

tortillas are the ultimate street food but

they have a lot more to offer than a cheap meal.

These hot little pockets contain nothing less than

the story of Guatemala and its people.

[♪ upbeat music plays]

[Narrator] In the heart of Guatemala City,

chef Debbie Fadul is connecting to her ancestral roots through

her supernatural palate.

-It smells like burnt pineapple. -Like pineapple liquor.

[Debora Fadul] Caramelized pineapple.

It's funny, but there are lots of times

when I'm doing something

and I'm transported to grandma's kitchen and

the memory of learning it from her.

My grandmother was a spectacular cook.

But the great part about her was that she broke stereotypes.

Out in the street, you would have never guessed

that such a dolled-up lady

could go into the kitchen and break

a turkey's neck, de-feather it,

and just do everything from scratch.

From a young age, I had this curiosity for

textures and smells.

Tomatoes weren't just red and tasted like tomatoes.

For me, it meant citric, floral, contains such and such notes.

So basically, it all became what we're doing

now at the restaurant.

[Narrator] The name of Debbie's restaurant, Diacá,

a twist on the Spanish de aca,

means from here.

[Debora Fadul] I would always get the same question:

"These incredible, big, juicy tomatoes weren't

grown in Guatemala, right?"

And I was like, "They indeed were."

"This is delicious! You didn't study cooking here, right?"

So Guatemalans were actively underestimating Guatemala.

I wondered why people found it so hard to believe

that we can do beautiful things

starting from the inside out.

So my goal has always been that

of showing Guatemalans how great our country is. How valuable.

And it keeps getting stronger and stronger.

[Narrator] That quest to restore Guatemala's pride

through its food means going back to her country's roots,

a history that runs deep.

Just below Guatemala City lies one of the most powerful

civilizations that has ever existed.

[Bárbara Arroyo] I am Bárbara Arroyo.

I am an archeologist working at

the site of Kaminaljuyú in Guatemala City.

Kaminaljuyú was settled originally

around 400 before Christ.

The acropolis is one of the most important spaces of

the site because it had a water spring.

Springs, water that was coming out of the ground

were magical places for the ancient Maya, and still are.

[Narrator] Picture this,

Mesoamerica, about 3,000 years ago, give or take.

This vast region that

included modern day Mexico,

Belize and Guatemala

was ruled by the Maya.

[Bárbara Arroyo] The Maya civilization was a very advanced

They had important knowledge about astronomy,

about agricultural cycles,

about the calendar.

[Lucia Barrios] Mayans see it as an ecosystem

where everything works together.

So humans are definitely not in the center.

They are collaborating with animals who are also spirits,

also giving them messages with climate,

with the land, with the crops.

[Narrator] In this panoply of Gods,

one rose above the rest.

Maya myth has it that after botched attempts to form humans

out of wood and mud, the Gods found success with maize.

When the Maya called themselves people of the corn,

they meant it literally.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] Corn is the staple grain that

has made civilizations in this area flourish.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] It is revered as a deity.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] Very hard to, to dethrone.

[Lucia Barrios] If you look at the Mayan sacred book called,

The Popol Vuh, it even talks about four different corns,

you know, to talk about the four different races

that humans have.

[Bárbara Arroyo] Corn is referred to as, "Ixim,"

in many of the Maya languages.

The family of the Maya languages is huge,

but there are commonalities, and this is one of them.

And that's very, very important, because it

talks about the relevance of it for who the Maya are.

[Narrator] And where there is corn,

there's the tortilla.

[Bárbara Arroyo] We have objects that date to 200 before Christ

and represent what we have interpreted as griddles.

They have scratches, and the scratches were made with

the actual corn husk, to make sure that the tortillas would

not stick to the griddles.

Corn is the essence of the Maya.

[Lucia Barrios] There's a way of looking at the world

that is very Guatemalan.

There's like this magic to it that is everywhere and

a magical way of seeing the world.

Plants are sacred, and when they go into their land,

before entering, they have to ask permission to the land

because they know that this land has a spirit.

[Doña Feliciana Yaqui] We could say that we are in our place.

Guatemala, yes, Guatemala.

The land

that feeds us,

the earth, and God who irrigates it with water

so that everything goes well.

I am Kaqchikel, we are on Mother Earth, and we are many.

[Narrator] Three hours west of Guatemala City,

nestled in the highlands,

is the small Maya village of Patzún.

Here, Doña Feliciana Yaqui is the matriarch keeping

Guatemala's culinary trade secrets alive.

[Doña Feliciana Yaqui] There are my daughters-in-law,

my granddaughters,

they helped me to work.

Some made the tamales, others the food,

so we all help each other.

We shelled the corn, we did everything together.

We help each other to get the job done.

When the fire is low, they cook very well.

When the fire is high, they burn but do not cook well.

Yes, they have to learn to make nixtamal,

they have to be taught,

you have to teach them to learn

to make tortillas, yes, to make tortillas.

[Narrator] It might look as simple as boiling corn,

but Doña Feliciana is practicing

an ancient Maya culinary technique

called nixtamalization.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] Nixtamalization is basically

the cooking of mature corn,

in water and calcium hydroxide,

to make the corn tender so it can be ground into masa.

[Bárbara Arroyo] And at the same time it becomes nutritious

because you're adding calcium to

the actual tortilla producing process.

[Narrator] The aroma and tenderness of

Guatemalan tortillas owe it all to nixtamalization,

a Maya marvel of culinary engineering.

But when the Spanish invaded in 1523,

millennia's worth of agricultural and

culinary know-how were under threat.

[Ana Silvia Monzón] My name's Ana Silvia Monzón.

I'm a Guatemalan sociologist and feminist communicator.

Three hundred years of a colonial structure

destroyed everything that the indigenous peoples

considered as their way of life.

Indigenous peoples were wiped out

together with their culture, language, beliefs, and rituals.

[Narrator] Even the corn tortilla didn't

make it out of colonization unscathed.

That flour tortilla you know and love?

It's made with wheat, first brought over by

the Spanish conquistadores,

who turned their noses down on corn.

The impact of that attitude carries on to this day.

[Lucia Barrios] Growing in a country that was a colony,

one of the things that happens to us growing up is

that we admire a lot of developed countries because

that's where we see that the power is coming from.

I ate tortillas and I enjoyed them,

but we didn't really appreciate it because even if

we had it every day in our house, it was something

that was always considered less, you know, because it

was something that people with lesser resources had.

[Narrator] Under wheat-loving colonialism,

the corn tortilla stayed on the menu, cheap, easy,

and eaten everywhere.

But its history and cultural value diminished.

[Lucia Barrios] It's a decolonization process that

I think we're all going through as a society.

And gastronomy is a fundamental, uh,

pillar for that.

[Narrator] Resurrecting Guatemala's past to help

secure its future?

That's a lot to put on a tortilla's

round little shoulders.

But in one colonial city,

a tortilla resistance is getting fired up.

[♪ upbeat music plays]

[Narrator] An hour outside of Guatemala's capital is Antigua.

For Guatemalans looking to escape the big city,

it's a peaceful getaway,

except for the occasional volcanic eruption, that is.

[explosion]

Antigua is ringed by volcanoes, the tallest has a peak known by

locals as, The Three Sisters.

The minerals released by these fiery giants have

turned the land into

some of the richest farming soil in the world.

[Gaby Perdomo] These three volcanoes are always

putting up a show for us.

People who visit us for the first time think it's incredible

that we live so close to an active volcano.

[Narrator] Here, in the land of earth and fire,

is where Gaby Perdomo found a new start.

[Gaby Perdomo] I am an industrial engineer.

I lived abroad for eight years,

and on my return I saw my country with new eyes.

You realize that people in Guatemala

still make tortillas by hand,

that there's a huge range of native corn species,

and that there's a rich history around tortillas and corn.

That's how this adventure of opening El Comalote began.

[Narrator] El Comalote isn't just another tortillería.

It's the headquarters for a culinary renaissance.

Its secret weapon?

An all-female team of tortilla superheroes.

[Gaby Perdomo] We're like busy bees every day,

because there's always something new.

We can all act on every area of the business when needed.

Zayda is our tortillería's production chief.

She likes doing things right and inspiring others to do right.

[Zayda Marleny Pérez López] I can't imagine a world

without tortillas.

We must feel proud of knowing how to make them.

Here at Comalote, we make five types of tortillas.

We have our white tortilla,

the yellow tortilla,

the black tortilla.

We also have red corn tortillas.

One is made with chili guaques, and the other with cilantro.

Here, we make around 1,000 tortillas a day.

All of them are handmade.

[Gaby Perdomo] I remember when I first met Zayda.

She seemed a little reserved and

worried about where this was going.

And today you can see her teaching her colleagues.

She demands by setting an example.

[Zayda Marleny Pérez López] The truth is

I'm very curious sometimes.

I like to learn,

but I work, I like to work and I keep on working.

[Narrator] But even skilled artisans like Zayda have seen

the fruits of their labor go overlooked.

[Lucia Barrios] I think that tortillas is something that has

been specifically a women's job.

Women in general have, uh, have this closeness with cooking, uh,

in Guatemala because

they have been doing it for their families.

[Bárbara Arroyo] Um, I, I don't think I have ever seen

in my whole life a man make tortillas in Guatemala.

[Ana Silvia Monzón] Tortillerías are not valued

because it is a job done by women.

[Narrator] In Guatemala, the women who make tortillas are

paid rock bottom wages.

Some earn as little as $65 American a month,

despite working around the clock.

[Gaby Perdomo] The history of tortillerías

has a dark side to it,

because the "three times a day" concept

has resulted in a form of slave labor.

They have to satisfy a market that demands the cheapest prices

for a product seen as a daily-consumption commodity.

I think that's where my awakening comes from.

Understanding that a tortilla made from native corn,

where the job of a tortilla maker is

dignified through fair pay,

can change our country for sure, despite how small a gesture.

[Narrator] But if Gaby's going to revolutionize her country,

she can't do it alone.

[♪ upbeat music plays]

[Narrator] Chef Debbie Fadul is determined to preserve

her culture through food,

and one of her closest allies is Gaby Perdomo.

[Debora Fadul] [in Spanish] Hello! Hello!

[Gaby Perdomo] Oh, hi!

-So nice to see you, you look so pretty! -Thank you!

[Debora Fadul] I should have dressed up nicer.

It's so nice to see you.

Oh my God.

With a little salt...

When I began looking for places where I could find local corn

I heard about El Comalote.

And I really like working with people who have the same drive

or are on the same path of giving value to local products

and bringing producers closer to us.

[Gaby Perdomo] And by chance we realized

we were fighting for the same cause.

To me, the work she does is just incredible.

-Are you ready? -Ready.

-We're using my car? -Sure.

[Deborah Fadul] [in Spanish] All right.

[Debora Fadul] Bye, girls! [Gaby Perdomo] Bye, girls!

[Narrator] Debbie and Gaby are on a hunt for what might be

their country's greatest culinary treasure, corn.

[Gaby Perdomo] Hello.

[All] [in Spanish] Hello!

-How are you? -Great, and you?

[Narrator] And one of their top sources is

local farmer Doña Matea Ojer González.

[Debora Fadul] It's so nice to see you.

-How are you? -Great, thank you.

[Debora Fadul] Thank you, excuse me.

[Gaby Perdomo] How's your harvest doing?

[Doña Matea Ojer González] Thank God, we had

good quality this year.

We were able to have a good harvest.

That's a first, actually.

-[in Spanish] Wow! -[in Spanish] Yeah, this year.

[Debora Fadul] So you go up to producers like

Doña Matea, for instance,

they have such a deep connection to their corn.

A crop that isn't easy to grow and produce.

[Doña Matea Ojer González] What we have here is what

we are eating, consuming

these past months.

That is what we have here.

-I'd love to see that. -Please, come in.

[Debora Fadul] This was the best year, Doña Matea.

[Narrator] Doña Matea is mostly growing this corn for

her family, but she's sitting on gold.

Small scale farms like this are how

ancient Guatemalan corn has survived.

[Debora Fadul] They look really nice, Doña Matea.

[Doña Matea Ojer González] Thank you.

[Gaby Perdomo] This one looks like...

[Debora Fadul] Look at that one.

They look like jewelry.

Well, they are. They are a luxury.

Even more valuable.

Producers have it very hard.

And more so in countries like Guatemala

where people would rather look to the outside than locally.

When I realized that, I was like, this has to change.

I want to be part of a solution, not of a problem.

Which meant meeting and reaching out directly to producers,

because they are the real experts.

[Narrator] You'd think an invaluable heritage wouldn't

need protecting, but there are forces at

play threatening Guatemala's culinary legacy.

In the last few decades,

hybrid corn, a mix of local and foreign grains that's hardy and

easier to grow, has flooded the Guatemalan market,

threatening the demand for heritage varieties.

[Gaby Perdomo] We could say that over 90% of all tortillerías

use hybrid corn or corn flour.

Since no markets are looking for native corn,

new generations grow uninterested

in cultivating and protecting native corn species.

As a Guatemalan, I am very concerned about

protecting these seeds,

which aren't only our daily sustenance

but part of the roots of our history and culture.

[Debora Fadul] We should take some of these

to make tortillas out of...

[Gaby Perdomo] Pinto corn.

[Doña Matea Ojer González] Yes.

[Debora Fadul] Thank you, Doña Matea!

[Narrator] Precious cargo in tow,

Debbie heads back to Guatemala City

to perform culinary magic.

In preparation for a dinner that will put the tortilla

at the center of the table.

[Narrator] Back at her restaurant Diacá,

the stage is set for chef Debbie Fadul to unleash

a symphony of flavors and textures with Doña Matea's corn.

If you ever wanted a front row seat to

a chef's creative process, today is your lucky day.

[Debora Fadul] Doña Matea's corn

had macuy, black salt, plum, and blackberry notes.

When you begin examining ingredients like this,

everything else disappears.

And they begin talking to you.

"Hi! This is what I taste like! This is my flavor!"

Based on that, you'll be able to create.

Nope, that's not the one.

This one could be it.

You feel it in your tongue, in your sense.

And it sets off an explosion of flavors in my head.

Some corn species work better in tamales, flour, or salpor.

Floury corn has its uses, flint corn is for popcorn.

We take white corn,

some yellow heirloom corn.

We take some black corn.

We take some red corn.

Red corn is super creamy.

It's thick, creamy, milky, buttery.

[Producer] Do you go to another world while you're doing that?

[Debora Fadul] We have an inside joke

about me going back to my planet.

[Narrator] It's cool, Debbie,

we get it, we're crazy about corn too.

While Debbie puts the finishing touches on

tonight's menu,

in Antigua,

a major cultural moment is in the works.

Semana Santa, or Holy Week.

A time when old and new traditions intermingle to

create a mind-blowing spectacle.

Sure, it's a time of deep reflection and

prayer in celebration of Easter,

but it's also a cross-cultural extravaganza.

[Gaby Perdomo] It's like Antigua completely

transforms during Holy Week.

It dresses in colors,

and the sounds are enough to make you cry.

It's an occasion where many different traditions converge.

[Lucia Barrios] You will always find where the Mayan culture

survived in the whole process of colonization in Antigua.

You will see it in food, you will see it in architecture,

you will see it in the processions.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] Catholicism was imposed on

the indigenous people, and today they survive,

side by side.

[Narrator] And one sacred custom is truly a feast for the eyes.

Alfombras, elaborate carpets made of plants and

wood are laid out for the procession to walk on,

so that the holy icons never touch the ground.

Making an Alfombra takes a full day of painstaking work,

and in Antigua, its go big or go home.

Even if in a few mere moments these works of art

will be completely destroyed.

[Gaby Perdomo] Alfombras have the same

ephemeral essence as tortillas.

I feel a tortilla is like a handicraft

that after a long time of being shaped by hand

is ultimately grabbed and eaten.

And then it's over.

Tortillas are a gift

that our Maya ancestors bestowed upon this region.

It's as if tortillas were our identity

or marked the roots from where we all sprang from.

If we lose tortillas, we end up losing ourselves.

[Narrator] Preserving corn, and tortillas,

has a ripple effect that goes far beyond food,

it's about sustaining culture and

communities for generations to come.

[Civilian] Lord, this day, Tzaqol B'itol,

we thank you for a beautiful day.

We that plow the holy land,

we ask Thee to bless

our maize, our corn.

[Narrator] Up in the highlands,

Doña Feliciana and her family are still in conversation with

corn and the land it comes from a reciprocal bond

that's survived every challenge thrown at it.

[Doña Feliciana Yaqui] We have to ask God,

He gives us everything.

He gives us the water to grow the corn.

If the corn doesn't grow, we won't have tortillas.

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] Even if other civilizations may have

wanted to throw out corn it didn't work,

because the indigenous population in Guatemala

is very, very large and very strong.

And it is their means of, of sustenance.

[Doña Feliciana Yaqui] Yes, well, when He gives us

the corn, we rejoice.

That's it, we rejoice, we jump.

[Narrator] Who would have thought growing corn could be

a kind of resistance, the will to keep culture alive

when outside powers had other plans.

[Ana Silvia Monzón] I think this is also

like a cultural resistance,

as part of this broader concept of food sovereignty.

It is not only a food,

but also a tradition,

which will hopefully be kept for long.

[Narrator] The resistance is going strong.

And back in the capital city, a celebration of the tortilla

is about to be unveiled.

[♪ whimsical music plays]

[Narrator] Tonight's dinner service at Diacá is

invitation only, Debbie's welcomed a small group of

local producers and chefs to dine alongside loyal customers.

She's serving up an education into

where the country's food comes from.

[Debora Fadul] Everything we'll be doing today

is focused on how we can use corn in a different way.

For example, our cheese board is stocked

with 100% local products,

but what if we instead served tortillas

alongside cheese boards?

People go crazy for it.

You realize how all these details

only serve to highlight tortillas.

Our menu is sorted by farmer.

There's no real menu, so to speak.

The menu only shows the ingredients and their producers.

Period.

Okay, first of all, I am incredibly grateful

that you were able to come.

It's so exciting having all of

you incredible producers and chefs together.

Celebrating producers just like we do in our own kitchens.

To me, it's super important.

I want this to be an inspiration for you to push even higher

and to continue doing what you do.

If we cooks can be a way to raise awareness,

I'll never tire of doing it.

I'm incredibly grateful, and I hope you enjoy it.

[Debora Fadul] [in Spanish] Thank you!

[speaking in Spanish]

[speaking in Spanish]

[Debora Fadul] We joke around with the chefs, like,

"That customer left this place a completely different person."

You begin noting this slight shift in perspective

and how people begin to learn what eating "locally" means.

Ultimately what we want is for other people to also do this.

It's about giving a spot to those who rightly deserve it.

[Narrator] In kitchens across the country,

the women who make tortillas are starting to get their due.

In a nation as complex as Guatemala,

there are no easy solutions to excavating

the past and preserving traditions.

But honoring the skill that goes into the small but mighty

tortilla is a start.

[Debora Fadul] Ours is a history of pure strength.

Our contribution, and my own personal contribution here,

is to understand and appreciate this strength.

Being part of this strength without selfishly seizing it,

as it belongs to everyone.

I start tearing up just talking about it!

It's just beautiful.

[Conny Hernandez] Guatemala is a very special

and wonderful place.

It has given me so much.

[Lucia Barrios] I really do believe that this country

has a lot of magic.

And for me, food is a central place

where you can discover that.

[Bárbara Arroyo] There are many lessons we can

learn from the past.

All the various parts of our life are connected,

nature is so important, especially for the Maya.

Water, the soil.

Every object has life.

[Doña Feliciana Yaqui] Tortillas give life.

If we don't eat, there is no life.

[Gaby Perdomo] Tortillas can help us change the country.

[Producer] And they're delicious?

[laughs]

[Gaby Perdomo] That, too!

[Civilian] Bon appétit!

[Amalia Moreno-Damgaard] The tortilla in my kitchen

is treated with a high level of respect.

People need to know how wonderful the country is.

How wonderful the cuisine is.

We need to share it with the world.

The tortilla unites everyone.

[Narrator] So next time you bite into a scrumptious steak taco,

just remember that little round miracle you hold in your hands,

has a history worth savoring.

And with guardians like these,

the future is bright.