A chicken stew with Maya roots

By Christina Morales, The New York Times

Seven years ago, just as Jorge Cárdenas was about to open Ix Restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, he returned to his home in Quetzaltenango, in the highlands of Guatemala, to make sure that his recipes tasted like those his Maya grandmother had taught him to make.

He worried about his version of jocón, a velvety stew made with chicken and tomatillos. He had his family and friends taste it, and they confirmed that it was as good as he’d thought.

“I tried many, many jocones,” he said. But he always thought of his grandmother’s. “The taste was always on my mind.”

Jocón — a word that comes from jok’, which means to grind or mash in the Mayan K’iche’ language — is popular throughout Guatemala, said Miguel Cuj, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at Vanderbilt University who is Guatemalan. The flavor of the soup can vary, depending on who makes it. Some versions are spicier because of chiltepe chi...