As in many places around the world, food is the center of celebration on Guam. A virtual cornucopia of fiesta foods are laid out – usually in a specific order – for every festive occasion. And “where America’s day begins,” there are ample opportunities to celebrate.

For starters, the island’s predominantly Roman Catholic population affords each village a patron saint and accompanying feast day. Each village parish honors this with an annual fiesta, and many families hold their own celebrations at home after the Festal Mass to make merry with relatives and friends.

There are also weddings, christenings, birthdays and graduations – not to mention holiday celebrations like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

Traditional Chamorro dishes such as red rice, citrus-marinated meat or seafood “kelaguen,” and barbecue may be the staple of any Guam fiesta. However, some local delicacies are the darlings of the fiesta table during certain celebrations or special times of the year. 

Village fiestas and weddings are the biggest celebrations with the most elaborate menus, according to Lou Cruz of Santa Rita. As such, they are likely to serve up Chamorro classics ranging from red-and-white tamales, or “gisu” and “bunelos uhang”, or shrimp patties to smoke, dried beef and “panglao” (stuffed crab). These celebrations are also the most likely to showcase the mother of all fiesta table features – “hotnon babui” – a roast pig.

“For magnificent celebrations we prepare and roast a whole pig,” says lifelong Guamanian Toshio Akigami. “Basting the pig while slowly roasting it over an open fire makes the skin crispy and the meat tender and juicy. The ears are the best parts; we like the crispy texture with the fat around the ears.”

Roasting pig for a wedding or fiesta – a practice believed to date back to the 17th century when the Spanish introduced pigs to the island – symbolizes a very special occasion, indeed. It’s a practice that grill aficionado behind BBQGuam.blogspot.com, Rueben Olivas, knows a little something about.

“Back in the 1950s, the roast pig was pretty straight forward for the most part on Guam,” he said of traditionally hand-turning the pig over a handmade spit. “Nowadays, they are roasted in large ovens and stainless steel outdoor spits, turned by electric motors. (But) some roasting is still done in the traditional way on occasion.”

Whether or not a wedding fiesta features roast pig, one thing is certain: The duty of providing adult beverages and soft drinks typically falls on the groom’s godfather. But it’s the bride’s godmother, Cruz says, that provides the wedding cake and other desserts. It’s an opportunity for many to show off family recipes for “latiya” custard sponge cake, “kek chokulati” (chocolate cake) and sweet “apigigi’” tamales.

As with any fiesta, sweets like these have their own special place or table. And it’s the dessert table that gets special attention during Christmastime when seasonal donuts, cakes and other desserts rule.

“‘Bunelos dagu’ is a special treat during the holiday season,” says Guam Visitors Bureau’s Josh Tyquiengco. “The yams used to make these fried donuts are usually harvested during the Christmas season.”

Annette Merfalen, Chamorro food expert and author behind AnniesChamorroKitchen.com, agrees that these deep-fried treats are “synonymous with Christmas” on Guam. 

“There are several varieties of yams that you can use to make these donuts,” she writes in her online treasure trove of recipes. “If you live on Guam or the other Mariana Islands, you can use ‘dågu,’ ‘nika,’ or ‘gadu.’ There are also both white and red varieties of dagu (called dagun a’paka’ or dagun agaga’, respectively).”

Similarly, “bonelos dago,” or taro donuts, are also a traditional Christmas treat on Guam.

As with crispy fried “lumpia” spring rolls, pancit noodles with meat and vegetables is another popular dish Guam has adopted from the Philippines and made its own.

A mainstay of many fiesta tables on island, pancit is particularly favored at birthday and New Year’s Eve celebrations, perhaps as a nod to the Asian custom of eating them on such occasions to ensure long life. If so, it wouldn’t be Guam’s only imported culinary custom.

This U.S. territory also shares a very American traditional feast – Thanksgiving. As much a celebrated holiday for feasting with friends and family as in the States, the local love for barbecue on Guam means that a smoked or grilled turkey may take the place of an oven-roasted bird at the fiesta table. And what would a Thanksgiving turkey be without the stuffing?

“Chamorro stuffing, or ‘riyenu,’ is a delicious side dish usually served during special holiday meals, alongside baked turkey, ham, or roast pig,” writes Merfalen. “My mom taught me how to make this a very long time ago, when I was a very young girl. In fact, this recipe is one of the few I added to a recipe book that I made when I was perhaps 8 or 9 years old.”

So what makes Chamorro stuffing so Chamorro?

“Well, I guess it’s the addition of potatoes, pimento and olives, kind of like our Chamorro potato salad,” she says. “A few optional ingredients that my mom sometimes puts in her riyenu are finely diced celery and a small jar of sweet pickle relish. I prefer my stuffing without those two ingredients, so I leave them out.”

Like so many other delicacies – whether with a Chamorro twist or 100 percent native – that bear the indelible stamp of one of the island’s special occasions, church fiestas or state holidays, it’s just one more way to get a true taste of Guam.

The most important dish in this section is red rice (“hineksa agaga”), which is similar to saffron rice in that it is prepared with water colored from soaking achiote seeds, which gives it a deep orange color. This section of the fiesta table is also where you’ll find starchy fruit and vegetable dishes made from such produce as bananas, sweet potatoes and taro. Traditionally, these kinds of dishes are typically reduced in a coconut-milk sauce to make such dishes as “gollai appan suni” (from taro) and “gollai appan dagu” (from yams) according to Jay Blas, manager of Island Cuisine restaurant. Dinner rolls and “tiyas” (tortillas) are also found in this section of the table.

Barbecue is a staple of many fiestas on Guam and this is where you’ll find totche. Pork spareribs, marinated chicken flavored with spicy “finadenne sauce,” fried chicken and roasted ham are regular staples, according to Toshio Akigami. “In hunting season, deer meat is also served,” Akigami says. “Locals usually cook dried beef by hanging the meat above a barbecue pit to smoke and dry the meat.” Finadenne sauce made from soy sauce or salt, lemon juice and/or calamansi citrus juice, water, peppers and onions is always placed at the end of this section as a condiment.

As the name suggest, this section is where such delicacies as fish, prawns and crab are placed. “Eskabeche,” sweet-and-sour fish or seafood cooked with vegetables and ginger, is a must-have for this section of the fiesta table. Stuffed crab may also be found here. Though usually not locally caught, yellowfin tuna is often found here in the form of raw “sashimi” along with such grilled and barbecued local catch as parrot fish and other reef and open-sea fish. “Salt-flavored finadenne sauce” is often applied to them,” says Akigami, adding that deep-fried mahi mahi is a seasonal fiesta treat found on this part of the table during spring and summer.

No fiesta, indeed, no meal, on Guam is complete without “kelaguen.” At this section you’ll usually find a variety of meat and seafood dishes prepared cerviche style, in which the meat is usually cooked overnight by the acidity of lemon or calamasi juice along with salt (sometimes soy sauce), hot peppers and onions. In the case of chicken kalaguen, the meat is usually lightly grilled first and freshly grated coconut is also added. The dish is served chilled as is, or as a side with tortillas or rice. Dishes such as lumpia spring rolls, pancit noodles and shrimp patties are also placed on this section of the fiesta table.

This section of the fiesta table is not only where soups and stews are placed, you’ll also find a variety of vegetable dishes. Here you’ll find potato and garden salads of every ilk, coleslaw and cucumber dishes such as “diago” cucumber kimchee. In addition to dishes like cucumber salad and spinach with coconut milk, you also find such classic Chamorro soups as spicy chicken “kadun pika,” “chicken chalakiles” made with toasted rice and simple “kadun manuk” chicken soup as well as corn soup.

The dessert section of the fiesta arrangement is so special that even at small events it often gets a table all to itself. Favorites to be found here include “latiya” custard cake as well as chocolate and red velvet cakes. Other staple sweets include warm “ahu” soup, sweet “apigigi” tamales, “bunelos aga” (banana donuts), “bonelos dagu” (yam donuts) and “bunelos manglo,” or typhoon donuts. “At most fiestas, ” says Sayumi Ishioka. “People usually bring their homemade sweets, such as latiya or fruits, or sweets made from local fruits, such as mango, watermelon, papaya, banana, banana donut.”

• 4 kinds of Kadu (soup)

• Gollai Appan Sweet Potato and Banana

• Classic Chamorro morning meals

• Beef Tinaktak

• Kadun Pika (Spicy Chicken)

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