GUAM FOODOPEDIA - Letter Ch - A Dynamic Collaborative for All Things CHamoru Eats.

GUAM FOODOPEDIA

...a dynamic collaborative for all things CHamoru eats.

The goal of this Guam Foodopedia project is to record our collective memories and facts about our food heritage. Our CHamoru food inheritance has changed over time. Whether we like those changes or not, the fact remains that our more recent ancestors cooked differently from our ancient people. And it is also true that what our grandparents cooked during Spanish, American, and Japanese occupations -- is still our heritage. Fortunately, at least the Spanish and other European visitors did write down a few things about Guam's food from the 1500s to the end of the 1800s. In the 1900s, there were a good number of American authors who recorded some information about our food. It's not enough though. By bringing together all that we know about our CHamoru food -- memories from the past and the way we cook today -- our descendants in hundreds of years to come, will know for sure, what their CHamoru food history is.

Add your Guam food memories and the name you want to use, suggestions, and corrections in the comments below -- this Guam Foodopedia will be updated accordingly. Also leave a note for Guam food restaurants, food trucks, caterers, and sellers. The primary reference for spelling is the Chamorro-English Dictionary by Topping, Ogo, and Dungca. The CHamoru language has changed over time, and there are subtle differences of the language between the inhabited Mariana Islands, including Guam, Saipan, Rota, and Tinian. 

In an effort to preserve and protect the indigenous culture of Guam, at the end of 2018, it was passed into law that the official spelling of Chamorro would be changed to CHamoru.

Each letter of the CHamoru alphabet will have it's own page...eventually. English food-related words will also be included per respective letter.

CHAMORU ATFABETU (tsa-mo-row at-fa-be-too)
Click on each letter.

'(glota)  Aa/Åå  Bb  CHch  Dd  Ed  Ff  Gg  Hh  Ii  Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn/Ññ/NGng  Oo  Pp  Rr  Ss  Tt  Uu  Yy

' the glota signals a distinct yet subtle hardness/stop after the letter/sound that preceeds it.

Aa makes the sound like the a in apple.

Åå makes the sound like the o in orange and the a in awesome.

Sometimes the Aa sound and the Åå sound are changed in a word depending on how it is used.

*Unfortunately, not every site contains the letters Aa with the solid dot/lonnat (lon-nat) on top. It should be a lonnat as opposed to an open circle.*

CHch
**There is no letter "c" in the CHamoru alphabet.**

Cake

• Kek (kek). 
• Sometimes referred to as brohas (bro-has) though brohas also specifically refers to CHamoru sponge cake.
• Guam cake recipes -- carrot cake 1, cassava cake 1, CHamoru cake 1, velvet cake 1

Carry

• Kåtga (kawt-ga). 
• Kåtga fan i kostat pugas (kawt-ga fan ee kows-tat poo-gas). Carry please the bag of rice.

Chaba

• Notches in a tree that are cut for climbing up the tree

Chacha'

• (tsa-tsa). Fussy or picky eater
• Gof chacha' i hagå-hu (gowf tsa-tsa ee ha-gaw-who). My daughter is so picky.

Chåchak, Chinachak

• (tsaw-tsak or tsee-na-chak). Cut

Chachalon

• (tsa-tsa-lon). The pig skin-fat combo that's cut up into about 3 x 3 squares, scored into smaller squares then fried until crisp
• How many of you remember your family doing this?

Chåda'

• (tsaw-da). Egg

Chåda' gueru

• (tsaw-da gwe-rue). Rotten egg

Chagi, Chinagi

• (tsa-gee or tsee-na-gee). Try 
• Chagi fan este. Kao maulek ha pat nisisita mås asiga? (tsa-gee fan es-tee. Koe maw-lick ha pat ni-si-see-ta maws a-see-ga?) Try this please. Is it good or does it need more salt?

Chahan

• Underground pit for cooking

Chaioti

• (tsai-oh-tee). Chayote squash.
• Chaioti is not as popular in Chamorro cooking as kundot (kuwn-dowt aka wax gourd), suni (sue-knee aka taro), lemmai (le-my aka breadfruit), and mendioka (men-dee-oh-ka aka tapioca).
• Sechium edule

Cha'lak

• To make a small cut(s)

Chalakiles, Charakiles

• (tsa-la-kee-lis, tsa-ra-kee-lis). Rice and chicken soup flavored with achote; the filling for empanåda
• Chalakiles is more commonly used.
• Guam chalakiles recipe -- recipe 1

Chålan, Chalan

• (tsaw-lan or tsa-lan). Road
• Fahani fan daigo' ginen as i hot dog stand gi kånton i chalan giya Hagåtña (fa-haw-knee fan dye-gu gi-nin as ee hot dog stand gee kawn-tun ee tsa-lan gee-dza ha-gawt-nya). Buy yellow pickled radish from the hot dog stand on the side fo the road in Agana.

Chalaochao

• (tsa-lao-tsao). To shake a liquid

Chalapon

• (tsa-la-pun). Mix up, distribute

Chalegua'

• (tsa-le-gwa). To agitate or stir
• More common words are båtte (bawt-tee) and lehgua (le-gwa).

Champulådu, Champulådo

• (tsam-poo-law-do) Sweet chocolate rice pudding
• Very similar to the champurado of Spanish-speaking countries. Champurado is a chocolate drink made with corn masa instead of rice.
• Guam champulådu recipes -- recipe 1

Chamorri

• (tsa-more-ee). In Ancient Guam, was the highest class in CHamoru society

Chamorrita

• (tsa-more-ee-ta). Young CHamoru girl, but in modern times, many use it when referencing a CHamoru woman

Chamorritu

• (tsa-more-ee-tu). Young CHamoru man; not used as often as Chamorrita.

CHamoru, Chamorro

• (tsa-moe-rue). The native people of the Mariana Islands, and the language that they speak

Cha'mu

• (tsa-moo). Don't or do not
• Cha'mu muna' gof pika i kelaguen ha sa' i famagu'on (tsa-moo moo-na gowf pee-ka ee ke-la-gwen ha sa ee fa-ma-gew-un). Don't make the chicken kelaguen too hot OK because the kids.

Chandia

• (tsan-dee-ya). Watermelon

Chankocha

• (tsan-ko-tsa). To boil or cook some type of protein in water

Cha'ot

• (tsa-otte). Allergic or allergy
• Cha'ot-hu i alageta (tsa-otte-hu ee a-la-ge-ta). I'm allergic to avocado.

Chapones

• (tsa-pon-es). Japanese
• I Chapones, man mu na mageftungo' i sashimi giya Guahån yan i man CHamoru (ee tsa-pon-es, man moo na ma-gef-tung-u ee sa-shi-me gee-dza gwa-hawn dzan ee man tsa-mo-rue). The Japanese, they made sashimi popular on Guam and among the CHamorus.

Charera

• (tsa-re-ra). A pot, teakettle or any metallic container for boiling liquids.

Chatanmak

• (tsa-tan-mack). Before daylight

Cha tåno'

• (tsa taw-new). Infertile soil 

Chatmåsa

• (tsat-maw-sa). Not completely cooked; unripe or immature fruit or vegetable

Chayote

• Chaioti (tsai-oh-tee). 
• Chaioti is not as popular in Chamorro cooking as kundot (kuwn-dowt aka wax gourd), suni (sue-knee aka taro), lemmai (le-my aka breadfruit), and mendioka (men-dee-oh-ka aka tapioca).
• Sechium edule

Che'lu

• (tse-lew). Sibling; also commonly used when referring to a friend that is like a sibling

Chenchule'

• (tsen-tsew-lee). A gift of money, food, or whatever a family could afford to a celebration or funeral
• Can also be referred to as regalu (rey-gaw-lue) or nina'i (knee-na-ee).
• Chenchule' is a big part of Chamorro or CHamoru culture, families sharing together. In modern times, gifts of food or livestock have been replaced with money and materials. It is common to give monetary chenchule' in unmarked, plain envelopes because sometimes all a family can give is a few dollars.

Chenchulu

• (tsen-tsew-lue). A long fish net in which one end has floaters and the other end has sinkers.

Che'op

• (tse-ewp). A coconut leaf woven basket for carrying on the back

Chesa

• (tse-sa). Appetizers or finger foods you eat while barbecuing for a party
• Not in the dictionary

Chetton, Chechetton

• (tse-tun or tse-tse-tun). Stick to or sticking to

Chicken

• Månnok (maw-nuk)

Chiba

• (tsee-ba). Goat

Chicharos

• (tsi-tsa-ros). Peas

Chichiget

• (tsee-tsee-git). Pinchers of a crab or lobster; clothespin or hairpin

Chigu'an

• (tsee-gew-an). A strong salty brine

Chocho, Chinecho

• (tso-tsu or tsee-ne-tsu). Eat

Chocolate

• Chokolåti (tso-kew-law-tee) or chikulåti (tsee-kew-law-tee).

Chuda'

• (tsew-da). To pour liquid out

Chugo'

• (tsew-gugh). To feed by hand; also means sap or juice; also defined as semen or pus

Chugo' niyok

• (tsew-gugh knee-dzuk). Coconut juice, the liquid that comes out of the coconut when you first crack it.

Chule'

• (tsew-lee). To take or bring an object

Chule'on

• (tsew-lee-uwn maw-gee). Can be carried; portable

Chungat

• (tsewng-at). To cut the belly open

Churisos

• (tsew-ree-sus). Sausage

Churisos CHamoru

• (tsew-ree-sus tsa-mo-rue). Chamorro sausage

Churisos Españot

• (tsew-ree-sus es-pa-nyot). Spanish sausage

Chotda

• (tsot-da). Unripe or green banana; banana tree
• Many varieties of bananas grow on Guam -- chotdan bonita, chotdan tanduki, chotdan manila, etc.

Chotdan

• (tsot-dan). Used to refer to types of bananas
• Many types of bananas grow on Guam; preceeds the name of the banana. For example, chotdan tanduki, chotdan Manila, chotdan bonita.

Chotdan bonita

• (tsot-dan bo-knee-ta). A rare type of banana in which the flesh is pink.

Cook

• na'lågu (na-law-goo).

Cream

• Mantikan leche (man-tee-kan le-tsee).

Crispy, Crunchy

• Dokngos (dok-nus) or tostos (tos-tus).

Cucumber

• Pipinu (pi-pee-new). 
• Pipinu also refers to sweet melon on Guam.
• Here's a booklet on growing melons on the island:  Guam Cucurbit Guide.

Cup

• Tåsa (taw-sa).
• Also known as nå'yan (naw-dzan), pusuelu (poo-swe-lue), potsuelu (put-swe-lue).
• Glass cup is båsu (baw-sue).

Printable Guam Chamorro food recipes may be found at Paulaq.com.