Salvadoran cuisine
Salvadoran cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of El Salvador. The traditional cuisine consists of food from Indigenous Pipil people and Spanish peoples. Many of the dishes are made with maize (corn).
El Salvador's most notable dish is the pupusa, a thick handmade corn flour or rice flour tortilla stuffed with cheese, chicharrón (cooked pork meat ground to a paste consistency), refried beans, and/or loroco (a vine flower bud native to Central America). There are also vegetarian options, often with ayote (a type of squash), or garlic. Some adventurous restaurants even offer pupusas stuffed with shrimp or spinach which are served with salsa roja, a simple yet flavorful Salvadoran cooked tomato sauce, is often served alongside with curtido. Pollo Encebollado is another popular Salvadoran dish that contains chicken simmered with onions. Famous Salvadoran cheese is eaten with these meals such as Queso duro (Hard cheese), Queso Fresco (Fresh Cheese) and Cuajada.
Two other typical Salvadoran dishes are yuca frita and panes rellenos. Yuca frita, which is deep fried cassava root served with curtido (a pickled cabbage, onion and carrot topping) and chicharron with pepesca (fried baby sardines). The Yuca is sometimes served boiled instead of fried. Panes Rellenos ("Stuffed Bread") are warm submarine sandwiches. The turkey or chicken is marinated and then roasted with Pipil spices and handpulled. This sandwich is traditionally served with turkey or chicken, tomato, and watercress along with cucumber, onion, lettuce, mayonnaise, and mustard.
Other well known Salvadoran dishes include Carne guisada, Lomo Entomatado (Beef with tomatoes), Carne Asada (Grilled steak) usually served with a type of Salvadoran salsa called Chimol, Pasteles de Carne (Meat pies), Pollo Guisado con Hongos (Chicken with mushrooms), Pacalla (palm flowers breaded in cornmeal, fried and served with tomato sauce), Pavo Salvadoreño (Roast turkey with sauce) often eaten for Christmas, Ceviche de Camarones (Lime-cooked shrimp) and Pescado Empanizado (Breaded, fried fish filets).
Types of tamales
One of El Salvador's most famous dishes is their different types of tamales which are usually wrapped in plantain leaves. These tamales include: Tamales de Elote (Fresh corncakes) Tamales Pisques (Tamales stuffed with black beans) Tamales de pollo (Tamales stuffed with chicken and potatoes) and Ticucos ("Travelers" tamales).
Soups and salads
Soups and salads are popular among Salvadorans of every social level. Sopa de pata is a soup made from the tripes of a cow, plantain, corn, tomatoes, cabbage and spices, locally a delicacy. Sopa de Res, a soup made from beef shank, beef bone with meat, carrots, plantain, corn, potatoes, zucchini and more. Gallo en chicha is a soup made with rooster, corn, and dulce de tapa and sometimes other things. Sopa de pescado is a soup made out of fish or seafood made with corn flour, tomatoes, green peppers, cumin, achiote and other ingredients very popularly eaten for the Christian holiday of Easter. Sopa de pollo is a chicken stew with tomatoes, green peppers, guisquil, carrots, potatoes, consommé and other ingredients.
Salpicón de res
Originally from El Salvador, salpicón is a refreshing salad that is great as a topping for tostadas or wrapped in fresh corn tortillas. It is especially easy to make in large quantities for parties and family gatherings.
Panes rellenos
Panes rellenos (filled bread) is a warm chicken or turkey submarine sandwich, similar to a hoagie. The chicken/turkey is marinated and then roasted with Pipil spices and hand-pulled. This sandwich is traditionally served with tomatoes and watercress.
Desserts
Salvadoran desserts include pan dulce, semita, Salvadoran-style quesadilla, torta de yema, marquezote, salpores, poleada (vanilla custard), arroz con leche (rice pudding), atol de elote, atol de piña, empanadas de platano (plantain patties), and many others. The dulce de leche of El Salvador has a soft, crumbly texture, with an almost crystallized form. Fruits are widely consumed, the more popular being mangoes, coconuts, papayas, and bananas. Sometimes they enjoy fruit with ice cream and cinnamon sprinkled on top.
Beverages
Teenagers usually drink cokas (soft drinks) like Coca-cola, while young and old alike drink coffee, El Salvador's top export. A very popular soda that originated in El Salvador is Kolachampan, which is a soda with sugar cane flavor. Minutas, shaved ice flavored with fruit flavored syrup, and horchata, mix of spices such as cinnamon, peanuts, ajonjolí (sesame seed) and morro, are popular throughout the country and enjoyed on a hot day. Licuados are like the minutas with added fresh fruit and (sometimes) milk. Refrescos refer to lemonades or other sweetened fruit drinks. Other drinks include Arrayán, Chuco and Chilate. Another popular beverage is Ensalada ("salad"), made of pineapple juice with finely chopped fruits, usually apples, marañón, mamey, and watercress. Tamarindo juice is consumed in all of El Salvador. Coconuts are sold at roadside estansas throughout the country. Typically, they are chopped with machetes and a straw is inserted so that the coconut water can be consumed. Adults drink coconut milk, mixed with vodka, as an aperitif. Vinagre de Piña is a drink of trimmed pineapples mixed with piloncillo and water and set aside to ferment for a few weeks or even months.
Alcoholic beverages
The most common alcoholic beverage is beer (cerveza); in El Salvador the most popular brand name is Pilsener. Suprema is considered the premier local brew. Both and other popular beers are made by Industrias La Constancia.
Seafood
Salvadorans eat a big variety of seafood. Salvadoran cocktails and ceviches are made with clam, oyster, fish, shrimp, snail, octopus, squid, and a type of black clam called conchas by locals and cocktails and ceviches are prepared with a type of tomato and chopped onion sauce or a dark sauce called Salsa (sauce) Perring and both are sprinkled with lemon juice. Salvadorans also eat fried crabs and lobsters or fried fish with garlic and lemon. Shrimps are also eaten roasted, al ajillo (aal-aheejo: means in garlic), and in butter. There is also a type of seafood soup called mariscada (maareescaadaa) which contains fish, clam, octopus, squid, shrimp, and crab.
See also
- Pupusa
- Chicha
- Chuco
- Chilate
- Tamale
- Horchata
- Empanada
- Alguashte
- Sopa de pata
- Güisquil filled with cheese
References
External links
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Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on |
- Eating the Salvadoran way
- Bibliography of books on El Salvador cooking, from the Library of Congress (Spanish)
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