Monday, November 01, 2010

Salvadorean Cuisine

After eating at La Macarena, I feel Salvadorean food deserves its own blog post. Anytime I go to La Macarena, I order its papusas. The papusa is very much a Salvadorean specialty. It consists of a hand made tortilla that contains cheese and pork meat ground to a paste consistency. Generally there are also beans, salsa, and a mix of vegetables. These can be put on top of the papusas or cooked inside them. At La Macerana they also include banana cream (I think that's what the waiter said?) and fried banana peppers. This dish is absolutely to die for. Their horchata is also excellent. Horchata is a drink made of pulverized rice, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, and water. Variations exist from eatery to eatery but, I promise, it will all be good. Another traditional dessert is etol de elote. It is made of water, cinnamon, and sugar, and corn. Through quite a long process, the corn is broke down and blended with the boiling milk and water, with cinnamon being thrown in at the end. It makes for a very thick and creamy drink. Tamales de Elote are also common. They are basically the same tamales as everywhere else except that the corn they are made with has a higher starch content.

More recipes can be found here:
http://www.whats4eats.com/central-america/el-salvador-cuisine

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