Pupusas - Warm, tasty, and comforting. A hot savory snack and staple food of El Salvador, pupusas have developed a dedicated following!

Pupusas (from Pipil pupusawa), are a traditional Salvadoran dish whose origin stretches back centuries. Pupusas are of course, El Salvador's staple food. A pupusa is a thick, handmade corn tortilla delicately filled with a unique blend of savory fillings such as cooked pork, seasoned beans, a mixture of aged and fresh cheese or other fillings, and then placed on a hot griddle until the crust turns golden. To make pupusas, you use a chunk of white cornmeal dough, or masa. A ball is formed in dampened hands, then filled with the appropriate filling and then the ball is flattened and grilled.

They are served with generous topping of curtido, a tangy cabbage slaw lightly spiced with red chilies and vinegar, and then a generous amount of salsa is added as a grand finale! They are traditionally eaten by hand, tearing off small pieces at a time. Pupusas go great with a side of sweet fried plantains!

Pupusas were created by the Pipiles, the native Indians from El Salvador. While the pupusa originated in El Salvador, it is also popular in neighboring Honduras.  Pupusas are similar to corn tortillas, only thicker and stuffed with cheese, beans or meat, or a mixture. It is a favourite fast food in El Salvador.

It is said that Pupusas were first cooked and eaten by the Pipil tribes which dwelled in the territory which is now known as El Salvador almost three millennia ago. Cooking implements for their preparation have been found in Joya de Cerén, El Salvador's Pompei, site of a native village which was buried by ashes from a volcano explosion, and where foodstuffs were preserved as they were being cooked almost two thousand years ago. The instruments for their preparation have also been found in other archeological sites in El Salvador.

Find a Salvadoran restaurant in your city and discover why everyone loves pupusas!

Curtido - (pronounced coor-tee-tho). Curtido is a simple cabbage salad traditionally served with pupusas, the national delicacy! It resembles sauerkraut and is usually made with pickled cabbage, onions, carrots, and sometimes lemon juice. Large jars of curtido are kept at restaurants and sides of the slaw are served with most meals. Curtido is usually allowed to ferment slightly at room temperature before serving, becoming a kind of Salvadoran sauerkraut. Cabbage salads are served through Central America.

Put a generous helping of Curtido on top of a pupusa and pour some of the accompanying Salsa Roja on top and eat it with your hands, tearing off small pieces!

Casamiento - Standard daily fare. A great way to serve leftovers. Casamiento is a mix of beans and rice, usually left over from the previous day. They are fried together and often served for breakfast or dinner. You can't believe how much flavor the Salvadorans can pack into basic rice and beans.

Fried sweet plantains with cream, casamiento, salsa, y más!

Salvadoran Tamales de Gallina - These tamales are pockets of corn dough, stuffed with meat or sweet corn and served in banana leaves. No tamales are as delicious as Salvadoran tamales! This kind of tamale is found in what was former Mayan territory, that is, in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Southern Mexico (Veracruz, Yucatan, and Chiapas). Their common trait is that they are wrapped in banana leaves rather than in the corn husks used in most Mexican tamales. Banana leaves give tamales a richer and tastier flavor. They are amazing!

There are wonderful tamale cooking demos on Youtube!

(wrapped in banana leaves)

Pollo Encebollado - Salvadoran chicken simmered with onions. . > recipe here

Plátanos Fritos - Even El Salvador's simple dish of deep fried sweet plantains served with sour cream and beans is something to behold. The plantains are perfectly fried, the sour cream is icy cold and beans just so good.Sweet fried ripe plantains are popular in many countries around the world where the plantain is sometimes a major source of starchy calories.
> recipe here

What is it that the people from Central America know that we don't?!

Desserts and Beverages

Salvadorans’ preferred drinks are coffee and hot chocolate. Licuados and refrescos (fruit drinks) are also popular. Many beverages in El Salvador are based on corn. For atoles, cornflour is mixed with water or milk, sweetened and served hot or cold. Atol shuco, made with purple corn, is particularly popular. Chicha is a mildly alcoholic beverage made with fermented ground corn. Café de maíz is made by brewing toasted corn kernels with hot water. Other popular beverages are hot chocolate, coffee and fruit milkshakes called batidos. The names of the favorite Salvadoran beers are Regia, Bahia and Pilsener.

Horchata - When it's made well this traditional drink made with rice, cinnamon, sesame, allspice, and a native seed called moro is delicious. In El Salvador, people may make their own horchata, but there are many commercial varieties and horchata powder available in Latin grocery stores. There is some debate about whether horchata should be prepared using milk instead of water. Some say the oldest forms of recipes likely did not include milk since it would not have kept well. Whether or not milk is used, horchata has a milky texture and consistency and is preferable when served ice cold. Be forewarned, however, that there are some vile versions of this drink and getting it down can be a challenge!  

Elote - fresh corn. This is very different from maíz, which is dried, mature, elote. The elote is in season from about August through October. The Salvadorans use the fresh corn to make corn fritters, fresh corn tamales, riguas (a corn dough mixed with fresh cheese and beans and cooked on a hot skillet in banana leaves -- delicious), sweet corn soup, corn on the cob, and "crazy corn" or elotes locos.

Atol de Elote - A Salvadoran corn Beverage.