Comida Típica and the Market

I have really been enjoying writing this blog and think it is great that someone from Moscow is reading about my life here. I am in the middle of reading Stalin’s Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith and would love to experience the Moscow of the homicide detective Arkady Renko. Interestingly, one of his novels was set in Cuba (Havana Bay) and I still recall from the first novel, Gorky Park, Renko walking around Moscow with a small Cuban pineapple in his pocket which he would periodically take out and smell to transport him to the sunny island paradise while his world was threatening to crash down around him in cold Moscow.

Rene, Fatima and myself at the Mercado
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I also see that friends in Spain are reading my blog - so leave comments if you have any questions about life here.

The pupusa!

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So I will finally turn to the local food or comida típica. I think I have delayed this because, while I really enjoy it, I don’t know it very well yet.

Our first starter at Maurita's - Quenelles of fresh salty cheese
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The most traditional food here is the pupusa - a corn or rice flour thick tortilla that is stuffed with cheese, chicharrones, and beans. It is made by making a masa or dough with the right amount of water because consistency is very important. Then you take a ball of dough, make a hole inside, put the filling in, fold the top closed and pat it out between your hands - no press or machine can do it as well. Oh, you can put a bit of oil on your palms so it doesn’t stick. Then fry it up and eat it with cortida (which is a vinegary cole slaw made with hand cut cabbage, carrots, sometimes onions and jalapenos, and oregano) and a water tomato sauce. Oddly, this national meal is also slang for a woman’s private parts because the patting together of the hands while forming the pupusa reminds some people of Lesbians getting it on. Excuse the vulgar anecdote here.

Our second starter at Maurita's - Chicharrones with fried tortillas and pico de gallo (the salsa like stuff)

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This food is popular with all Salvadorans although some of my gringo friends hate them and claim that you will always get sick from eating them and that the pork is rancid. I have eaten them from maybe 10 different places/stands and never had a problem. On the Travel Channel, I saw a show where both Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern ate pupusas in NYC and they were both familiar with them and love them ... so that’s great food cred right there.

Fatima's separate and stuff technique

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I think that Fatima has the best way of eating them. She separates the two halves and then eats them like two soft tacos with the cortida on the inside. We all love them in the house but don’t eat them very often since they are very fattening and very condusive to turning regularly proportioned people into very round people.

The girls at Maurita's
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What I find really maddening is that pupusas can only be found for breakfast or dinner - and I think it is the perfect lunch food! I have heard various explanations for this - that it was supposed to be a big filling breakfast that workers would have at home before heading out to the fields to work all day. And the opposite where the workers have such a big lunch with meat, rice, beans, salad, tortillas or bread that they only want something small like a pupusa at the end of the day. Whatever the reason, this is harsh fact of life in El Salvador - although we were able to get pupusas for lunch one day when Elliot and his two friends were visiting from Canada.

The amazing waitress (left) who found us lunchtime pupusas!
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We were at my favourite comida típica place, the Mercado de Antiguo Cuscutlan, looking for a food stand that had pupusas. A lot of the big flat top grills were making tortillas but all the fixings for pupusas were put away. I offered women $5 tips to make a few pupusas ... and was turned down at 5 different places.

Fresh oysters on the half shell at Maurita's

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We ended up at Mauritas where I explained the problem to a waitress and she said hold on ... and came back saying she found someone who would commit the social outrage of cooking pupusas for lunch but we had to pay a 10 cent premium on each one and we had to order 20 of them ... done ... and enjoyed!

My favourite ... Sopa de Patas

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So that is how we came to become loyal to Mauritas. There are probably about 40 food stands and we have eaten at maybe 8 of them. Many of them are very quiet and empty but Mauritas is probably the biggest and busiests (and they take credit cards). They have fresh oysters (for $8, $10 and $12 per dozen, depending on the size), black clams that my friend Minh says are like the kind they had in Viet Nam, and all the traditional meals. We always start with a fresh soft cheese, avocados, and chicharrones (which is actually the name of a fried pork rind but is made here with big chunks of pork meat fried in pork fat), with fresh and fried tortillas.

Sopa de Mariscada

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The the girls usually have a big seviche and I will have a big bowl of Sopa de Patas - a very hearty soup made with cow’s feet and served with big pieces of tendon, tripe, and big chunky vegetables like corn on the cob, cabbage, yucca, wiskil, and carrot. It is served with chopped onion and cilantro and I cover it in hot sauce.

Counting the empties to get a free Pilsener key chain ... sweet!

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Yum! Usually have 3-4 beers provided by the lovely Constancia and Brava beer girls who are constantly fighting for our patronage - Constancia has skinnier girls who offer little gifts like glasses and beer openers while the Brava girls are larger and bustier women who offer a free beer after having 6.

What's that smell? Oh, they brought the kids.
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The other great traditional soup is Mariscada which is a rich seafood soup made with fish, shrimps, langostine, and crab. Maybe some clams too? Then they pour heavy cream into it when they serve it (which is optional - you can have the healthy version which has more veggies in it at some places). Very delicious, rich, and messy if you take the small crab apart.
You can also get really fresh seafood - it goes from the fishmongers into the frying pan here. I tried a turtle egg once ... I know, a protected species but very popular here. It was put into boiling water for maybe 30 seconds and served to me ... it had a soft and leathery shell, you make a hole in the top, put in salt (maybe lime or hot sauce as well), then you suck out the liquidy mess ... did not enjoy that at all.

The stand where they grind the fresh corn for masa for tortillas
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Reminds me of the Sopa de Garrobo that I had once at another restaurant. An iguana soup where the reptile was first boiled to make a broth and then the carcass was fried and served as meat ... the broth was bitterish and quite unpleasant while the animal was extremely bony and had virtually no meat on it. Wow, not good. BUT, I was at a gastronomical food fair where 300 Salvadoran chefs set up at the Sheraton’s big ballroom and the best thing I tried was a Sopa de Garrobo ... rich, deep, delicious ... and am kicking myself for not finding out where that chef worked.
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Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables
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So we like to meet friends at the Mercado and we have a big weekend brunch meal. It has been getting a lot more crowded on Saturdays since Sky TV in Mexico took over the rights to broadcast Spanish Football in Central America. So the thousands of fans of Barcelona and Real Madrid have to go somewhere that has a satellite feed to watch their beloved team ... which makes the Market a popular place with TVs at every food stand. Afterwards, we go to the DVD stand and I buy a bunch of bootlegs to bring to Cuba and we go buy vegetables. The Mercado also has a shoe repair place, shoe stores, hair salons, a florist, stationary shop, and an artesanal goods shop. If you make it down to visit, I'll have to take you to this place.

Cooking pots and corn grinders made from volcanic rock

If you make it down to visit, I'll have to take you to this place.

More Food Verbiage

I’ve had a busy few weeks. Had to head up to Toronto for about three weeks to take care of a family emergency. Did a lot of shopping and lugged a lot of stuff back to El Salvador. Had a pretty good time up there, was able to spend a lot of time with family, got out a few times with friends, and finally got to see my friend Jeff’s new house with his incredibly nice kitchen. Hand painted customs cabinets (including on the fridge and Miele dishwasher doors), six burner dual gas Viking range, and an island that includes a sink/garberator, large wine fridge, built in microwave, and a big warming drawer!

Jeff and the wonder-kitchen

It was my first time in the new kitchen in Owen Sound so I was happy to cook three meals over the weekend. On Friday, we did Korean food with 8 bottles of Soju and 2 bottles of the 100 year wine. I picked up some kimchee, Chrysanthemum leaves, pickled cucumbers and garlic greens, fresh perilla leaves from Korea (!), and bulgogi beef for a nice table top cooking session. Chilli paste, fresh serranos, big chunks of garlic, and grilled meat wrapped up in lettuce with some funky greens. I recall the meal being very delicious and it ended with cigars, whiskey and chocolate on the porch but I don’t recall very much more than that although there were rumours that we got really, really drunk. Mind you, I think that we only drank maybe 6 bottles of Korean booze (or maybe 8) … and a bottle of wine and the whiskey. The Andong Soju was really amazing – clean and fresh like very good vodka.

Andong Soju with unidentified pink bunny

Next day, I made that delicious simple tofu, green onion and beef soup that Mom used to whip up in about 10 minutes. My friends were amazed at how tasty and simple it was so I think that they have added that recipe to their repertoire.

Medium rare grilled lamb with roast veggies

That night, we decided to make a big meal and ended up with a nice deboned leg of lamb marinated in olive oil, garlic and fresh Rosemary and grilled on the Weber and served on a bed of grilled veggies.

Bacon wrapped to keep warm

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... and served on a bed of roast potatoes and grilled savoy

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We also, inexplicably, decided to do a roast steamer leg of pork covered in bacon and served over roast potatoes and savoy cabbage with a red wine jus gravy with parsley. What rocket surgeon came up with that menu? There were only 8 of us for dinner. Washed down with maybe 6 bottles of wine … ugh, wheel me to bed.

Good Canadian Pub Food

Other notably meals … convalescing family member at home where I cooked a nice mac and cheese au gratin with a very old white cheddar, giant BLT’s, chicken souvlaki with a Greek salad, and chicken and dumplings. Went out one night to my local Firkin pub and our table ordered 4 of the specials – prime beef ribs, charred on the grill and slathered with a sweet bbq sauce that comes, I kid you not, with a side of chicken wings and fries. Washed down with 5 pints of beer, yum.

Fixin's for Sukiyaki

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Elliot, myself and Mom after dinner

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Mom came back from Korea and China and we had some nice meals. I got to pick the last meal I had in Toronto so asked for Sukiyaki. Mom made it with beef, tofu, spinach, green onions, spinach, baby bok choi, and shitakes ... delish, and healthy too.

After all this food, it was nice to get back home. The rainy season has started and it will be overcast and rainy until October – although not all the time. It was sunny when I woke up this morning so as long as I get to see the sun every few days, I’ll be happy.

So getting back into the cooking and eating cycle here. Went to Minh’s Cuisine restaurant to celebrate my friend Pierre’s birthday. We ordered a few very tasty appetizers and Minh sent us a couple of nice freebie plates. For my main, I had a curry shrimp dish and it was delish and made even better by some pickled garlic and Habanero chillis. I foolishly ate a whole one including all the seeds and pith … and while it was awesome eating it, my stomach was upset all night. But that s**t is good for you and should keep most gastrointestinal maladies away.

The gift that keeps on giving ... pickled Habaneros and garlic from Minh

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Then on the weekend, Keller was in the mood to smoke so he found a couple of local pork shoulders (none of that potentially scary Hillshire Farms factory pork from Pricesmart). He dusted up a rub and threw it on the smoker along with a beercan chicken and some brined salmon. Salmon was well smoked and awesome and came off first. Then we had to battle our friend who likes to eat his meat very rare. I was trying to explain that that may be okay for an expensive cut of meat but for something cheap, fatty and gristly, it would need 8 to 10 hours at 225 degrees. But nooo, he took it off at 3 hours and then at 5 hours … still not properly cooked. I acquiesced and said that he could cook one shoulder any way he wanted but I was going to do the other one … but he snuck the second one off when I wasn’t looking (possibly between my beers number 6 and 7). So I had to restart the firebox and left it on for another 3 hours … which I think took us to 11:00 pm. When it was done, it was awesome – soft and falling off the bone in chunks. Unfortunately, none of us were hungry anymore! But it made for good tacos later.

Sorry but I forgot my camera so no good food pictures! Just these weird ones that Keller took with his Blackberry. The second one is me with one of the smoked shoulders.

What we are most excited about now, foodwise, is making pastrami and Montreal Smoked Meat. I brought the pickling spices and the saltpeter from Canada and I just have to find some nice briskets. I have two recipes – one calling for a 10 day brine and the other for 21 days … don’t know if I can wait that long. We are planning on having a big deli dinner with dill pickles, potato chips, and pastrami sandwiches slathered in hot mustard that are so thick, you’ll have problems taking a bite out of it.

Organized a group of 12 of us to go to the Mercado Antiguo Cuscutlan tomorrow for some comida tipica ... and I promise to take photos and do a proper blog on the great local dishes and seafood.