Salvadorian cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of El Salvador.
The traditional cuisine consists of food from Native American cuisine, indigenous
Lenca, Maya, Pipil and European 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 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,
often served with curtido. Pollo encebollado is another popular Salvadoran dish that
contains chicken simmered with onions. Salvadoran cheeses, queso duro (hard cheese),
queso fresco (fresh cheese), and cuajada, are eaten with meals.
Two other typical Salvadoran dishes are yuca frita and panes rellenos. Yuca frita
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 hand-pulled. This sandwich is traditionally served with turkey or chicken, tomato,
and watercress along with cucumber, cabbage, mayonnaise,.
Other well-known Salvadoran dishes include carne guisada (saucy beef with potatoes
and carrots), 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), pacaya planta (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 fillets).
El Salvador is known for different types of tamales, which are usually wrapped in
plantain leaves. These tamales include:
- Tamales de elote (Fresh corn cakes)
- Tamales pisques (Tamales stuffed with black beans)
- Tamales de pollo (Tamales stuffed with chicken and potatoes)
- Ticucos ("Travelers" tamales )
