DELICIOUS FOOD!

Feb 3

MALANGA & CABBAGE

After the morning hike up Conchagua volcano, we are hungry and ask our driver to stop some place for lunch, papusas more specifically. Once down the mountain, we stop at a small village. There is a charming piazza with a church. The pupusa place is not serving until 5pm - it seems to be a custom that papusas are served after 5pm.

We do find a woman in the piazza serving malanga with fermented cabbage and a couple of sauces. It's really good with huge portions and only a dollar. We are content and have relaxing drive back.

PUPUSAS

After 5pm, we find a roadside pupusa place and fill up. Pupusas originated from the Pipil tribe that used to live in this area 2,000 years ago.

Pupusas are the national dish of El Salvador. They are tortillas made of corn or rice dough - similar to Mexican tortillas but slightly thicker - and stuffed with various ingredients such as: cheese, vegetables, beans, shrimp or fish.

They are easy to eat with your hands and delicious!

LOROCO

One day, we hire a driver, Toby who brings us to the Santiago de Maria huge market. I buy fresh loroco to bring back to the chef. Loroco is native to Central America, and was called ‘Quilite’, which in the indigenous language means ‘Edible Herb’. It is a perennial plant that produces flowers that are harvested and used in pupusa and egg dishes. It has a unique, pungent flavor.

The market also has all kinds of vegetables, fruits and tamales as well as handmade brooms and baskets. Our next stop is Alegria, which is a charming tourist town with artisanal shops.

COFFEE & CLAY

The outing continues with a nice drive up the mountain to a horticulture wonderland where they sell the coffee they have grown and have a restaurant: Vivero y Restaurante Cartagena. It boasts a lovely veranda overlooking the lowland with these lovely flowers dripping off the vines.

Then we’re off to Laguna de Alegria, also called ‘The Emerald of America’ due to the green color of its high sulfur content water. The lagoon rests in an old volcano. Gary collects the lagoon clay into jars he’s brought and then applies clay all over his body. While the clay is drying, an older man comes by to chat and tells us how beneficial the clay is. The sulfur is said to be medicinal.