Pupusas

In February I travelled to Honduras with a volunteer Canadian medical team to provide health care to people living in the very rural and very poor mountains outside the city of Gracias.


Given the nature of the trip, eating in Honduras was not as laden with adventure as my travel-eating experiences often are. Since Honduras is such a dangerous country, and because there was some expectation that the non-profit through which we were volunteering would deliver us home alive, we did not have free time to walk around and explore. Also, since water in Honduras is admittedly incompatible with the Canadian digestive system, and since rampant stomach flu would have derailed our stated purpose, a “no-street-food” policy was implemented.

The combination of security and health concerns resulted in fairly controlled and predictable eating. Other than the plantain and yuca chips, Hershey’s Kisses and Pringles that we bought on supervised and armed trips to a little grocery store, and other than a fantastic buffet at a highway rest-stop, at which the variety knew no bounds and the breaded deep-fried chicken left an indelible memory, our meals were not particularly varied.


That does not mean that the meals were not tasty. They were! And I will never tire of avocado, sweet plantain (maduro), queso fresco, refried beans, rice and tabasco sauce.


I did eat street food on one never-before-disclosed afternoon: no sooner were we left to our own devices that singular time, in the charming mountain town of Valle de Los Angeles, did Leigh and I find ourselves eating a pupusa that we had bought from a man with a grill by the side of the road. We responsibly declined the typical accompaniment of coleslaw and home-made hot sauce (you know, the water thing) and, amidst the colourful homes, cobblestone and previously-loved tuk-tuks, enjoyed what we hoped would not be the meal to topple the brigade. While our team was not exactly immune to the ailments that can afflict travellers, I am relieved to say that pupusa was not the source of any trauma or collective delay.

Pupusas are patties of masa harina typically stuffed with some combination of refried beans, queso fresco and meat and are served with coleslaw and hot sauce. They, I believe, were first stuffed in El Salvador but are definitely eaten in Honduras, Nicaragua (thanks, Anibal) and possibly elsewhere in Central America.


Pupusas are remarkably easy and quick to make. The only time-consuming component was preparing the refried beans (not fried!) which, like all beans, need to cook for a few hours - a major shortcoming of beans but at the very least something that can be done ahead of time.


I don’t have any pupusa-making disaster stories. I suppose my pupusas weren’t as flat as pupusas “normally” are (see picture of a flat pupusa), but this might just be one of those things that comes with practice. Leemor and Andrew certainly weren’t complaining and I got over it pretty quickly.

Pupusas

Ingredients:

Here’s a list of all the ingredients you need to make papusas. Recipes below.

• 2 cups masa harina
• Queso fresco
• 2 or 2.5 cups dried pinto beans
• 1 cooking onion
• Cumin
• Olive oil or any other oil
• 2 tomatoes
• 3 shallots
• one of those skinny red hot peppers
• cilantro, handful
• lemon juice, 1 tablespoon
• Sea salt
• Cabbage, any kind
• Oil - avocado, grapeseed or sunflower (something with a mild flavour).


Refried beans

Ingredients:

• 2 or 2.5 cups dried pinto beans
• 1 onion
• Cumin
• Olive oil or any other oil
• Salt

Directions:
• Soak pintos over night.
• Boil the beans for 3 hours.
• Fry 1 large onion until clear.
• Blend all ingredients in the food processor.



Salsa

Ingredients:
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 shallot
• 1 of those skinny red hot peppers
• Cilantro, to taste
• Fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon or to taste
• Sea salt
• A little bit of water

Directions:
• Blend in food processor.


Super Simple Coleslaw

Ingredients:
• Cabbage, any kind, shredded
• 1-2 shallot, shredded.
• salt
• Oil - avocado, grapeseed, sunflower or any other mild-tasting oil.

Directions:
• Shred the cabbage and shallots, mix together in a bowl with salt.
• Put oil on the table in case anyone wants to use it.

Pupusa Dough

Ingredients:
• 2 cups masa harina
• 2 cups of water (the recipe said 1 cup but I found it wasn’t enough – the dough was too dry and brittle and I couldn’t flatten the pupusas without them cracking)

Directions:
• Mix the flour and water together and make into a ball of dough, knead a bit if you like. If you’ve read any of my past posts you’ll know I hate kneading.
• Divide dough up into 8 pieces.
• Roll each piece into a ball.
• Using your finger poke a hole in the ball and make a pocket.
• Stuff the pocket with beans and shredded queso fresco.
• Close the dough around the pocket and flatten.
• Fry in a greased frying pan for 3-4 minutes per side.
• Put pupusa on a plate, place coleslaw and hot sauce on top and serve.