August 14, Day 54: Food Overview Pt. 2

I have been in El Salvador for nearly two months, so I am going to reflect on both the foods and the drinks that I will miss the most. As I will tell anyone who asks, I have never eaten healthier, though I have also never drank more unhealthily (primarily because water and skim milk are much more expensive here than in the States), so check out my favorites! I'm not claiming that any of these foods are specifically Salvadorian, but they are my favorites I have experienced here.

Foods (Comidas)

10. Mangos - Gerardo's house - They are bigger, sweeter, and juicier than those I have tried in the States, though that might just be because Arkansas is nowhere near an area that grows mangos...

9. Pancakes with condensed milk - Gaby's house - Instead of syrup, we ate pancakes with nothing but condensed milk. I had never had this before, but it sure made for a delicious snack. Going to keep it in mind when I return to the States.

8. Salvadorian Chinese food - Various restaurants - Salvadorian Chinese food is drastically different from American Chinese food. It mostly consists of rice, along with three or four types of meat, which have been cooked wonderfully with vegetables. Personally, I take points off for the onions (my worst enemy) and the mushrooms (which were occasionally disguised as beef), but the food was of excellent quality at every Chinese restaurant we went to, and I will miss it. Then again, I personally prefer the Americanized Chinese food, so it isn't a terrible loss, though it is probably far more unhealthy in the States.

7. Pupusa revuelta - The pupuseria on el Boquerón - Revueltas are hands-down my favorite pupusas, containing melted cheese, creamy beans, and mouth-watering pork. I have not been unsatisfied at any pupuseria I have been to, but the one I went to with Gaby the day after going with Mario, Connie, and Gerardo's family prepares them the best. I am going to miss pupusas so much!

6. Caviar - Gerardo's house - After years of wondering what the fuss was all about, I finally got to try caviar, courtesy of Gerardo's uncle Armando, a marine biologist. To my unrefined mouth, it tasted like really salty tuna with the texture of blue berries. Slap a cracker underneath and call it delicious!

5. Pork chops and mashed potatoes - Gerardo's house - Still the best pork chops and mashed potatoes I have ever had, and I have been lucky enough to have them several times since that magical first encounter.

4. Stroodle - Gerardo's house - The exact same day Armando brought caviar to the house, his daughter Diana, Connie, and Karla were making stroodles! I had never tried them before, but they were absolutely divine. They tasted like a hot pocket apple pie to me, homemade and fresh. Apparently they took hours to make too...damn.

3. Crêpe - Crêpe Love - My sweet tooth has been somewhat tame lately, so crêpes have dropped to number 3 on the list. Despite that, I still love them with a burning passion, and lo and behold, Gerardo knows how to make them! Wonder if I can convince him to whip up a batch in the States...

2. Pasta with fish, lobster, and shrimp - I haven't had it since my first day in El Salvador, but only now do I reflect on how absolutely superb that meal was. It was filling, fresh, and the epitome of my favorite types of healthier foods.

1. Pizza - "La Tarteleta" - And the pizza from my favorite restauraunt in all of El Salvador has taken the lead at number 1! Going there the other day on our way back from Perquin only reinforced how much I loved it!

Drinks (Bebidas)

5. Pilsener - Since I won't be drinking in the States, and since Pilsener is a Salvadorian beer in the first place, I imagine that I will miss the beer that I have grown most accustomed to drinking here. That said, it is mostly the nostalgia I will miss; drinking alcohol hasn't really been as appealing to me as simply drinking a glass of milk, Sunny D, or water in the States.

4. Mirinda - A carbonated drink that is orange flavor, I have grown attached to Mirinda and Fanta, neither of which I have ever found in the States, despite one of them being owned by Coca Cola.

3. Hot Chocolate - I had the best hot chocolate of my life when I was out with Mario and friends the other day. Chocolate con leche, which sounds just like any other hot chocolate I have had in the states, but it was thick, sweet, and creamy. Truly delicious, but the hot chocolate at U of O can satisfy me.

2. Fanta - Fanta has become my typical drink of choice at restaurants, solely because they tend to have it more often than Mirinda. Just as with the Pilsener though, I prefer water and milk to soda, so I can live without it.

1. Frozen de Fresa - Frozen de Fresa will be the sole drink that I will truly miss and crave from El Salvador. I was hooked on Sonic's strawberry slushy drinks in the States, but the more natural and fruity frozen de fresa of El Salvador has it surpassed in every way.

And with that final addictive drink, I am done thinking about Salvadorian food and drink. I will really miss how natural it all is, and how the meat and vegetables are prepared better than in the States, but nonetheless, I'm excited to get back to eating what I am used to. Hopefully, I will retain some of what I have learned in El Salvador and incorporate more vegetables into my diet, but only time will tell.

One.

July 23, Day 31: La Gallina India

Today promised to be a slow day so Gerardo and I went to the gym for the first time in a while to work out. It turned out that Mr. Worldwide also goes there and was working out as we arrived, much to all of our surprise. After we finished biceps and triceps, we went out to eat at a restaurant called "La Gallina India de Doña Marta" or "The Indian Hen of Madam Marta." Gerardo's food suggestions have never steered me wrong before so at his and Rodrigo's prodding, I ordered the chicken which was supposedly the restaurant's specialty. It most definitely was. Each bone was scraped clean and the tender meat was consumed in its entirety. Apparently, the chickens raised by the restaurant only consumed natural food (for example, worms rather than genetically modified food) so they possessed a better and more natural taste. I could definitely tell; it tasted well-seasoned to me but apparently nothing was added except salt. The soup wasn't too bad either, but because I am not a huge fan of vegetables, it was just so-so to me.

Even though I really enjoyed the food, that wasn't really the reason for today's post. What really got to me is I think I finally saw part of impoverished El Salvador. The people I have met and enjoyed hanging out with have been largely well off, so although I have come into contact with many different people, my perspective is still narrowed down to middle class and higher. There was a little boy at the restaurant who I could not understand that I was later told was a child beggar. He hung around us for most of the meal and tried to go with us when we left. I wasn't sure if he was serious or just being mischievous; perhaps he was the kid of one of the people in the area, but my eyes have been opened several ways today. On the way to the gym earlier, we passed by a filthy old man taking a nap in the middle of the sidewalk. I know there are homeless people in the States, but I have never come across someone who did not at least attempt to get money or food from sympathetic pedestrians. I think many fortunate people find it awkward trying to dodge the advances of beggars, but I honestly think I found his apathy even more disturbing. The experiences of today also bring back memories of passing by children and adults alike that were missing limbs. In this tiny country, there is so many people with so many different stories and circumstances. I don't think I could put myself in the shoes of a crippled or homeless child anymore than my friends can know what it is like to lose a family. I don't consider today a bad experience; it was simply eye-opening.

After lunch, we went back to Gerardo's house and just hung out for a while. I was able to rekindle Gerardo's interest in chess and we played about six or seven games tonight. I haven't abandoned my goal of defeating Ernesto; on the contrary, I've been playing with him, Gaby, and now Gerardo quite a bit. There have been a few close games that dwindled down to nothing but our pawns and our kings, but somehow, he always finds a way to come back. I'll get him soon, and when I do, it'll be a blog post, guaranteed!

One.

 

 

July 5, Day 13: Food Overview Pt. 1

Today for lunch, I had a truly amazing meal, and I decided immediately that even though this blog will cover many important aspects of my time here, it is definitely relevant to devote several posts to nothing but food. So here it is: my top five favorite foods that I have eaten in El Salvador (so far). Drumroll please!

5. Sopa de frijoles (Bean Soup): I hate beans in the States, but ever since I tried a pupusa offered to me by my friends Gerardo and Mario, I began to open my mind a little. When Gerardo's mother made bean soup, I was still somewhat skeptical, but I went ahead and tried it, and I am very glad I did. The soup combined with duro-blando queso (hard-soft cheese), portions of tortilla, and a little bit of salt created a utopia of flavor in my mouth. It was impossible to narrow down the taste, but the cheese stood out the most along with the various textures.

4. Platanos con leche de crema (Plantains with Milk Cream): Plantains are somewhat similar to bananas, though they have a unique texture to them. Boiled plantains, fried plantains, and even raw plantains have all made plantains one of my favorite fruits, despite having never tried it in the US. When Carla brought out milk cream for dinner one night and Gerardo advised me to try it, I discovered I was instantly in love. It is a very light and soft cream that tastes like milk but is also a bit sweeter, making a healthy snack on par with many delicious but unhealthy desserts.

3. Carne de cerdo con puré de papas (Pork with Mashed Potatoes): As someone who resides in the South, it is almost sad including this, but there is not getting around it; Gerardo's mom cooks up the best pork and mashed potatoes I have ever had in my life. The potatoes were extremely creamy, almost like a gravy, and the pork was so tender that it could be sliced up with merely a fork. It almost melted in my mouth, but most of it was meat, rather than fat. Needless to say, the parts that were fat were even tastier. This was my lunch today.

2. Pizza: As stated in a previous post, the best pizza I have ever had was at the restaurant "La Tarteleta" in San Miguel. I could taste every single ingredient: the thin crust, the perfectly melted cheese, the tomato sauce, and the raw tomatoes on top. It sounds largely like your average pizza, but it was so much more. I ate it on three different occasions during the four days we were in San Miguel.

1. Crêpe: Though more well-known in France, I tried my first crêpe at a mall in El Salvador shortly before going to the movies with Gerardo and Connie to watch The Great Gatsby. My sweet tooth was kicking in so I was going to buy an éclair, but Gerardo dragged me to a food stand called Crêpe Lovers. I had never tried one before and the pictures that looked like tortillas made me sure that it was going to be a typical Salvadorian food, but I was way off. The crêpe I had was sweet, rolled up and stuffed with slices of bananas and strawberries with a double layer of white and milk chocolate. Of all the desserts I have ever enjoyed, this one is definitely at the top of the list, and anyone who knows me can testify that I am a sugar junkie. There are different types of crêpes; apparently salty ones are more akin to a meal (Gerardo had his with cheese and ham), but the sweet ones are undoubtedly desserts.

That's it for this food post! I hope to experience more savory delights that I can discuss and ultimately compile at the end of my trip into a "The Best Foods of El Salvador" post. And by the way, today is Gerardo's birthday. Happy birthday, Gerardo!

One.