El Salvador

Week 7 of my Eating Around the World adventure took us to El Salvador.

El Salvador is a small central American country. Before this adventure I knew nothing about the food that was eaten there. Now after trying some of their dishes, I have to say, it was quite nice. The food was simple, but really tasty. Many of the dishes below my family would happily eat again, actually I only ever post the ones we loved.

This little adventure of ours has been really exciting, discovering foods we would never have eaten before. My family is loving this. 
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So here is what I cooked on our little adventure into El Salvador.

​Pupusas 
Salvadoran Guacamole
Ejotes con Huevos-Green Beans and Eggs 
Salvadoran Chicken Stew with Red Capsicums 
Salvadorian Chicken in White Wine 
Semita de Pina
Marquesote-Sponge Cake
Leche Poleada-Vanilla Custard
Latin Style Trifle
Refresco de Ensalada 
Rompope-Eggnog with Cinnamon 
San Salvador 
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​Pupusas: This is El Salvadors national dish. Now I really liked these, it reminded me of polenta, if it were fried and with a filling.  I have yet to truly master pupusa making, so I will share a link to the recipe, but I found rolling out two circles and joining them together easier than making it in the palm of my hands and enclosing the filling. This is something I would definitely make again. I tried it with a meat filling, but we preferred cheese or beans as a filling.

​Salvadoran Guacamole: I love guacamole, it is just brilliant as a snack, great on toasted bread for breakfast, brunch or lunch. The salvadoran version is not smashed avocado, rather it is gently cubed avocado. The addition of the egg and cheese to it, is what makes it salvadoran. This is a great meal idea, it's simple, fresh and tasty.

Here is the recipe:

Serves 6

3 large ripe avocados
½ cup chopped onion, diced
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 hard-boiled egg, thin sliced or crumbled
1 tablespoon grated Romano cheese
¼ teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
Peel, pit, and chop the avocados into small cubes. Add the onion, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and mix gently so as to keep the guacamole chunky rather than mashing it.
Garnish the guacamole with the sliced or crumbled hard-boiled egg and sprinkle over the cheese. If using oregano, sprinkle the oregano on top also.
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​Ejotes con Huevos-Green Beans and Eggs: As we grow beans in our garden, when I came upon this recipe I wanted to try it. Was it the best thing I have ever eaten, no, but was it nice, yes it was. So I will add the recipe here because I will make this again, when I have an abundance of beans. 

Here is the recipe:

Serves 4-6

4 cups green beans (about 450g), tips off, cut in 1.5cm pieces
4 cups of water
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped ripe Roma tomatoes
½ cup chopped coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
4 eggs
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook uncovered for 8 minutes or until tender. Drain and rinse in cold water and set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the onion, sauté for 30 seconds, then add the tomato and coriander; cook and stir together for 1 minute. Add the cooked green beans, salt and chicken stock powder and sauté for about 1 minute.

​Crack all four eggs on top and gently stir everything for 2 to 3 minutes until the eggs are cooked. Sprinkle the pepper, stir, and remove from the stove. 

​Salvadoran Chicken Stew with Red Capsicums: This was so simple that I originally thought it would not work, but not only did it work we absolutely loved it. Now I served it with cous cous, which is not something you would serve it with in El Salvador, but it worked so well together. The sauce here is more of a broth, than a sauce, this is a great mid week meal, definitely something I will be making again and again.

​Salvadorian Chicken in White Wine: This simple, yet delicious dish is one of our favourites from El Salvador, truly delicious. Served with mashed potato (or cous cous) this was a great mid week meal.

​Semita de Pina: This was actually really nice. Now mine looked nothing like the perfect one from the link, but flavour wise, I really liked it. It is like a bready tart, so slightly sweet bread like dough filled with a delicious pineapple jam. My family enjoyed this, it was great for breakfast or a sweet snack. I would definitely make this again.

​Marquesote-Sponge Cake: This recipe I made when I made my Latin Style trifle. This is probably my first ever truly successful sponge cake. It was an easy recipe to follow and it came out perfect. It is a great cake to use in a trifle as it soaks up the flavours in a trifle, without it falling apart. This cake I will definitely be making again.

Here is the recipe:

1 cup plain flour, sifted
1½ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 cup caster sugar
5 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 175C/155C fan forced. Combine the sifted flour with the baking powder and salt, re-sift everything, and set aside.

Grease a 22cm round, or 22cm x 18cm rectangular pan, or an 20cm square pan.

Beat the yolks in a small bowl, with an electric mixer, for about 2 minutes until very light and pale in color. 

After beating, add in the lemon zest and lemon juice and mix or whisk for 10 seconds. Set aside.

Whip the egg whites in a large bowl, with an electric mixer, clean beaters, until stiff but not dry.

Into the whipped egg whites, gradually fold in ⅓ of the sifted flour mixture, ⅓ of the yolk mixture, and ⅓ of the sugar. Repeat this process until all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour evenly into the greased pan. Bake at 175C/155C fan forced for 25 to 30 minutes or until firm and the top is golden. Remove immediately and carefully from pan, place on a rack to cool. 

Keep scrolling down for the Lain Style Trifle recipe.
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​Leche Poleada-Vanilla Custard: This is delicious. This was amazing in my Latin Style Trifle, truly delicious. But I loved it also on its own, just dusted with ground cinnamon, it was so nice, a perfect custard. A simple, delicate dessert that was just yum. 

​Latin Style Trifle: When I first thought about making this dessert I was concerned about all the different flavours that were in this. I mean you have a sponge cake that you combine with a blood orange juice reduction, some rum, a pineapple and mango compote, chocolate ganache, vanilla custard, chantilly cream and toasted coconuts, what was this going to taste like, will it be too much confusion with all those flavours. Well, it was delicious. I could not stop eating this, it is like no other trifle I had ever eaten. I truly loved this, it was different, it was delicious. Now I made this with no party happening, so I ate this for days, it was breakfast, sometimes lunch, then dessert. This is a great party dessert as it is delicious but more importantly, it can be assembled two days in advance. If you want to try something different, give this a go.

​Refresco de Ensalada: Now my kids absolutely loved this drink. I absolutely loved this drink. This is a drink and a fruit salad all in one. I made this on the weekend, this was a drink to sip and enjoy with lunch and then it was a dessert in the form of a fruit salad after lunch. The flavour is so refreshing. I know this will be made again and again.

​Rompope-Eggnog with Cinnamon: I love eggnog. While I was looking for traditional dishes from El Slavador, I came across their version of eggnog which they call Rompope. Now I'm not saying eggnog originates from El Salvador, but this recipe came from someone who lives there and was served this by her grandmother and aunts and it was a family recipe, so that was good enough for me to want to try it. I love it and will be making this again and again and again.

San Salvador: I really liked this drink, it had a tropical feel to it and was refreshing. Not a weak drink, so you can add more orange and lime juice if needed. But I quite liked it at full strength. I love a simple drink.

So El Salvador turned out to be a country with new flavours for us to try, we found some absolutely delicious meals and desserts there. My family loved it and now a little bit of El Salvador will remain in our family for a long long time.

One quote I love from Alicia Maher who many of these recipes came from, is 

"I firmly believe that the time I have spent cooking for the family was well worth it; they love and respect food, as sustenance and art, but more importantly they each carry lasting memories of love, comfort and sharing. Long live traditions and family!!!"

​​​​Now to add another sticker to my world map.

Next stop Ukraine