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EATING AND DRINKING |
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Refined cooking is not one of El Salvador's strong points, although
there are a few exceptions, with gourmet cuisine available in San
Salvador and smart restaurants serving excellently prepared local dishes
in the provincial cities. Most local people, however, eat in comedores ,
the ubiquitous café, where you can get a nutritious and substantial meal
for around US$2-3. The cleanliness of these places varies, as does the
quality of the food; if in doubt, choose one that's busy.
The main meal of the day is lunch - look out for comida a la vista ,
basically a cheap and cheerful set lunch served up at comedores across
the country. Generally, unless it's a fiesta, people don't eat out a lot
and places close relatively early; around 9pm. Only in the cities, and
mostly at weekends, will restaurants be full and stay open late.
What to eat
The mainstay of Salvadorean food is the pupusería , serving pupusas ,
the cheap and filling national snack. These small tortillas are served
piping hot and filled with cheese ( queso ), beans ( frijoles ), pork (
...
The mainstay of Salvadorean food is the pupusería , serving pupusas ,
the cheap and filling national snack. These small tortillas are served
piping hot and filled with cheese ( queso ), beans ( frijoles ), pork (
chicharrón ) or all three ( revuelta ), and cooked on a hot plate.
Pupusas are normally made from cornmeal (although the crispier ricemeal
version is worth trying), and are served with optional hot sauce and/or
curtida , a jar of pickled cabbage, beetroot and carrots. Pupuserías
range from humble street-corner grills to huge, barn-like places filled
with families at the weekends - most of them, however, only start
serving from the late afternoon onwards.
Other Salvadorean specialities include mariscada (seafood in a creamy
sauce), tamales (meat or chicken wrapped in maize dough and boiled in a
leaf), ceviche (raw, marinated fish), and sopa de frijoles (black or red
bean soup - often a meal in itself). Panes con pavo are breadrolls
filled with turkey and served with salad - many restaurants specialize
in these alone - and bocas are small appetizers, often meat and/or
pickles and vegetables, served with drinks or before a meal.
There are US-style fast-food and pizza chains throughout the country.
Chinese and Tex-Mex restaurants are reasonably common too, as are
Italian places in the larger cities, though their authenticity varies.
So far, El Salvador has not been struck by a cholera epidemic. If
freshly cooked in front of you, street food is generally safe to eat,
although there's a lot of dust and dirt in the air and hygiene standards
are not always what they should be.
Drinking
Locally produced coffee is very good, usually drunk black and strong at
breakfast and with an afternoon snack of tamales . In small villages it
will be served lista , boiled up with sugar cane and surprisingly tasty.
El...
Locally produced coffee is very good, usually drunk black and strong at
breakfast and with an afternoon snack of tamales . In small villages it
will be served lista , boiled up with sugar cane and surprisingly tasty.
El Salvador's abundance of tropical fruits go to make delicious juices
in the form of jugos, licuados and frescos. Jugos are pure juices mixed
with ice, most commonly made of orange, papaya, pineapple and melon.
Licuados (sometimes called batidos ), blend the fruit juice with sugar,
ice and sometimes milk, while frescos are a fruit-based, sweet drink,
made up in bulk and served with lunch or dinner. Unless you ask
otherwise, sugar will be added to jugos and licuados . Horchata ,
another favourite, is a rather heavy milk drink with a base of rice,
sweetened with sugar and cinnamon.
The usual international-brand soft drinks are available, as well as
local equivalents, such as Kolashanpan . Water is safe to drink in San
Salvador only; elsewhere check that the water and ice used in drinks is
purified. Bottled mineral water is available almost everywhere, as are
bags of pure spring water, while most hotels provide drinking water. El
Salvador produces three excellent beers , the most popular of which is
Pilsener , followed by Regia and Suprema . Aguardiente is a sugarcane-based
liquor, produced under government control and sold through licensed
outlets called expendios .
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