Cuisine of El Salvador from SMSMAN's blog

There’s a long-running misconception about Salvadoran food that the only thing they’re known for is pupusas. And while this national dish is arguably the most popular food in El Salvador — especially when it comes to a cheap snack — they have far more to offer.

During our time in the country, we’ve had the opportunity to try a huge variety of different foods. Some of the best food in El Salvador ranges from unique takes on neighbouring cuisines to traditional dishes of their own. So we’re here to share with you some of the best El Salvador food has to offer, and where you can find it!

Salvadoran cuisine is often misrepresented by many as Huevos a la Salvadoreña underwhelming. While this may be true when compared to other regional heavy hitters – notably Mexico – the cuisine of El Salvador is by no means bland. Given the country’s history, they simply haven’t had the luxury of being able to focus on expanding their culinary scene. Limited crops and resources have kept options rather limited.

That said, their creative use of common staples such as corn, beans, plantains and cheese has brought about some incredibly delicious dishes. Just don’t forget that while travelling El Salvador, you’ll be eating much more than just pupusas!

For the sake of this post, we’re focusing on the more traditional aspects of Salvadoran food. Though it should be noted that the culinary scene in El Salvador these days is experiencing a renaissance of sorts. Young chefs, a new generation from the age of the internet, who grew up in the post-war era, are rapidly changing the face of Salvadoran cuisine.

Many chefs have trained internationally and are putting new and creative cooking techniques to local ingredients from around the country. So keep this in mind, for your first (or next) visit to El Salvador. The food scene is changing. And while this list showcases the vastness of the country’s food, it’s only a stepping stone for what is beginning across the country.

I know I said that there is much more to Salvadoran cuisine than pupusas, but they are one of the greatest foods of all time. Pupusas are essentially El Salvador’s answer to dumplings — though I hesitate to even make that comparison.

A simple corn or rice-flour dough is stuffed with a selection of fillings, and flattened into a disc. The pupusa is then fried on a griddle until crisp on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. They’re served with a pickled slaw called curtido, and a splash of juicy tomato sauce.

Fillings include all kinds of combinations of meat, seafood or vegetables, and almost always cheese. Though most commonly you’ll find them with beans, chicharron or cheese — or the combination of all three known as revueltas.

Where to Find | Everywhere, starting in the mid-afternoon and throughout the evening. Sometimes you’ll find them for breakfast on weekends. Every city, village or town, and even randomly at times along the highway; you’ll find a pupseria selling these classic snacks.

Tamales are one of the most famous dishes in Latin America, though they can vary significantly from country to country.

In El Salvador, they’re a fairly standard style, featuring a masa, or cornflour, dough filled with a meat, usually chicken or pork. The whole mixture is wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed for several hours until the filling forms a soft yet dense loaf (for lack of a better word).

As for ingredients, El Salvador has some of the most complex flavours when it comes to their fillings. While tamales are typically fairly simple, it’s a much different story here. While the masa dough and meat remains the same as elsewhere, the Salvadoran style also includes boiled eggs, roasted sweet red peppers, chickpeas, tangy capers and salty olives.