Another coworker I will always remember is Celina Benavides, whose beautiful name befits her beautiful person. This is my tribute to Celina, a native of El Salvador.
“Let’s get pupusas,” Celina says.
“I’ve heard of those. What are they?” I ask.
“They are made of masa and then fried like a tortilla. Yeah, they’re sort of like thick tortillas,” adds Sylvia, helpfully.
“So they’re chewy and dry like a tortilla?” I press.
“No, not quite,” is the reply.
“So they’re thick and chewy like flat bread?” I try again.
“No, not quite.”
“So they’re thick and mushy like tamales?” I am undaunted. “Like cornbread? Or polenta?”
“No. No. No.”
“What do you eat them with?” I ask.
“Curditas, a pickled cabbage.”
“Pickled cabbage? Like sauerkraut? Like kimchi?”
“No. No,” and finally, “I’ll bring you some tomorrow.”
Persistence pays off, I tell you.
True to her word, Celina rushed into the office a few days later, arms laden with fragrant bundles.
Each pupusa is about ¼” thick and is filled with cheese, refried beans, chicharrones (fried pork skin), or some combination of the three. Pupusas are like fried tamales, soft and mushy with sharply salty center. They are topped with curditas and a thin tomato sauce, almost like a very mild salsa. They are more like Chinese pickled cabbage than like Korean kimchi — lightly marinated, freshly pickled and made with the normal cabbage rather than napa. I tasted vinegar, red chili flakes, cabbage, carrots and onion. My coworker noticed oregano. Other than the oregano, the similarity to Chinese pickled cabbage is striking.
Another similarity between pupusas and the food I grew up with is the pupusa itself. Consider the two pictures below. The photo on the right is of ho dduk, my father’s favorite Korean street food, a fried cake made of sticky rice and filled with cinnamon, sugar and nuts. The photo on the left is the pupusa, a cake made of white cornmeal and filled with savory items instead. Food knows no boundaries, be they geographical, national, political or ideological.
the word pupusa kind of reminds me of pupa, which reminds me of larvae, which grosses me out. ewww. sorry.
nonetheless, your pics + descriptions look/sound delicious! if can get over the word association, i would like to try one someday.
i LOVEEEE PUPUSSAAAASSS! jenn, more and more i can’t wait for you to do to usc. right next to campus is one of my secret favorite hole in the wall eatery, a salvadorian pupuseria. it’s ghetto and you will probably never see students there, which makes it all the more wonderful to me. mmmm they also have them at the wednesday farmer’s market but they’re not quite as fabulous. maybe i’ll get it this week though.