These are a Few of our Favorite Things

So it has been almost a year since we started hitchhiking our way south in Florida. Although it seems like it has gone by in a blink of the eye, looking closely back, we have filled our time with some pretty amazing things. While laying on a deserted beach under an almost full moon, we started coming up with categories that compared and contrasted small precious moments that make this trip what it is. So the plan is to start recording one of these categories per week in our blog. Easier said than done, but we are going to give it a shot. With this amazing thing called technology we can even post these from the middle of the Pacific Ocean without internet- how you ask? Magic, and a magician never reveals his secrets. Starting off, one of our favorite favorites:

Most Amazing Street Food

A very tough category as we love so much of the local flavors we encounter on the street. As we enter a new country it is one of the first things we see (or smell) and is completely different from country to country, or even region to region. While most travelers are weary to try some of these native delights, (I am not sure what scares them; the warnings in the guide books, the flies and other insects hanging out on the unrefrigerated meat, or the old lady who is elbow deep, stirring the pot of food she is about to serve.), we however head straight to the most unusual looking food with the most interesting vender. Our only precaution is the occasional rock, paper, scissors, to see who has to try it first. Oh, this is hard! But here is our top five based mainly on taste (think we’ll have to do another category based upon vendor, there’ve been some good ones)

5) Helados and liquados we’ll lump together, also called by a plethora of other names- posicles, batidos, chile biscos, etc. these refreshing and cool treats are something to search a new city for. The helados at least are usually served out of someone’s home and you have to walk around neighborhoods looking for a small cardboard sign with “HELADOS” handwritten on it. Basically a frozen milkshake or juice in a bag that you rip off the corner and suck away til it’s gone (and then try to suck a little more). On the liquado side, it’s more of a typical milkshake, complete with your favorite tropical fruit.

4) The Nico spread of deep fried deliciousness. These fritangas are either out of people’s homes or on the street, food usually gets deep fried earlier in the day then spread out for the feasters visual delight, just to have to make the agonizing decision of what to order that is then thrown on the grill to reheat. Things like sweet pancakes with cheese wrapped inside, some kind of lettuce-wrapped rice mixture, fried sweet plantains, or the tried and true rice and beans.

3) Pupusas- the national dish of El Salvador and totally delicious! We

tried these all over the country as each person we went to stay with said “we have to go out for pupusas here, they’re the best in the whole country.” And each time we seemed to agree, though I’m sure if we went back to other places where we dined we’d be convinced of their superiority all over again. Corn tortillas stuffed with refried beans and cheese, then topped with cortido- a pickled cabbage/carrot mixture and then put some salsa on top, or sometimes a variation thereof.

2) Tostados- delicious everywhere but for us the ultimate was in San Pedro on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Such a nice lady selling them and they only cost Q2 ($0.25)- a huge tortilla chip topped with guacamole, beets, cabbage, refried beans, a carrot mixture, cheese, hardboiled egg, onion, chili sauce, etc. We ate at least a few of these everyday when we were there and it’s still the litmus test against which most other street food is judged.


And our #1…..(drum roll)….. Vigoron. Another cheap and wonderful find-
about 75cents and enough to feed us both a full meal. Steamed yucca blobbed down atop a big banana leaf then topped with some kind of soupy spiced meat mixture and pickled cabbage with chili sauce. Making it even better was right next to where this was sold we could get a fruit drink- complete with lots of chopped up bananas, papayas, mangoes etc. in the mix. Whole meal for 2, just over a dollar and the vendor was so nice and by the end of our time in Leon where we found this treat, we just had to walk up and she’d start making it without even asking- it’s nice to be a regular customer somewhere!

And an honorable mention to the nacatamales of Nicaragua- cornflour mixture stuffed with pork, rice, veggies and spices then steamed in a banana leaf. Baleattas of Honduras- huge flour tortillas with refried beans, egg, cheese and onion. Sopa de leche in Nicaragua- still not even sure exactly what it is, certainly not soup but more of a cheesecake consistency, this banana-leaf-wrapped dessert was wonderful. Cornbread thingies- mostly sold by vendors coming onto your chicken bus, they were cheap, filling and delicious.