Pupusa

Pupusa
Place of origin	El Salvador, Honduras
Main ingredients	Corn or rice flour; Fillings e.g. meat, fish, cheese, vegetables, beans
	Media: Pupusa;

A pupusa is a thick griddle cake or flatbread from El Salvador and Honduras^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] made with cornmeal or rice flour, similar to the Colombian and Venezuelan arepa. In El Salvador, it has been declared the national dish and has a specific day to celebrate it. It is usually stuffed with one or more ingredients, which may include cheese (such as quesillo or cheese with loroco buds), chicharrón, squash, or refried beans. It is typically accompanied by curtido (a spicy fermented cabbage slaw) and tomato salsa, and is traditionally eaten by hand.

Etymology

The exact origin of the term pupusa is unknown. The Dictionary of Americanisms [es], published by the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, states that pupusa derives from the Nawat word puxahua meaning "fluffy" or "fluffy thing".^[5] In her book Interlude and Other Verses, Lidia Pérez de Novoa believed that pupusa derives from the Nawat word pupusawa meaning "to puff up".^[6]

Salvadoran linguist Jorge Lemus argued that the word pupusa does not have Nawat roots, stating that the Pipil people referred to pupusas as kukumuzin. In his book Quicheísmos: Contribution to the Study of American Folklore..., Santiago Barberena [es] believed that the word pupusa originated from a combination of the K'iche' words pop (meaning "sphere") and utz (meaning "good thing"), forming the word poputz meaning "good sphere", however, the term poputz does not appear in any K'iche' language dictionaries.^[7]

Origin

El Salvador and Honduras both claim to be the birthplace of the pupusa. Salvadoran archeologist Roberto Ordóñez attributed the creation of the pupusa to the Pipil people due to the name meaning "swollen" in the Pipil language.^{[citation needed]} Honduran etymologists say that since the Pipil language is so close to the Nahuatl language, the Nahuas of Honduras could have created the dish.^[8] However, no direct links have been made to the community.

The topic of the pupusa's origin also came up during the negotiation for the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA–DR). Both nations wanted to make the pupusa an exclusive export. After two days, the Honduran delegation ceded the right to El Salvador.^[9]

History

Nicaraguan cheese pupusas from Masatepe, locally known as rellenas in the departments of Masaya, Granada, and Rivas

The oldest historical record of pupusas dates back to Nicaragua in 1837, when Guatemalan poet José Batres Montúfar documented and ate the dish while traveling through Masaya, Rivas, and Granada.^[10]^[11]^[12] He recalled through a letter he wrote to his family.

The tortillas cost 8 per half a real, but they are enormous, a foot in diameter and true laborer's pistons: they are almost never called tortillas, except for their accidents: one filled, that is, a pupusa from San Salvador; a stir, ground the dough together with the cheese; an empty one, which is what I prefer, is the one that has nothing extra.^[13]

Pupusas have been linked to the Pipil tribes who inhabited the territory now known as El Salvador. A version of the pre-Columbian pupusa was vegetarian and half-moon shaped. In the late 1940s, pupusas were still not widespread across El Salvador and were mostly localized in the central towns. They were documented previously in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras.^[14] As the Salvadoran population began migrating to other areas in the 1960s, pupusa stands proliferated across the country. In Guatemala during the 1970s, pupusas had a half-moon shape. Pupusas served east of the Lempa River usually have a much larger diameter.

In the 1980s, the Salvadoran Civil War forced a Salvadoran migration to other countries, mainly the United States, which made pupusas available elsewhere: Salvadoran immigrants brought the dish to most areas of the US, and they spread to Canada and Australia as well.^[15]^[16] By the 1990s, they were common in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.^[17]^[16] Pupusas have been popular in Washington, D.C., since the 1980s and in 2019, 6 November was declared the day of the pupusa.^[18]^[19]

In April 2005, the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly declared pupusas as the national dish of El Salvador and every second Sunday of November would be National Pupusas Day.^[20]^[21] A fair is typically held on the day in the capital and a few big cities. On 10 November 2007, in celebration of National Pupusa Day, the Secretary of Culture organized a fair in the capital park in which they would make the world's biggest pupusa. The pupusa was 3.15 meters (10.3 ft) in diameter and was made with 200 pounds (91 kg) of masa, 40 pounds (18 kg) of cheese, and 40 pounds of chicharrón. It fed 5,000 people. Five years later, the record was broken again with a pupusa 4.25 meters (13.9 ft) in diameter.^[22] Guinness World Records listed the largest pupusa at 15 feet (4.6 m), created in Olocuilta, El Salvador, on 8 November 2015.^[23] This record was broken on 28 September 2024 when Salvadoran chefs in Washington, D.C. created a 20-foot-wide (6.1 m) pupusa.^[24]

In 2011, The Guardian named pupusas that year's Best Street Food in New York.^[25]

Both at home and abroad, pupusas are traditionally served with curtido (a pickled cabbage relish, analogous to German sauerkraut and Korean kimchi that comes in mild and spicy varieties) and tomato sauce, and are traditionally eaten by hand. Author Carlos Cordova reports an ancient pre-Hispanic belief that it was sinful to cut tortillas with a knife; they must be cut with fingers as corn was believed to be a divine grain. This might be the reason why generation after generation has adhered to the rule of eating pupusas with the hands.^[26]

Preparation

Making pupusas in Las Chinamas, El Salvador

Traditional pupusas in El Salvador are cooked over wood fire, using a pottery griddle called a comal.

A pupusa is a handmade maize or rice tortilla stuffed with ingredients. Stuffing can include cheese, refried beans, squash, loroco, and chicharrón.^[6]

Regional variations

A variant of the pupusa in El Salvador is the pupusa de arroz, originally hailing from the town of Olocuilta in the east of San Salvador.^{[citation needed]} Rice flour is used to make the dough and they are usually stuffed with chopped pork, cheese, beans, zucchini, and other vegetables. Another regional variation, found in Alegría, is the pupusa de banano, which calls for the addition of plantain bananas to the pupusa.

Latin America

Pupusas are also found in neighboring Central American countries. Honduran versions use the local quesillo type of cheese for the filling. In Costa Rica, both "Salvadoran pupusas" and "pupusas" are available, the latter being a local version. There, they are a staple of the food stalls at regional carnivals known as fiestas.

A similar Mexican dish is called a gordita (literally, "little fatty"), but gorditas are usually open at one end. In Colombia and Venezuela, they make arepas. Colombian arepas are usually eaten without filling, or the filling is placed inside the dough before cooking. Venezuela has its own recipe for arepas, but, unlike Colombian arepas, the dough is cooked first, and then sliced in half and stuffed somewhat like a hamburger.

United States

Pupusas made in the United States are typically made with Maseca commercial corn flour-masa mix,^{[citation needed]} instead of fresh masa. Some high-end pupuserías in the United States use rice flour and wheat flour versions. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, variations include using spinach, pepperoni, cheese, and green chile.

Taco Cabana, a Tex-Mex chain in Texas, created a dish called the pupusa that has no relation to the Salvadoran food.^[27]

Gallery

Pupusas revueltas stuffed with meat, beans and cheese
Pupusas and tomato sauce
Pupusas for carryout, in El Salvador, are wrapped in plastic and then in paper.
A pupusería in Santiago Texacuangos, El Salvador. Note the various pupusas advertised on the wall: chicken, jalapeño, chipilín, and avocado
A pupusería in Olocuilta.
An outdoor pupusería in El Salvador at night
Pork and bean pupusa from Sarita's Pupuseria in Los Angeles, California

Economic impact

In spite of their low market price, pupusas represent an important element in the economy of El Salvador. Rising ingredient costs in 2022 have led to concerns about rising pupusa prices.^[28]

In addition to whole pupusas, the individual ingredients are also exported; in 2005, for example, US$604,408 worth of loroco, sometimes used as a pupusa filling, was sold to the United States alone.^{[citation needed]} Frozen pupusas can be found in the refrigerated section of many Hispanic and international supermarkets in the United States, especially those located in highly concentrated areas of Salvadorans such as Washington, D.C., and Long Island, New York.^{[citation needed]}

Pupusa sales play a significant role in the Salvadoran economy. According to the Salvadoran Ministry of Economy, in 2001–2003, pupuserias generated $22 million. The export of ingredients such as loroco has also helped boost the economy.^[29] As of 2005, 300,000 people made pupusas for a living, with a majority of them being women.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ ^a ^b "La Guerra de las Pupusas: ¿Son Salvadoreñas u Hondureñas? Univision34 Investiga" [The Pupusa War: Are They Salvadoran or Honduran? Univision34 Investigates]. Univision (in Spanish). Los Angeles, California. 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b Sanchez, Alejandro (8 September 2014). "COHA Research: Food Wars in Latin America". Council on Hemispheric Affairs.
^ Leidy (13 May 2020). "Pupusa: a typical dish from El Salvador". Open Cultural Center. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
^ Vasquez, Nelson (25 September 2020). "Salvadoran Food: Pupusas". ESL for Academic Purposes.
^ Diccionario de Americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish). Association of Academies of the Spanish Language. 2010. p. 1,787. ISBN 9788429495508.
^ ^a ^b Pérez de Novoa, Lidia Georgina (2019). Interludio y Otros Versos [Interlude and Other Verses] (in Spanish). Liber Factory coedición Lord Byron. p. 71. ISBN 9788417707415. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
^ Lemus, Jorge E. (September 2016). "La Palabra Pupusa no es Pipil" [The Word Pupusa is Not Pipil] (in Spanish). Don Bosco University. pp. 1–5. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
^ "La Guerra de las Pupusas". losangeles.univision.com. 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ Gómez, Iván (8 December 2003). "Honduras Insists pupusas". Archived from the original on 31 October 2004.
^ "The Pupusas: History, Evolution and National Popularity".
^ "A Modest Dish Turned Into a Cultural Reference".
^ "The Pupusas of San Salvador are bicentennial".
^ "The Pupusas: History, Evolution and National Popularity".
^ "La palabra pupusa no es pipil".
^ "Pupusas and the Arepa" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
^ ^a ^b Kiniry, Laura; Kavanaugh, Daniel (11 July 2019). "For Salvadorans, pupusas mean comfort". BBC. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
^ Hansen, Barbara (9 August 1990). "Pupusas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
^ Rodriguez, Carmen (19 August 2019). "National day of pupusas in Washington D. C." Voz del la Diaspora. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
^ Barnes, Sophia; Patron, Mariela (8 November 2019). "Praising the Pupusa: DC's Love for an Iconic Salvadoran Dish". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
^ "Declárase Día Nacional de las Pupusasecreto Día Nacional de las Pupusas — Asamblea Legislativa". www.asamblea.gob.sv (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
^ "Secultura invita al Día Nacional de la Pupusa". www.cultura.gob.sv (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
^ "Historia de la Pupusa Salvadorena". redislam.net. January 2013. Archived from the original on 20 January 2020.
^ "Largest pupusa". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
^ Uber, Emma (28 September 2024). "Salvadoran Chefs in D.C. Break World Record for Largest Pupusa". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
^ Resnick, Perry (26 September 2011). "The best street food in New York". The Guardian.
^ Cordova, Carlos B. "The Salvadoran Americans". p 102. Westport, Conn. Greewood, 2005. Web
^ Peralta, Eyder (27 July 2006). "Bona fide pupusas: Classic or clueless? Here's how to tell", Houston Chronicle Dining Guide, p. 4
^ Alfaro, Karla (15 January 2022). "Pupusas increase in price in downtown San Salvador". CE Noticias Financieras English. Miami: ContentEngine LLC – via ProQuest.
^ "Las Pupusas: ícono culinario salvadoreño celebrará su día". El Periodista. 4 November 2014. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.