Salvadorean Comfort Food

Salvadorean Comfort Food

From the remnants of my plate of food, can you guess what I ate for dinner today? As you can probably assume from the photo, I struck again and cleaned my plate as best I could (the bits left there were somewhat inedible).

Hm, what could these fried remnants possibly be?

Tonight, I had an awesome meal with a more or less equally awesome dinner partner. 😀 The weather was gloomy again, much like it was yesterday, and instead of going home to take care of myself, I decided I needed to go out and have an awesome restaurant take care of me. Balompie Cafe (er, awesome name) fit the bill perfectly.

Just to end the food mystery I’ve got going on, the image above is of fried yuca! There were these fibrous portions running through some of the yucca nuggets, and when I accidentally bit on one, it felt like I was biting into a bone or a toothpick. So, I pulled them out.

This is what the plate of food looked like before I decimated it:

Cast of characters in my Salvadorean Sampler: pastel with pork (back); fried yucca nuggets with chicken (left) bean and cheese pupusa with pickled cabbage and tomato salsa (right).

The pupusa was gooey with tangy queso fresco and beans, and the acidic tomato salsa and fragrant pickled cabbage on top definitely completed the full flavor and texture party. The other awesome thing on this plate was the yuca. You have the option of getting your yuca steamed or fried–I asked the waitress what she preferred, and she recommended fried hands down. The yuca pieces were fluffy and soft, and fried up so perfectly golden and cute that I just wanted to sink my teeth into their velvety insides. (I get the same urge when I see a Corgi…cuz…you know…Corgis are just that cute. Is that odd?) The texture of yuca is so fine that when you fry it, it crisps up with the same type of lightness you would expect from expertly prepared tempura. Yuca, you are my new potato.

Like I mentioned before, the company I had tonight was also great. There’s really nothing like good food paired with good conversation. It’s not often that you can get both in the same go, but when you do, bask in the moment and enjoy every second of it. So, here’s to cleaning your plate, and savoring every little bit as you go along.

RELATED LINKS

Balompie Cafe

Corgi

About 

I love to cook and eat, but above all, I love to eat with friends and family.