Cheese Pupusas

Cheese Pupusas from El Salvador


Ingredients

For Dough:

➢ 4 cups maize flour, Maseca (masa harina) (pre-colonial America)

➢ A pinch of salt (China 2700 BC)

➢ 3 cups water (warm)

➢ 2 cups grated cheese (ideally quesillo or mozzarella) (Rome 8000 BC)

For Curtido:

➢ Cabbage (northern Europe during the Middle Ages)

➢ Red Onion (Central Asia)

➢ Carrot (Persia & Asia 10th century)

➢ Oregano (Greece)

➢ Salt (China 2700 BC)

➢ Vinegar (Egypt 3000 BC)

Equipment needed

➢ Pan & mixing bowls

➢ Mesh strainer

Instructions

Dough:

  1. Combine maize flour, salt, and water (2½ cups) in a mixing bowl.

  2. Knead to form a smooth wet paste with the consistency of playdough.

  3. If the mixture is too dry, add the remaining water, a tablespoon at a time. If the mixture is too sticky, add a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time.

  4. Cover the bowl and let stand for 10 minutes.

  5. With lightly oiled hands, form the dough into 8 to 10 balls.

  6. Form small patties. Place about a tablespoon of cheese and wrap the dough around the filling to seal.

  7. Ensure that the filling does not leak, pat the dough between your hands to form a disk about ¼-inch thick. Repeat with the remaining patties.

  8. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook pupusas for 3 to 4 minutes each side until golden brown.

Curtido:

  1. Put water to boil.

  2. Rinse cabbage. Place cabbage in a fine mesh strainer. Very slowly pour the boiling water over the cabbage. Rinse with cold water. Drain well, pressing out as much water as possible.

  3. Combine the remaining ingredients. Add cabbage to a large bowl. Add carrots, onions, oregano, and vinegar and toss well to combine.

  4. Add salt to taste

  5. Marinate. Curtido tastes best after it has been marinated for several hours or days, but you can enjoy it fresh if you’d like. Store curtido in a covered container or mason jar for up to 1 week in the fridge.

History

This is more of a modern version of making pupusas. Usually, the dough is made out of corn with nixtamalization and grinding it in Metates. It is very difficult to do so, therefore Maseca is used which is a corn flour popularly used to make tortillas that can be found in grocery stores. The pupusas were created by the Pipil tribes in El Salvador. Most of the ingredients were brought by the European conquistadors over time. The method of putting vegetables in vinegar is to preserve the vegetables for longer periods of time and for flavor. The tradition of curtido is said to be brought by the Germans to El Salvador.

People in El Salvador will use both methods of grinding the corn or using the generic corn flour. This dish is generally eaten by everyone in El Salvador but mostly the working and poor class as it is a simple, filling and fast dish to make. This dish can now be found across the world as Salvadoreans have migrated and taken this popular dish with them. Many put other things in the filling like beans, chicken and pork.

Where to buy

➢ Most ingredients can be found in any grocery store.

➢ If not found, Maseca can be found on Amazon and most small Mexican stores will have it.

Bibliography

“A Short History of Vinegar.” Womersley Foods. Accessed March 26, 2020. https://womersleyfoods.com/pages/a-short-history-of-vinegar.

Allen, Lauren, Regina, Todd McNeilson, and Amy. “Curtido Is an Authentic Salvadorian Cabbage Slaw or Relish Made with Finely Shredded Cabbage, Red Onion, Carrot, Spices, and Vinegar. .” Tastes Better From Scratch, August 10, 2019. https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/curtido/.

Benayoun, Mike. “El Salvador: Pupusa.” 196 flavors, January 10, 2019. https://www.196flavors.com/el-salvador-pupusa/.

“Cabbage.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., November 26, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/plant/cabbage.

“Cooking Oil.” How Products Are Made. Encyclopedia.com, March 23, 2020. https://www.encyclopedia.com/manufacturing/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/cooking-oil.

“History of Pupusas.” Multi Cultural Cooking Network, May 8, 2014. https://multiculturalcookingnetwork.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/history-of-pupusas/.

“History of Salt.” seasalt.com. Accessed March 26, 2020. https://www.seasalt.com/history-of-salt.

Moncel, Bethany. “How Has Cheese Changed Through History?” The Spruce Eats. The Spruce Eats, August 9, 2019. https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-history-of-cheese-1328765.

“Onion History.” National Onion Association. Accessed March 26, 2020. https://www.onions-usa.org/all-about-onions/history-of-onions.

“Pupusa History.” SALVADOREAN RECIPES.COM. Accessed March 26, 2020. http://www.salvadorianrecipes.com/pupusa-history.html.

“Pupusas: Cook's Illustrated.” Pupusas | Cook's Illustrated. Accessed March 26, 2020. https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/11732-pupusas.

“The History of Carrots.” History of Carrots - A brief summary and timeline. Accessed March 26, 2020. http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html.

“The History of Oregano: MySpicer.com: Spices, Herbs & Seasonings.” MySpicer, January 10, 2014. https://www.myspicer.com/history-of-oregano/.


Erika Z, Ariana V, Marie J, Hannah J, Nick G