Staples: starch rice, corn, millet, yam

Vegetables: wide variety, but peasants must sell & not eat them, they
eat wild greens that they gather in open fields
Fruits: citrus fruits, avocados, breadfruit, mangoes
Meat: nonexistent, when raised by ordinary people it is sold
Pois ac duriz colles rice & beans
Petit mil sorghum (eaten by the poor)

Mealtime

Peasants breakfast strong coffee, disk of sour bread baked form

bitter manioc flour: Peasants lunch light & eaten in the fields:
Dinner rice & beans, or a stew with a small piece of meat if the
family can afford some: *Summer season before crops are ready one
meal a day such as porridge made from corn, sorghum, or rice to
cure the hunger pangs the may chew on sugarcane stalks or green
mangoes
Sugar: consumed in enormous quantities: Rapadou is a syrup
produced in the refining of sugar, it sweetens tea and coffee, it is the

Upper-class tastes:
Creole cooking
spiced shrimp,
pheasant with
orange sauce, greenturtle steak, wild
duck, salad made
with hearts of palm
Rice djon-djon: rice&-bean dish is found
nowhere else
because it requires
Haitian black
Calalou mixture of salted pork, crabmeat, pepper, onion, spinach,
mushrooms
okra, & chili pepper
Tassot grilled meat
Pain patate pudding made of grated potato, figs, banana, & sugar
Sauces: ti-malice tomato & onion

Staples: starch cassava, taro, sweet potatoes, yams, plantains,

seafood, guandules/pigeon peas, rice and beans together to form a
complete protein
Comida criolla / creole food - Spicy food, not hot. Has black or red
beans, white rice, plantains, sometimes meat.
Sancocho stew made with chicken, cassava, plantains, pepper,
coriander, vinegar
Mondongo made with tripe
Drinks: Juice drinks (jugo or batido=with milk) tamarindo, nispero,
jaugo, guanabana, pineapple, mango, guava, orange, grapefruit,
papaya
Coffee three times a day with meals
Beer and rum evenings, weekends, special days

Mealtime

Breakfast: plantains, cereal or bread with coffee and juice

Lunch: rice and beans, meat, stew

Desserts: from staples used in candy sweet potatoes & red

beans, corn puddings, rich cakes, caramel custard, flan
Plantains: must be cooked before
eating, high in starch and low in
sugar, similar to a potato in texture,
they are often sliced, fried, and
served in place of French fries
Siestas except for in the cities

National priority is providing basic meals for everyone, very poor, food
lines
Spain and Africa is the basis for flavor, not hot but still slightly spicy
Crocodile meat believed to be an aphrodisiac
Staple: rice
Moros y cristianos - white rice and black beans
Arroz con pollo chicken with rice
Picadillo / minced meat ground beef, green peppers, onions,
tomatoes, olives. Raisins with rice and sometimes a fried egg over the
rice
Drinks: rum for social and festive occasions, recently beer and rum
became almost unavailable for local consumption. Cervecerias (bar)
are rarely open. Guaraperas, bars selling drinks of freshly pressed
sugarcane, a product in abundance, are closed.
Coffee is most popular and is drunk from tiny cups and sipped with
ice water. It is thick and syrupy. Stalls serve only coffee.

Staples: Red or black beans usually cooked in large batches with

some sort of salted meat such as bacon for flavoring. Rice is the staple
starch in the diet and is generally boiled. On special occasions rice
will be cooked with coconut milk for added flavor and richness.
Coconut milk is a standard in Creole cooking.
Mayans in the South substitute corn for rice as their staple. Near the
coast people eat more seafood. Inland people depend on chicken for
protein. Garifuna eat fish regularly and on special occasions they will
cook it in coconut milk.
Quick bread: made from wheat for cakes, johnnycakes. Jacks, and
fritters (eaten for breakfast with fruit preserves) or corn (Mayans for
tortillas and tamales)
Bammie cassava starch
Breadfruit and bananas dried and ground into flour for bread.
Meats: Forests and wild game gibnut or paca (rabbit like rodent),
wild ducks, iguanas, iguana eggs, deer, armadillo, peccary
Sea and rivers conch, shark, sea turtle, lobster, squid, red
snapper, shrimp, sea bass, barracuda OR boil up a stew made form

The Paca, known as the gibnut in Belize, is a nocturnal rodent. Inhabiting

the forest floor, this solitary animal feeds on fallen fruit, leaves and some
tubers dug from the ground. The gibnut is most often found near water and
are found throughout many habitats of Belize, from river valleys to swamps
to dense tropical forest. The gibnut is the most prized game animal of
Belize and the Neotropics. They are easily hunted by day with dogs which
can sniff out the paca's dens, or during the night with headlamps while
they feed. While thriving in Belize's many protected areas, the paca has
been hunted to extinction in many parts of its range from Mexico to
Southern Brazil.
In many of Belize's protected areas, gibnut can be heard and seen at night.
This large rodent makes lots of noise while walking through the dry leaves
of the forest or while chewing on the hard shells of the cohune nut, one of

Vegetables and fruit:

Sweet potatoes, tomatoes,
peppers, squash, pumpkin,
avocados, guava, mangoes,
pawpaws, bananas, plantain,
grapefruit, breadfruit
Drinks:
Fresh fruit combined with water
or ice
Soft drinks produce their own
Rum & Beer Belikin is the local
brand
Garifuna cashew wine and
local dynamite made from rum
and coconut milk
Energy drink: Chicory-flavored
coffee; Mint and hot water for a

Did you know?

PawPaw
Eaten in-hand as fresh fruit or
processed into desserts. Twigs
are source of annonaceous
acetogenins which are being
used in the development of anticancer drugs and botanical
pesticides.

The pawpaw is the only

temperate member of the
tropical Annonaceae family
and is the largest tree fruit
native to the United States.
Pawpaws grow wild in the
rich, mesic hardwood forests
of 25 states in the eastern
United States ranging from
northern Florida to southern
Ontario (Canada) and as far
west as eastern Nebraska.
Pawpaws flourish in the deep,
rich fertile soils of riverbottom lands where they
grow as understory trees or
thicket-shrubs. In addition to
the tropical Annona relatives,
there are eight members of
the Asimina genus that are
native to the extreme

Franesca a soup eaten only at Easter, the most representative dish

because it contains ingredients from so many regions. It includes fish,
eggs, cheese, corn, onions, peanuts, rice, squash, beans, lentils, and
peas, but no meat.
Serviche raw fish or seafood marinated in lemon or lime juice and
served with onions and peppers.
Rice and plantains or bananas, boiled or deep fried.
Cassava (a food and a drink) and river fish, including enormous catfish
and the fierce but delicious piranha.
Soups and stew in the highlands range from thin with potato,
chicken, or meat, to barley and quinoa soups.
Locro or Chupe which is a thick cram soup.
Stews are made from corn, plantains, potatoes, cabbages, onions, and
other vegetables.
Hot sauce is made from chili peppers, or aji, spices up many stews.
Cuy or guinea pig at one time provided the main source of meat in

Hot and Spicy, or at least have a variety of peppers served as a side

dish. An intact fruit of a small domesticated Habanero was found in
Pre-ceramic levels in Guitarrero Cave of the Peruvian highlands. The
chile was dated to 6500 B.C., making it evident that mankind has been
growing these fiery fruits for at least 85 centuries!
Dishes:Papas a la juancaina potatoes with a spicy sauce is a favorite
dish
Coastal dishes are based on fish
Serviche raw fish marinated in lemon juuice with onions and red
peppers
Escabeche fish with onions, hot green peppers, red peppers, shrimp,
eggs, olives, and cumin
Highland dishes include potatoes and corn
Soups and stews cooked for many hours and containing many types
of vegetables, with pieces of pork, chicken, or beef
Tamales boiled corn dumplings filled with meat and wrapped in a
banana leaf

Aymara people: have domesticated animals such as sheep, cows,

donkey, and mules, plants such as barley, beans, and onions; plus
cereals quinoa and caawa, potatoes, and totora reed that grows in
the shallow water of Lake Titicacas bays. The roots and shoots of the
plant are delicate and white. The plant is used to feed people and
cattle. The reed is also very useful for making things such as reed
bundle rafts (balsas).
Small gardens are kept by Native American women where their
primary crop is yucca.

totora
reed

Staples: potatoes, quinoa (a cereal rich in protein), rice, bread

Little meat is eaten, though pork, chicken or mutton (the meat of a
mature sheep) are added to several dishes.
Varies region to region:
Highlands: soups and stews are popular and can include all kinds of
vegetables and chunks of chicken, pork, or occasionally beef. They are
very spicy, since strong aji peppers are often cooked with the dish or
added as a sauce. On the table there is always a small dish of locoto
another very strong pepper, which can be green, yellow, or red.
Lowlands: yucca (a tuber which takes the place of a potato), rice,
bananas and other fruits are the most common foods, mainly because
they are locally grown.
*Because of the heat, which would spoil fresh meat without
refrigeration, beef is often cut into think slices and dried in the sun. It
is fried and served with onions, tomatoes, or green pepper sauce.
Bananas often the first meal of the day; are fried

Potatoes: more than 200 potatoes originated in the Andes, these peoples
have developed a unique way to preserve them long after harvest has finished.
The potatoes are spread on the ground, and women step on them to press out
water. The potatoes are then left to dry in the hot sun and freezing night air
until they become small and hard. In this state they are know as chuo, or
tunta, they only need to be soaked in water and boiled in order to be used like
fresh
potato.
Quinoa:
pronounced keenDuring
wah the period when the Incas
thrived in Bolivia, relay teams of
barefoot runners would carry news
from one region to another, often
covering 150 miles in a 24-hour
period. Bolivia's elevation is over
12,000 feet above sea level, an
altitude where oxygen is
considerably reduced. How did the
runners perform this unbelievable
feat? A practice still prevalent with
today's Bolivian athletes involves
combining coca leaves and ash
from the quinoa plant and holding
it in the cheek. The combination
increases the body's oxygen

Quinoa is a member of the goosefoot family, and yields a supergrain. Quinoa

is an annual herb that has been cultivated for thousands of years in the west
Andes Mountains of South America. It was a staple food of the ancient Inca
Indians and their Empire. Quinoa was such an important food of the ancient
Incas that they considered it the "Mother Grain."
Quinoa is a plant that is very hardy and drought resistant. It bears clusters of
seed on top of the plant that can range in color from white, orange, red, purple,
to black, depending on the variety. The ancestral seed color of Quinoa is
black and the other colors have been obtained from mutations and breeding.
The Quinoa seed, about the size of millet, resembles the grain of some cereal
grasses, but it is not a grass.
Quinoa is a very versatile food plant that can be cooked many ways and tastes
excellent. The green leaves can be used in salads or cooked like spinach.
The grain can be sprouted, like alfalfa; used as a hot cereal; used in
soups, casseroles and souffles; used in the place of almost any other grain,
including rice; ground into flour; and toasted.
One cup has more calcium and protein than a quart of milk. Ounce for
ounce it has as much protein as meat, contains all of the essential
amino acids, and has high amounts of iron and calcium. All in all, it
comes closer than any other food in supplying all of the nutrients

Most people eat a lot of meat and fish

Fruit is plentiful but seasonal
Traditional dishes:
Sopa Paraguay dumpling made of ground corn and cheese
Chipas a corn bread flavored with lots of cheese and a small amount
of anise (a licorice-flavored herb)
Native Americans eat by gathering natural foods and really like land
tortoises
Drink:
When men gather to talk they pass around a small gourd filled with
Paraguayan tea, or mate, which is known as terere when cold water is
used. It is sucked through a metal straw called a bombilla

Staples: Meat, dairy products, fish, fruit, cheese, salamis, sausages,

and hams are locally produced and are plentiful at the market stalls.
Lunch in the city such as Montevideo:
parrilladas very like a large barbeque, metal grills the size of doors
are propped up over open charcoal fires at angles, on the grills are
huge pieces of beef, pork, mutton, veal, and spicy sausages
Pizzas & pastas
Drinks:
Yerba Mate Legend of the Guarini Indians: There
is an old Guarani Indian legend that relates the
origins of the Guarani in the Forests of Paraguay.
According to the legend, the ancestors of the
Guarani at one time in the distant past crossed a
great and spacious ocean from a far land to settle in
the Americas. They found the land both wonderful
yet full of dangers; through diligence and effort they
subdued the land and inaugurated a new
civilization.

Yerba Mate cont.

The Guarani tribes looked forward to the coming of a tall, fair-skinned, blue eyed, bearded
God (Pa' i Shume) who, according to legend, descended from the skies and expressed his
pleasure with the Guarani. He brought religious knowledge and imparted to them certain
agricultural practices to be of benefit during times of drought and pestilence as well as on
a day-to-day basis. Significantly, He unlocked the secrets of health and medicine and
revealed the healing qualities of native plants. One of the most important of these secrets
was how to harvest and prepare the leaves of the Yerba Mate tree. The Mate beverage was
meant to ensure health, vitality and longevity.
It was like this: the tribe would clear part of the forest, plant manioc and corn, but after
four or five years the soil would be worn out and the tribe had to move on. Tired of such
moving, an old Indian refused to go on and preferred to stay where he was. The youngest
of his daughters, beautiful Jary, had her heart split: to go on with the tribe's youths, or
remain isolated, helping the old man until death would take him to Ivy-Marae's peace.
Despite her friends' pleas, she ended up staying with her father.
This love gesture deserved a prize. One day, a unknown shaman arrived at the ranch and
asked Jary what she wanted in order to feel happy. The girl did not ask anything. But the
old man asked: "I want new forces to go on and take Jary to the tribe that went away".
The shaman gave him a very green plant, perfumed with kindness, and told him to plant it,
pick the leaves, dry them on fire, grind them, put the pieces in a gourd, add cold or hot
water and sip the infusion. "In this new beverage, you will find an healthy company, even
in the sad hours of the cruelest solitude." After which he went away.
Thus was born and grew the "ca-mini," whence came the ca-y beverage that white
people would later adopt under the name of Chimarro in Brazil and Yerba Mate in
Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Sipping the green sap, the old man recovered, gained new strengths and was able to

MEAT! Meat! Meat! Asado con cuero beef barbecued in its hide over
an open fire, is the traditional food of the gaucho (cowboys of
Argentina)
A variety of cooking styles because the country is a melting pot.
Noquis / Pasta and potato dumplings Italians brought
Morcillas / Black puddings & blood sausages German & European
immigrants
Locro a thick soup with meat, beans, potatoes, & peppers Native
Indians
Empanadas pastries stuffed with meat or seafood
Pucheros stews of chicken or other meats with vegetables
Drinks: Yerba Mate a hot drink made form the bitter leaves of a
shrub called Paraguay holly, a major crop of northeastern Argentina.
The drink is named from a Native American word mati, which means
gourd. It is still drunk from a gourd shaped container. It is sipped
through a silver straw called a bombilla, which strains off the leaves. It

Southern Argentina produces olives, citrus fruits, and grapes.

Wine Produce a good quality for hundreds of years, and the grape
harvest is celebrated in this area with a special festival to bless the
wines
In cities such as Buenos Aires cafs are the center of social life.
Founded in 1858, Caf Tortoni is the oldest coffee shop in the whole
country. With a very rich history, it is visited at all times by
intellectuals, politicians and artists. http://www.cafetortoni.com.ar/
Recipe for Making an Argentine
Add in the following order:
- one Indian woman
- two spanish horsemen
- one English traveler - half a Basque worker

- three mestizo gauchos

- and a pinch of African

Allow to cook for 300 centuries at low temperature. Before serving, quickly add five
Italians, a Russian Jew, a German, a Galician, three-fourths a Lebanese, and finally a
whole Frenchman.
Allow to sit for 50 years, then serve.

If there is a single food that can represent Argentina, it is beef. The

rich grassland plains, the pampas, rest in the shadows of the Andes
and feed the people not only their wheat and corn, but also the
grazing land for the cattle and sheep. Argentine beef is highly prized
for its flavor and tenderness. The cattle were introduced in the 16th
century, and were running wild in vast herds less than 200 years
later. As with the US, the romantic image of the cowboy, or "gaucho,"
pervades the culture. The cooking method of choice in Argentina is,
without a doubt, grilling. Beef steaks, sweetbreads and kidneys
crackle over the flame, along with vegetables, fish and sausages. The
tender skirtsteak, the churrasco, and the bistek, or flank steak, are
some of the most popular cuts. Ropa viejo ("old clothes") slowly
simmers less tender cuts until they can be shredded easily.

"A vegetarian in Argentina is like a duck out

of water." - anonymous

Fish is the most widely eaten food lots of coastline

Fruits and Vegetables are abundant and are grown in the central valley
Country families grow plantains, bananas, potatoes, beans, corn, fruits,
vegetables, yucca, cassava and raise livestock and dairy cattle
Poor: most common meal is mute, a soup with boiled corn, cabbage,
squash, and potatoes. It is often the first and only meal of the day until
evening. Some Indians chew coca leaves to sustain them during the
day
Dishes: Porotos granados made of corn, squash, beans, onion, garlic
Empanadas pastries filled with eggs, olives, cheese, seafood, or
finely chopped meats: often eaten as snacks

Mixture of Spanish and Native Indian and African Foods:

Native: Sweet potatoes, Cassava, Yams, Peanuts, Chili, Tobacco, Corn
Spanish Settlers: Cash crops, vegetables, meat and spices such as
coffee, coconuts, sugarcane, bananas, oranges, plantains, potatoes,
onions, sheep, cattle, pigs, hens, goats, ginger, garlic, tomatoes,
coriander, cumin, chili
Taino Foods: corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, yams,
peanuts, starchy roots, birds, iguanas, guinea pigs, oysters,
clams, turtles and other seafood / bread from smashed
cassava root , tea from campana tree (hallucinogenic effect)

Fruit: custard apple, quenepa (Spanish lime), hog plum, genipap, plantains
and bananas

Mealtime
Breakfast: cities boiled or fried eggs and coffee
country ground cereal with hot milk
Lunch and Supper: rice and beans (white beans, kidney beans,
garbanzo beans, and pigeon peas) cooked in a sofrito sauce

Pork dishes: cuchifrito (internal organs), mondongo (pork tripe with

sofrito sauce), gandinga (liver, heart, kidneys mixed with
vegetables), lechon asado (served at Christmas spit roasted),
chicharron (dry crisp skin a delicacy)
Steak dishes: carne mechada, piononos, al caldero
Fish dishes: salted dried codfish, serenata (fish not as often eaten)
Others: pastelillos (stuffed plantain pies), flan de coco, bienmesabe
(coconut sauce)

Important Industruies

Rum: from the development of the sugar industry

Coffee: less important because of production costs. Yauco coffee
(stronger than ours) served half coffee and half milk, it is served at
small roadside stalls more as a stimulant than as a thirst quencher.

Because of work schedules: no real siestas

Lunch at fondas (roadside stalls)

Poor in rural areas: Malnutrition a problem, only get 2/3 of of

calories they need Staple diet in rural areas: beans, rice, tortillas
(meat, poultry, fish a rare treat)
Wealthy city dwellers: vegetables, fruit,
poultry, shrimp, lobster, swordfish
Pupusas, national fast food filled tortillas are sold at food stalls,
markets and small restaurants
Breakfast: cities coffee, bread, fruit Mealtime
country coffee and a hot tortilla, sometimes diced and soaked in
warm milk
Lunch: cities tortillas with rice & beans (not necessarily biggest
meal)
country soup, tortillas, rice, corn, or beans, & rarely meat (biggest
meal)
&
siestamaking: mano = handstone to grind dough on a metate =
Tortilla
Supper:
cities then
vegetables,
beans,
tortillas,
grinding stone,
fried on rice,
a comal
= hot
griddlefish or meat
Country lighter meal of vegetables, tortillas, beans
Drinks: Tic-Tack is a strong spirit made from sugarcane it has
been nicknamed the national liquor of El Salvador it is
colorless and has a very high alcohol content

Specialties:
Pupusa are small thick corn tortillas filled with sausage, cheese or
beans and served hot with salad or salsa.
Tamales steamed rolls of cornmeal stuffed with shredded meat,
peppers, and corn and wrapped in corn husks because they take a
great deal of time to prepare they are a dish for special occasions
Sopa de pata hoof soup, made from the hoof of a cow or an
ox, with vegetables and sometimes with beef tripe, although it is
made year round it is most popular for holidays and family gatherings

1980-now Costa Rican households cook with wood fuel instead of

electricity even when it is available
Staples Starches, red meat, rice, beans, plantains, & potatoes.
Prefer beef and pork to fish. Love sweet pastries, breads, and cakes.
Commonly used spices: coriander and mild jalapenos.
Americas + Spain =
Olla de carne beef & vegetable stew made with beef, yucca,
potatoes, corn, plantains, squash, and other vegetables
Gallo pinto breakfast dish consists of black beans, white rice, onions,
sweet peppers, & coriander
Ceviche seafood as an appetizer: shrimp, shellfish, sea bass
marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, onion, garlic, coriander
Bocas/Boquitas=Appetizers: made of black beans, chicken stew, or
potato chips
Corn (tortillas), Tamales (festival food) filled with tomatoes, pumpkin
seeds, sweet peppers, and deer or turkey meat
Rundown stew made along coast with available ingredients

Fruits: melons, pineapples, mangos, passion fruit, guava, apples,

papaya, & rose apple, star apple, breadfruit, coconut pejibaye (must
be cooked to eat)
Drinks: Coffee strong, very sweet, hot milk (even given to kids and
babies) Juices, Coconut water by punching hole in it with a machete
Refresco juice with milk or water
Horchata milky drink made from cornmeal and cinnamon
Agua dulce boiled water and brown sugar
Alcohol Chicha & Guaro both from sugarcane (Ginger beer
Mealtime
non-alcoholic)
Campesinos: Breakfast coffee and gallo pinto with a fried egg, or
tortillas and sour cream with dry, white bread. Lunch & Supper
tortillas or white bread, black beans, rice, plantains, and maybe meat
or sausage, with agua dulce to drink.
Urban: Breakfast processed and convenience foods, cereal, egg,
juice, white bread and coffee. Lunch soup, beef steak, plantains,
bread or tortillas, salad, cooked vegetables, eggs, milk, fruit dessert,
coffee.
Supper sandwiches or leftovers from lunch.

Passion
fruit

Staples: White rice, cassava, pineapples, plantains, corn (tortillas), red

beans When beans & corn are eaten together they are a complete
source of protein. When beans are eaten alone, the body misses out
on the essential amino acids that mixing corn with beans provides,
thus people eat this for almost every meal.
Most rural families own a cow, from the milk, cuajada, a kind of
cottage cheese is made. Milk is not drank as a beverage but they eat
the cream, sour cream, & cheese the milk provides.
Rare to have meat, fish is more commonly eaten, fried chicken is a
favorite. Few green vegetables. Hot chili peppers are eaten with many
meals.
Fruits are eaten for a sweet treat. Fried bananas are a popular snack.
Tajadita, or crispy fried banana chips, and sliced green mangoes
sprinkled with salt and cumin are sold in bags on the street. Sweet
bread is is eaten regularly, on the coast a coconut bread is eaten
daily.
Drinks: coffee for every meal (no tea), Culey a very sweet fruit juice
drink, Guifiti tea-like drink to detoxify the body, sodas and colas, 4

Cuajada around the world!

Mealtime
Breakfast: red beans and tortillas, eggs, cheese, plantains, salty butter
on bread, coffee, homemade cereal with milk. Poor have coffee with
bread.
Lunch:Meat if the family can afford it. White rice with pork, beef, or
chicken, a soup made of red beans, fish or chicken, and tortillas. Culey
is often drunk.
Supper: soup, red beans, eggs, plantains, butter, and tortillas, fried
beans with onions eaten with a tortilla, meat is not commonly eaten at
this meal.
Dessert:Not eaten because they cannot afford the luxury. If there is
one (maybe at a fiesta) sweet cake and ice cream are favorites.
Dulce de rapadura a candy made from sugarcane juice
Nacatamales large corn cakes stuffed with vegetables and meat
bought in the marketplace
Tapado stew made with meat or fish, vegetables, and cassava
Sopa de mondongo stew made with tripe (part of a cows stomach)

Staples: (SPICY) rice, corn, beans, coffee, potatoes, fish, shrimp,

lobster, marlin, sea bass, snapper, chicken, beef, yucca, cilantro,
onions, peppers, tomatoes, pineapples, coconuts, papaya, avocados,
watermelon, citrus fruits
Sea turtle eggs close to extinction
Iguana eggs and meat: close to extinction = hatch and rear three
Mealtime
different species of iguana
Breakfast: thick, deep-fried tortillas with a white cheese; sauted liver,
garlic and onions; and fresh rolls or bread. Urban areas also eggs.
Coffee.
Lunch: soup, chicken or steak with a mixture of cooked rice and red
kidney beans or pigeon peas, salad.
Supper: meat covered with a spicy sauce, rice and salad
After dinner= coffee such as espresso
Dessert: usually fruit indulge in cake, chocolate mousse, pie,
cheesecake.
Drinks: Beer= chief industrial product, 3 local favorites: Panama,

Specialties:
Corivna Sea Bass = Ceviche appetizer, Bolita de pescado
breaded and fried balls of fish
Ropa vieja beef, green peppers, spices, plantains, and rice
Empanadas fried meat pies
Lomo relleno steak stuffed with spices and herbs
Soups: Sancocho chicken, corn, plantains, yucca, coriander leaves,
potatoes
Guacho very liquidy and provides complete nutrition
Desserts:
Sopa borracha pound cake topped with syrup, rum or brandy,
cinnamon raisins, and cloves with whipped cream it is sopa de gloria
Arroz con cacao chocolate rice pudding
Resbaladera rice, mlik, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon

Empanadas

Sancocho

A weak economy has caused food shortages for many

Outdoor markets for the freshest food Mercado Oriental in
Managua biggest, six vendors deep
Goods sold out of homes:
common for people who have refrigerators to buy milk in large
quantities and sell to their neighbors each day & people who have
ovens make tortillas to sell to neighbors
Most working-class people, even in cities, raise a few turkeys,
chickens, ducks, or pigs for the eggs or occasionally meat. Almost
every backyard has coconut, banana, or mango trees
Staples: rice and beans, fortunate families have cheese, butter, milk
and tortillas, and once a week or so a stew or some other special dish
Sharing: Nicos believe that you will have bad luck if others see you
being stingy with a special meal, you have to share with everyone
who saw you fixing it or anyone who even heard you were fixing it
Vegetables: tomato, cabbage, sweet potato, avocado, yucca
Fruits: for juices, jams, sauces. Bananas porridge, milk shakes

Fun & Friendly or Dangerous &

Deadly
Outdoor markets for the freshest food

Mercado Oriental in Managua

biggest, six vendors deep
http://209.15.138.224/inmonica/b_mercado2.ht
m
ASESINATO DE NINO DE LA CALLE EN NICARAGUA
4 de junio de 1998
El martes 2 de junio, el joven WILLIAM ADOLFO AGUILAR LOPEZ de 17 aos recibi un
disparo en la parte de atrs de su cabeza por parte de un hombre adulto no identificado.
El hecho ocurri en el Mercado Oriental de Managua, Nicaragua.
William, un joven "huelepega", fue mortalmente herido por una bala que entr por detras
de su oreja derecha y sali por su frente. Fue encontrado -todavia con vida- por dos
policias que estaban fuera de servicio y quienes tambin trabajan como guardias
privados en algunas tiendas de dicho mercado. Uno de los policias llev a William al
Hospital Alemn, donde no aceptaron darle servicios mdicos al muchacho. El joven fue
transferido al Hospital Militar,donde fue atendido; pero muri poco despues de ingresar.
William, quien habia estado varias veces en el programa Quincho Barrilete, fue enterrado
el 3 de junio.
En este momento parece que las investigaciones policiales se estn llevando a cabo
correctamente, y la madre del joven hizo su declaracin formal el dia de ayer.
Aparentemente habia otro joven con Willian, de quien se dice habia robado la billetera a
un hombre que se encontraba ah con su esposa y dos nios. Este hombre sac su arma
y le dispar a William en el momento en que este salia corriendo del lugar.

Drinks:
Refrescos: fruit juice, sugar, and water: locals can tell what the flavor
is by the color- mango is light orange, papaya is yellow, and tamarind
is brown; they are sold with crushed ice in a plastic bag tied at the
top, people hold the bag in one hand, bite off a corner, and suck the
drink out.
Pinol: toasted cornmeal mixed with water or coconut milk and a
flavoring like cinnamon or ginger, with cacao it is called pinolillo:
commonly served in a hollowed-out gourd
Breakfast: two slices of bread with butter(if available),
an orange or
Mealtime
a banana, heavily sugared coffee
Lunch: beans and rice (or chicken), leftover bread from
breakfast, cheese, fruit drink made from lemons or oranges picked
form the backyard and heavily sweetened
Dinner: gallo pinto, tortillas, fried cheese
Gallo pinto painted rooster, a mixture of red beans, rice, onions,
garlic, and seasonings all fried in oil named because of the colors of
the beans and rice: families eat it at least once a day

Indians - Staples: Corn (tortillas), beans, squash & meat rarely eaten
Urban Areas Guacamole (mashed avocados & onions) on rolls made
from steamed corn dough and filled with beans, chicken, and
hamburgers
Breakfast: eggs, beans, and tortillas, with sour cream sauce,
bananas: for some even mosh which is a mixture of oats and milk,
beans may be eaten
Popol Vuh chilis were believed to be made by the gods out of corn, a
bowl of these raw or pickled are always served at restaurants
Chilies are essential in the food, they are used for sauces, many levels
of taste and heat are possible, restaurants include a guide to how hot
each dish is according to the amount of chilies it contains
Drinks: Coffee is drunk with sugar and is weak, Tea without milk, Fruit
and vegetable juices, Beer, Cocoa, Aguardiente is a strong
sugarcane drink known as White Eye(Indians sometimes pour a
small amount of it over the statue of the saint they are praying to),
Ron or rum is the most common alcoholic drink which is sometimes

Comedors small inexpensive

eating establishments found near
the main market, serve rice & beans

Frying plantains

The World: Corn, tomatoes, chocolate, vanilla, varieties of squash

such as pumpkins, peanuts, assorted beans, avocados, chilies, guava,
coconuts, pineapples, papayas, turkeys

Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn

Tortillas a table is incomplete without them
Chilies the smaller the hotter
Traditional Meals: tacos, enchiladas, tamales, quesadillas, tortillas,
chalupas, gorditas, flautas
Chiles rellenos long green peppers are stuffed with cheese or ground
meat, dipped in egg batter, fried, then simmered in a bland tomato
sauce
Chile en nogada stuffing is ground pork, and chilis are decorated with
sauce, seeds, and parsley to make the red, white, and green colors of
the Mexican flag: it is made to celebrate Mexican Independence Day
for a two-month period beginning in mid-August

Drinks: Coffee (high-quality coffee is grown in Mexico), served at the

end of a meal, not drank on an empty stomach, very strong and
served with a lot of sugar. Cafe con leche a blend of strong black
coffee and hot milk served in a tall, thick glass
Hot chocolate pre-Spanish times, breakfast and supper, touch of
cinnamon, Aztecs used honey and cinnamon instead of sugar
Atole basis in corn (masa/corn flour), dilute masa in water and boil it
until it is as thick as a milkshake
Alcoholic made from fruits and cacti, Tequila (mescal) & pulque
agave plant

Mealtime

Breakfast: 6am8am coffee with tamales or a piece of bread or

pastry Brunch: 11am-Noon eggs with meat or tortillas, with coffee
& milk or fruit juices Lunch: 2 or 3pm soup, rice or pasta, beans,
tortillas, or bread, dessert, fruit juice or beer (siesta time)
Merienda/High tea: between 7 and 8pm hot
chocolate, coffee, or atole, some pastries and tamales
Dinner: 7:30pm-Midnight (9-10pm) a

Tiendas
small grocery
stores
Conasupos
government
owned stores
Supermercado
s
large stores
Fondas
Food stalls

Dishes:
Pabellon criollo shredded meat with onions and green pepper, beans,
rice and fried plantains
Arepas are small flat pancakes of fried or baked corn or corn-flour
dough, can be filled with beef, cheese, avocados, tuna, and beans: a
food of the poor people who eat several a day
Huallacas corn pancakes filled with chicken, beef, pork, onion, garlic,
olives, raisins, tomatoes, green pepper, capers, and sugar and spiced
with cumin, parsley, and black peppers. They are wrapped in plantain
leaves, which are not to b eaten, and boiled. A Christmas specialty
because they take a long time to prepare.
Moriche Palm is a part of the diet on some of the islands in the Orinoco
delta flour for making bread, grubs which they eat, and seeds that
they prepare a sweet honey dish, wine, and the sap becomes a drink
called majobo.
Staples: cassava, plantains, and bananas, nuts, seeds, plants for
medicine

Arepas

Bahia area has been called Africa in Exile- Typical food of the
coast has its origins in Africa. Women of the coastal area cook with oil
from the dende palm, coconut milk, coconut, and sugarcane syrup, as
well as cashew nuts, corn, and cassava flour. Many of the dishes
prepared by these people have religious connections as well as being
a meal. Certain dishes are made for individual ancient gods and are
left as gifts for them at their shrines on a feast day. Caruru which is
made with dried shrimp, peanuts, and ginger is offered to Xango, the
god of thunder. Acaraje containing garlic, dried shrimp, and dende oil
is sold by street vendors in Salvador and given as an offering to Iansa,
goddess of the tempest.
Amazon Forest Area: cassava is the staple diet of
the tribes that live in this area. Cassava is a poisonous
tuber, but it can be made edible by soaking it in water,
grating it, and squeezing it through a tube woven from
palm or vine. It is then used to make bread. Other
crops include corn and yams. People collect food from
the forest in the forms of plants, fruit, nuts, honey and
spices. Fish is an important part of their diet as well as
forest animals of all sizes.

Cassava - [kuh-SAH-vuh] Though native to South America, the majority of

cassava now comes from Africa, where it's an important staple. Also called
manioc and yuca, the cassava is a root that ranges from 6 to 12 inches in
length and from 2 to 3 inches in diameter. It has a tough brown skin which,
when peeled, reveals a crisp, white flesh. There are many varieties of cassava
but only two main categories, sweet and bitter. The bitter cassava is
poisonous unless cooked. Cassava is available year-round in Caribbean and
Latin American markets. It should be stored in the refrigerator for no more
than 4 days. Grated, sun-dried cassava is called cassava meal. Cassava is also
used to make cassareep and tapioca.

Cassava
A traveler of the Albert Schweitzer School for the Humanities detailed an
experience with cassava.
An early morning walk takes us to the fields on the outskirts of the village. First we
help one of the women hoe in her freshly sewn rice seed. Then the people
demonstrate the technique of harvesting mature cassava tubers. Loaded with the
long, potato-like tubers we head back. Each cassava tuber is washed, trimmed, and
peeled. We all take turns grating the cassava to form a wet starchy pulp. The pulp
is drained, squeezed and dried overnight in conical woven bags called matapie. The
following morning we pound the cassava cake into a course tapioca flour. The flour
is sifted and sprinkled onto a round metal baking sheet. The final product tastes
like pizza crust. We eat some later coated with piles of delicious local bananapeanut butter.
http://crh.choate.edu/science/Morris/projects/Updated%20version/6.%20Jaw%20Jaw/Cassava_bread/making_cassava_bread.htm

Cassava