Pupusas and the elusive taste.
07/06/09 16:27 Filed in: Food | Restaurants
It happens all the time, I try something for the first time and it’s the best. Only that brand, restaurant, street cart can make it - everything else is second best.
Sometimes (most times, all the time?) it’s all about location and the experience of the day. Battered and deep fried maple leaves will never be as good as that day in Mino Japan, Chai! Chai! Chai! you need to be on a train in India or Pakistan otherwise it just doesn’t work. Everything else pales in comparison.
So here is my dilemma... I live in Toronto, not exactly a bustling hot bed of Central America cooking, but in Kensington Market there are a bunch of stores that cater to a growing population from that region. There was a Pupusa stand at the back of the Perola supermarket, where every Saturday and Sunday you could get Pupusas made to order. There were a couple chairs that sat in the aisles among all the groceries, and while this could never be mistaken for haute cuisine... it was incredible. There was a charm, that you couldn’t replicate and the Pupusas were great.
Or were they? I don’t know. For years this was the only place I knew to get them, and when other places opened I had built a relationship with the people behind the counter.
All good things must end, and the cook retired to be replaced by someone who makes tacos...
So this started my search for another Pupusaria. I was at another place this weekend, don’t remember the name, it was in Kensignton but somehow didn’t live up to my memory. Will I ever find what I’m searching for? Maybe I need to take a trip to El Salvador.
To that end, here is a recipe that I “made up” after eating a similar dish in a restaurant somewhere in Kentucky. The food wasn’t so great, but this recipe rocked. Citrus pickled red onions recipe.
Sometimes (most times, all the time?) it’s all about location and the experience of the day. Battered and deep fried maple leaves will never be as good as that day in Mino Japan, Chai! Chai! Chai! you need to be on a train in India or Pakistan otherwise it just doesn’t work. Everything else pales in comparison.So here is my dilemma... I live in Toronto, not exactly a bustling hot bed of Central America cooking, but in Kensington Market there are a bunch of stores that cater to a growing population from that region. There was a Pupusa stand at the back of the Perola supermarket, where every Saturday and Sunday you could get Pupusas made to order. There were a couple chairs that sat in the aisles among all the groceries, and while this could never be mistaken for haute cuisine... it was incredible. There was a charm, that you couldn’t replicate and the Pupusas were great.
Or were they? I don’t know. For years this was the only place I knew to get them, and when other places opened I had built a relationship with the people behind the counter.
All good things must end, and the cook retired to be replaced by someone who makes tacos...
So this started my search for another Pupusaria. I was at another place this weekend, don’t remember the name, it was in Kensignton but somehow didn’t live up to my memory. Will I ever find what I’m searching for? Maybe I need to take a trip to El Salvador.
To that end, here is a recipe that I “made up” after eating a similar dish in a restaurant somewhere in Kentucky. The food wasn’t so great, but this recipe rocked. Citrus pickled red onions recipe.
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