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)
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 basis for clairin a raw &
concentrated rum, sugarcane stalks are plucked from the fields and eaten
Mealtime
Upper-class tastes:
Creole cooking spiced
shrimp, pheasant with
orange sauce, green-
turtle steak, wild duck,
salad made with hearts
of palm
Rice djon-djon: rice-&-
bean dish is found
nowhere else because it
requires Haitian black
mushrooms
Calalou mixture of salted pork, crabmeat, pepper, onion, spinach, 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
Breakfast: plantains, cereal or bread with coffee and juice
Lunch: rice and beans, meat, stew
Supper: boiled roots, eggs, bread, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, mangu, sweets
Mealtime
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
Desserts: from staples used in candy sweet potatoes & red beans,
corn puddings, rich cakes, caramel custard, flan
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.
Herbal tea and drinks are popular medicinal properties
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 whatever could be
caught that day cooked with coconut milk and spices
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 its favorite foods. The
gibnut also produces a hoarse bark or a deep rumbling when disturbed.
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 tea
Did you know?
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 river-bottom 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 southeastern states of
Florida and Georgia.
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 anti-cancer drugs
and botanical pesticides.
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 the Andes
ad was kept by indigenas in their homes, but today it is a delicacy.
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
Guinea pig a delicacy that is raised in Native homes for special occasions
Chinese restaurants (chifa) easily found
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 keen-wah
During 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 because quinoa ash releases
alkaloids in the coca.
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 needed for life.
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.
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 resume their long
journey toward meeting their kinsmen. They were received with the greatest joy. And the whole tribe
adopted the habit of drinking the green herb, bitter and sweet, that gave strength and courage and
would comfort friendships at the sad hours of utmost solitude.
Yerba Mate cont.
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 is seen as a mark of old fashioned hospitality. In
certain areas it is sweetened with sugar & flavored with herbs or spices, such as
anise seed. Other areas drink it bitter. A drink of the gauchos.
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 - three mestizo gauchos
- one English traveler - half a Basque worker - 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
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
Mealtime
Because of work schedules: no real siestas
Lunch at fondas (roadside stalls)
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.
Tortilla making: mano = handstone to grind dough on a metate = grinding
stone, then fried on a comal = hot griddle
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
Mealtime
Breakfast: cities coffee, bread, fruit
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)
& siesta
Supper: cities vegetables, rice, beans, tortillas, fish 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 (*coconut milk)
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 non-alcoholic)
Mealtime
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 beers, licuados
milk blended with fruit, very little alcohol (aguardiente fire water)


Cuajada around the world!
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)
Baleada tortilla, refried beans, cheese, and sour cream
Tortillas con quesillo 2 crisp, fried tortillas with melted white cheese
Mealtime
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 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, Soberna,
Cristal Balbo Panamanians also like rum
Mealtime
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 and cakes
Outdoor markets for the freshest food
Mercado Oriental in Managua
biggest, six vendors deep
http://209.15.138.224/inmonica/b_mercado2.htm
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.
Fun & Friendly or Dangerous & Deadly
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 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
Mealtime
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 poor quality and mixed with soft drinks.
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

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 light meal leftovers form lunch
Mealtime
Tiendas
small grocery
stores
Conasupos
government
owned stores
Supermercados
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
Siestas are still a way of life.
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 banana-
peanut butter.

http://crh.choate.edu/science/Morris/projects/Updated%20version/6. %20Jaw%20Jaw/Cassava_bread/making_cassava_bread.htm
Cassava