Day 97: San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Not knowing what to expect when I entered Nicaragua, I hoped for new additions to my Central American favorite food repertoire.
Immediately I noticed that refried beans were replaced with gallo pinto, and cabbage and yucca were much more prevalent. With an obvious absence of American fast food chains I was able to easily find great Nicaraguan food:
Nacatamales
Excited to see the Nicaraguan take on tamales, I previously dedicated an entire post about them.
They are corn-based like Mexican tamales but they are not homogeneous as each bite may contain a number of ingredients from green peppers to olives, raisins and chiles.
Gallo Pinto
A mixture of rice and beans (appearing above in breakfast), most Nicaraguans eat this almost daily and it is considered a national symbol.
It’s delicious but I ate this so often that after a few weeks I asked if I could have my rice and beans “separado” for some variety.
Vigorón
Originally from Granada, you can find this everywhere from street vendors to house parties. Traditionally a plate is covered with a part of a plantain tree leaf, then topped with yucca, pork, chicharrón (fried) and a cabbage and tomato salad.
Although I’m a pork lover and pork on pork sounds amazing, I have to admit I don’t really like chicharrón as it seems too salty and crunchy.
Hamburguesas
Hardly unique to Nicaragua, but they do make a mean hamburger and for a dollar its hard to pass one up on the streets of Leon.
Oscar insisted there was only one good place to eat them, which was actual steak as the ground beef ones are often mixed with filler; but whatever that filler is, it’s tasty.
Quesillo
Originally from León, it’s a simple dish but so tasty that restaurants are dedicated to selling only quesillos. They say that the best are found on the highway between Managua and Leon, but I had them and did not notice a difference from those sold on the street in Leon.
A piece of cheese (which is named quesillo) is placed on a tortilla. Pickled onions, cream and salt are added to the top. My advice would be to ask for “poco crema” as they are unnecessarily generous with the cream.
You can also get these rolled up and in a plastic bag, as we did for my 33rd birthday, a nice added touch was the chile sauce our vendor added which cut the excess cream flavour.
I'm Ayngelina and in my mid-thirties. I left an amazing job, boyfriend, apartment and friends to find inspiration in Latin America. I'm creating a new life choosing what I want instead of what other people think I should do.
Loved this! We had quesillos at the rodeo, and I couldn’t remember what was in ‘em for the life of me. Looks like Leon had excellent food. Will have to make it there someday!
YUM!!! I have a friend who lived in SJDS for a few months, I’ll have to mention these to her and see what she says!
You are really pushing Central/South America up on my list of places to travel next!
We have a good Nicaraguan restaurant here. Makes me want to go back. Mmmm
I’m so hungry now haha! Gosh I love yucca soooo much.
My stomach is growling and all I want to do is eat all of this right now! I would first head straight for that Quesillo. Great food pictures!
I really need to stop reading food blogs before going to bed. Really. I LOVE pork. And crema. And…. *drool* I can’t wait to visit.
this stuff looks simply DELICIOUS! love yucca too.
you forgot the bright pink nicaraguan hot dog.
@Liz
Meh, the hot dog was amusing but not that delicious.
I’m missing Central American food like none-other…..
Killer food list. You hit on some of my favorites. personally, I would remove the burgers and include the “tacos de la salle” in leon. some of the best and cheapest dining options available.
Zach, you are absolutely right. I lived down the street from the ones on the corner of Ruben Dario, they were cheap and amazing.
MMMM,QUE RIKO!!!!I REALLY MISSED MY COUNTRY’S FOOD……
All of it looks pretty good. Believe it or not, I would probably pass on the quesillo. These are much better than those on my weird and bizarre foods post!
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What??? I quesillos were my favourite!
Sweet!!! Headed to Nicaragua on Saturday, so hopefully I will encounter most or all of these within the first 24 hours
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The beans are sooo good.
Yum! This post brings back wonderful memories. When I was in Nicaragua, I ate Gallo Pinto every day! lol
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Gallo pinto is one of the few things I enjoyed in the two days I spent in Costa Rica as well , the addition green onion is fantastic.