Cabbagey Bits

I moved over into Guatemala for a few days. Upon my arrival in town with wild hair and dirt in my ears from taking the chicken bus from out of a national park in El Salvador across the border and into the country I plopped down at a comidora outside the bus station with a fierce hunger and ordered up some grilled chicken. My plate arrived with a pile of fresh tortillas, a splash of a mild chili sauce over the chicken, guacomole on the side and pile of a cabbage based relish slightly pickled with lots of cilantro. Good stuff.

I've never really associated cabbage with food from Central America. It seems so Slavic or Northern European to be eaten in the dark of winter while bundled in heavy clothes rather than part of cuisine otherwise laden with things that dangle from tropical trees. However, I've been finding it is pretty common here particularly in the local street stall places.

In El Salvador the pupusa stands typically serve up the pupusas with a tomato based sauce (smooth though, not chunky like a Noth American salsa) and then on the tables there are big jars of a slightly fermented cabbage based relish wih lots of chili, a bit like Korean kim chi.