We've been doing this project for over eight years now. Yes, I know the fact we are still on the latter "E" is embarrassing. But that's not the point. For the last eight years we've either visited a restaurant (or small cafe) or cooked a traditional meal from the relevant country.
Never have I arranged on the internet to meet a female stranger in a London train station, to give money to in return for a bag of goods. Until now.
I didn't expect to find a restaurant for El Salvador in London. Although while I was searching for such a thing I did come across some evidence of a sizeable Salvadoran community in and around London. That's how I stumbled upon the Facebook page of Adelina. Some of her "Cuzcatlan" page on Facebook is in Spanish, and some in English. But what she offers is clear. Personal deliveries of Salvadoran cuisine on a regular basis.
This went against how this project has run in the past. There was no restaurant to visit. Which is when I usually find a recipe for the national dish - in this case "pupusas" - and make it myself. Why on earth would I do that when Adelina, a native of El Salvador, can do it properly?!
So I messaged her on Facebook, briefly explained why a Scotsman was asking her about her pupusas (this was the first time I had ever mentioned this blog to anyone who was about to serve me) and how I could arrange to collect some. By chance, she was already planning to carry out a few deliveries in London the following day. Her response to me was lengthy, including the different varieties of pupusas available, what it comes with, and the cost.
So I messaged her on Facebook, briefly explained why a Scotsman was asking her about her pupusas (this was the first time I had ever mentioned this blog to anyone who was about to serve me) and how I could arrange to collect some. By chance, she was already planning to carry out a few deliveries in London the following day. Her response to me was lengthy, including the different varieties of pupusas available, what it comes with, and the cost.
A pupusa, by the way, is a filled corn tortilla - stuffed with a savoury filling of one, some or all of a variety of meat, cheese and beans. All Adelina needed to know was what I wanted inside the pupusas. I ordered the minimum amount, 10 pupusas, all mixed - pork, cheese and beans - which came to £20. I also asked her how to cook them, store them and how long they could be kept for. She was very responsive to all my questions. We swapped numbers, and the deal was on.
The following day I arrived at Victoria Train Station at the arranged time of 5pm. To be perfectly honest, despite her clear instructions about where to find her, I wandered around aimlessly for 5 to 10 minutes! After calling me on the phone, she managed to direct me to where she was sitting. We greeted each other, she gave me a heavy, full carrier bag of food, and I gave her £20. We both sat down and chatted for ten minutes or so. I told her more about this blog and the project in general. She told me about her and family, her background, and the Salvadoran community in London. On departing, I promised her that I would send her the link to this review. I didn't tell her it would have been over four months before it was published (this all happened in September 2017 - sorry!).
The next evening I followed Adelina's instructions, by warming the pupusas in a frying pan for a few minutes on each side. Each pupusa was quite sizeable - I could only really warm two at a time, so once they had been warmed I put them in the oven to keep them warm whilst adding two more to the pan. Judging by the size, I decided Elle and I would have three each.
As the photo at the top of this review shows, the pupusas also came with two more things. A tangy tomato salsa, and curtido - a spicy, lightly-fermented cabbage relish/slaw.
So, to the dinner table. The pupusas themselves were very satisfying. Probably more tortilla than filling. But the filling was fantastic. Small cubes of pork in a very wholesome refried beans mash, with a very distinctive toasted/roasted cheese flavour coming through. A very filling meal. Three pupusas was a struggle - mostly because of how heavy and filling they were, but also due to them being slightly greasy. But not unappealingly so.
The curtido was fantastic. Very unique. Some liken it to sauerkraut or kimchi, and I can see why. But this was different. It was so fresh, and the spicy kick to it was almost strange. It was as slight as it was punchy. Very much there, but not overpowering. Together with the very refreshing, flavoursome salsa and the filling pupusas made this a hugely enjoyable, authentic and very satisfying meal.
On telling people about this at work the following day, one of my colleagues went straight onto Facebook to order some for himself. I urge you to do the same at https://en-gb.facebook.com/cuzcatlan.co.uk/
UPDATE - November 2023: As part of trying to find Guatemalan food, we actually ended going to a Salvadorian restaurant which didn't exist when we originally reached "El Salvador" in 2018. This restaurant served the national dish of Guatemala, but also served traditional Salvadorian pupusas. Even though we "ticked the box" with the review above, we couldn't pass the opportunity to finally experience Salvadorian food in a Salvadorian restaurant. Below is an except from that review:
"The restaurant clearly specialised in pupusas, referring to itself as a "pupuseria" on its website, and a hard-to-miss neon sign in the window demanding "EAT MY PUPUSA". There are eight different pupusas offered, with a mix of a few key ingredients - black beans, cheese, pork and jalapenos. We went for two of the pupusas stuffed with all four ingredients. They were excellent. Very fresh, hot and filling. The cheese was very firm and stringy, with minced pork and jalapenos on top of the cheese. The pupusas were topped with pumpkin seeds and fresh chopped coriander and served with curtido - a pickled fermented salad - and spicy tomato salsa which were fantastic accompaniments."
