Category Archives: Salvadoreños
Casamiento
Nope, I’m not talking about getting married – I’m talking about Salvadoran Casamiento.
“Casamiento” means “wedding” and it’s the name of a bean and rice dish in El Salvador. Although Casamiento is usually made from leftover beans and rice which are mixed together, it can also be made from scratch. I made a video showing all the steps – from making a simple pot of plain, white rice, to making a pot of Salvadoran beans, to then combining them along with some other ingredients to create Casamiento.
Because Casamiento is usually eaten with Platanos Fritos and Crema, I decided to throw that recipe in the video as well… So here’s the video, and the recipes are typed up below, too.
Plain, White Rice
You need:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup rice (Salvadorans traditionally use white rice. I use Jasmine.)
1 3/4 cups water
a little less than 1 teaspoon salt
Directions: Heat oil in a medium pot. Add rice and stir around for a minute or two. (Do not brown the rice.) Add the water and salt. Stir just to distribute the salt and then no more stirring after that! Bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat to low. After 12 minutes your pot of rice should be ready. Uncover and fluff with a fork. If using for Casamiento, set aside or refrigerate when cooled.
Salvadoran Beans
You need:
1 lb. beans (these can be black beans or Salvadoran red beans/frijoles rojos de seda.)
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in quarters
a few cloves of garlic, peeled
water
salt
Directions: Pour beans into a large pot. Cover with water to rinse. Remove any debris or shriveled beans. (I don’t usually find anything to remove but it’s just a precaution.) Drain water and add fresh water to cover.
Now you have a choice – If you want to cook the beans as soon as possible, you can do a “quick soak.” Bring the beans and water to a boil, then cover and remove from heat. Let beans sit for one hour. This is a quick soak and your beans are now ready to cook.
If you aren’t in a hurry, you can simply cover the beans (without heating the water), and let them sit overnight. The beans will be ready to cook in the morning.
Once your beans have either been through the “quick soak” process, or have sat overnight, you’re ready to cook them. Drain the water and add fresh water again. Make sure the water covers the beans by about a half inch. Add the onion and garlic to the pot. Simmer the beans covered until tender. This can take up to five hours and you must frequently check the beans to make sure they have enough water. Add water when needed and do not let the beans cook dry or they will burn. NOTE: Do not add salt until the beans are completely done cooking. If you add salt while the beans are hard, they will not soften. When the beans are tender, add salt to taste.
Casamiento
You need:
3/4 cups green pepper, diced
1 large roma tomato, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup cooked beans
1/2 cup bean broth (the liquid from cooking the beans)
salt, to taste
Directions: Add the green pepper, tomato and onion to oil in a medium pot. Cook over medium heat until onion and green pepper become tender. Add in the rice, beans and bean broth. (If you prefer a drier Casamiento, use a little less bean broth.) Mix until combined. Remove from heat. Add salt to taste.
Platanos Fritos
You need:
1 platano, (should be yellow with many black markings)
oil for cooking
Directions:
Use a sharp knife to cut off the ends of the platano. Slice through the peel length-wise to remove. Slice the platano in circles or quarters length-wise. Fry in a tablespoon or two of oil, flipping to brown both sides. Remove to a plate covered in a paper towel to drain. Serve with crema. (If you don’t have Salvadoran crema available near you, sour cream will do.)
Street Sounds of Soyapango
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. English translation is below!
Como escritora, me baso en la memoria de los sonidos del ambiente para llevarme de vuelta a otro lugar y tiempo. Cuando trabajo en una de mis novelas que se lleva a cabo en El Salvador, cierro los ojos y recuerdo lo que he oído.
Puedo oír el tráfico, los carros al ralentí, los bocinazos de los carros, los autobuses que pasan, y el chirrido de los frenos cuando hacen sus paradas.
Puedo oír las campanas del paletero, la voz cantarina de la mujer que vende quesadillas temprano en la mañana, los loros que hablan en los árboles, y baten sus alas verdes.
Puedo oír un aguacatero ladrando, una mujer barriendo la acera, los niños placticando en su camino a la escuela, los murmullos de un borracho caminando por la calle.
Puedo oír la lluvia a media tarde comenzando a caer – las gotas de lluvia caen gordas y lentas al principio, pero después hay un aguacero ensordecedor que ahoga todos los otros sonidos.
— Tu turno! Piensa en un momento y lugar. ¿Qué sonidos oyes tú?—
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
As a writer, I rely on the memory of ambient sounds to take me back to a different place and time. When I work on one of my novels that takes place in El Salvador, I close my eyes and remember what I heard.
I can hear the traffic, cars idling, cars honking their horns, buses passing by, and the screech of their brakes when they make their stops.
I can hear the ringing bells of the man pushing his ice cream cart, the singsong voice of the woman selling quesadillas early in the morning, the parrots talking in the trees and flapping their green wings.
I can hear a stray dog barking, a woman sweeping the walk, children chatting on their way to school, the mumblings of a drunk walking down the street.
I can hear a mid-afternoon rain begin to fall, the fat rain drops slow at first, and then a deafening downpour that drowns out all other sounds.
—Your turn! Think of a time and place. What sounds do you hear?—
Fiesta DC 2012
Taking photos at Fiesta DC this past Sunday was a challenge for a number of reasons, but one of those reasons was the sheer number of other people trying to photograph and video tape the event. At times I felt like I was in a group of paparazzi fighting for position – and then when I would finally frame the perfect shot, someone would inevitably ruin it by running across with a video camera or sticking their iPhone in front of me.
Some of the people were amateur or hobbyist photographers like me, some were obviously freelance professionals or working for media – And then there were young males, usually equipped with cellphone cameras, who were just trying to photograph the nalgas of the cachiporras to share on their Facebook.
Anyway, here are my favorite shots which I had some fun editing and a video of the general atmosphere.
By the way, speaking of nalgas, at one point during the parade a woman with a very generous backside stood in front of us. Carlos, to his credit, didn’t even seem to notice despite the fact that her “pants” were actually leggings and you could see her thong through the fabric.
“¡Qué bárbara!” a little old man said. The old man, not content to enjoy the view by himself and feeling the need to share, elbowed Carlos. Jutting his chin towards the woman in front of them he said, with a lascivious expression on his face, “Ella es Santa Bárbara, ¿vá?”
Carlos looked confused, “Oh, ¿sí?” he replied.
“Ssssíííííí,” the viejo hissed appraising the woman’s behind, practically licking his lips. Noting the fact that Carlos didn’t understand what he meant, the viejo then asked, “¿No sabes?”
“¿No?” Carlos said, the question on his face.
I rolled my eyes at the predictable dirty old man.
“¡Es santa por delante y bárbara por atrás!” the viejo said, erupting in laughter as if he had said the most clever and original thing in the world.
Carlos laughed politely and I pinched him.
“What?” Carlos said.
“Stand back here, away from the viejo chuco,” I said.
After the parade we had lunch. I wanted pupusas but Carlos made a good point that we eat pupusas all the time and that we should eat something different, so we ended up buying delicious Mexican tortas. (The boys and I had the torta milanesa de pollo with horchata. Carlos had the torta de carnitas with agua fresca de tamarindo.)
Just as we finished eating and were deciding what to do next, I heard “Los Hermanos Lovo” announced on a nearby stage.
“No way!” I said out loud, “Hermanos Lovo!”
Carlos looked at me like I had lost my mind as I pulled his hand in the direction of the stage.
“It’s the Chanchona music I blogged about. Remember?… Hermanos Lovo!”
For three songs I tapped my hand against my side, tapped my feet, and moved my hips, waiting for people to dance, but only a few people were dancing, and they were getting stared at. Everyone else just pretty much stood there and watched the performance. I found this a little strange given that at most Latino dominant events I’ve been too, there’s usually not a lack of dancing. I wonder if most of the people there have become too Americanized in this respect? Too self-conscious?
I couldn’t take it anymore. I leaned toward Carlos and he leaned toward me so he could hear me.
“Want to dance?” I asked, eyes brimming with hope like a child asking for a puppy.
Carlos said nothing, just turned toward me and took me in his arms, and we danced.
Within seconds much of the crowd had turned to look at us and stood gaping. Carlos whispered in my ear, “We’re being photographed and video taped.” I felt a flood of gringa self-consciousness wash through me but we kept dancing, and soon, the people around us, were just a blur of colors.
Peperechas!
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. English translation is below!
El pan salvadoreño en la foto se llama “peperecha”. La peperecha es fácil de identificar por el color rosado que está encima. Adentro, este pan, (que no es muy dulce, igual que la mayoría de panes salvadoreños), tiene jalea de piña mezclada con dulce de panela.
El nombre de este pan me sorprendió la primera vez que lo ví, porque solo sabía el otro significado de la palabra “peperecha” que es “prostituta”.
Como ven, siempre cuando andabamos en público con mi suegra, ella me susurraba mientras señalaba a mujeres que llevaban demasiado maquillaje o usaban faldita muy corta, “Qué pecado. Mira vé como andan esas peperechas”.
Años más tarde cuando encontré un pan en la tienda Latina etiquetado “peperecha”, empezé a reir.
“¡Mira!” le dije a Carlos. “¿Por qué dice ‘peperecha’ en este pan?”
“Porque así se llama”, me dijo.
“¿Por qué llaman a este pan igual que las putas?”
Carlos encogió los hombros en su forma habitual. Él no parecía muy curioso sobre el nombre del pan y actuaba como si fuera normal, pero por muchos años yo preguntaba a otros salvadoreños acerca de la historia detrás del nombre de este pan y nadie sabía.
¡Pero hoy tengo buenas noticias! Encontré la razón porque le llaman “peperechas” a este pan!
[El pan que se llama "peperecha" es] “conocida así por la similitud al maquillaje que muchas de estas ocupan.” – CulturaCentroamericana.info
Por lo tanto, alguien puso el nombre “peperecha” a este pan por el color rojo que trae, igual al maquillaje de una prostituta.
Bueno, ahora sabemos. ¿Quién quiere una peperecha? – (Me refiero al pan.)
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
The photo is of a Salvadoran bread called “peperecha.” Identifying peperecha is easy because of the pink color on the top of the bread. Inside, this bread, (which like the majority of Salvadoran breads, is not very sweet), is a mixture of pineapple jelly and panela (a type of brown sugar.)
The first time I saw the name of this bread I was surprised, because I only knew the other meaning of the word “peperecha” which is “prostitute.”
You see, whenever we walked in public with my mother-in-law, she would whisper to me while pointing to women wearing too much makeup or wearing short miniskirts, “What sin. Look how these peperechas go about.”
Years later when I found a bread in a Latino market labeled “peperecha” I started to laugh.
“Look!” I said to Carlos. “Why does it say ‘peperecha’ on this bread?”
“Because that’s what it’s called,” he said.
“Why is this bread called the same thing as whores?”
Carlos shrugged in his usual way. He didn’t seem curious about the name of the bread and acted like it was normal, but for many years I asked other Salvadorans about the history behind the name of this bread and nobody knew.
However, today I have good news! I found the reason this bread is called “peperecha!”
[The bread called "peperecha" is] “so called because of the similarity to the makeup they [prostitutes] use.” – CulturaCentroamericana.info
Therefore, someone named this bread “peperecha” for its red color which is like the makeup of a prostitute.
Well, now we know. Who wants a peperecha? – (I refer to the bread.)
Happy Independence Day, Guanacos!
I wanted to do something special for El Salvador’s Independence Day, so I decided to make a few regalitos for all my cheros guanacos.
First, here is free desktop wallpaper for your computer!
Desktop wallpaper! Click for full size.
To use it:
• Click the image to enlarge
• Right click and select “Set as Desktop Background”
• Customize it to your desktop as you wish (I think “Tiled” looks best)
• Click “Set Desktop Background”
I also created some fun worksheets for you and your cipotes. Choose the one you like, click the link or image, click “Download” over on Box.com, and then once you have it on your computer, open the PDF and print.
Click here to go download the crossword puzzle!
Click here for the EL SALVADOR CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Click here to go download the word search puzzle!
Click here for the EL SALVADOR WORD SEARCH PUZZLE
Feliz Día de la Independencia a El Salvador! (Happy Independence Day to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua as well, también a nuestros amigos en México who will celebrate tomorrow.)
Eskina Opuesta – Salvadoran Ska Music
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. English translation is below!
Hoy quiero introducirles a una banda de El Salvador que se llama “Eskina Opuesta.” La música está clasificada como una mezcla de Ska y Rock con un toque de Cumbia. Las canciones y los videos son muy divertidos y creativos. También me encanta la diversidad de instrumentos utilizados en la música. Yo creo que Eskina Opuesta es super buena onda y que tienen un gran potencial para llegar a ser muy famosos fuera de El Salvador. ¿Qué opinan ustedes? Chécalo!
[ENGLISH]
Today I want to introduce you guys to a band from El Salvador called “Eskina Opuesta.” The music is classified as a mix of Ska and Rock with a touch of Cumbia. The songs and videos are really fun and creative and I love the diversity of the instruments used. I think that Eskina Opuesta is super cool and has big potential to become really famous outside El Salvador. What do you guys think? Check it out!
Links:
Dejémonos de Pajas
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. English translation is below!
Hoy quiero introducirles a un podcast de El Salvador que está disponible completamente gratis. El podcast se llama “Dejémonos de Pajas.” Primero, quiero explicar un poco que son “pajas” para los que no saben. Mucha gente conoce la palabra “paja” como el trigo seco en que duermen los animales de granja. Otra gente saben el significado alternativo, que es “la masturbación.” Pero, el uso de la palabra “paja” en este instante significa otra cosa! En El Salvador “pajas” son “mentiras.”
Así, este podcast es super honesto y muy divertido. A veces hablan de cosas chistosas, y a veces discuten temas serios – pero es siempre muy interesante. Este podcast es para todos, pero si eres de El Salvador, tienes que escuchar lo. Carlos y yo nos encanta, y yo sé que les va a encantar también.
Chécalo: En su sitio de web, en iTunes, en Facebook, y también en Twitter.
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Today I want to introduce you to a podcast from El Salvador which is available for free. The podcast is called “Dejémonos de Pajas.” First I want to explain a little about what “pajas” means for those that don’t know. Many people know the word “paja” to be the dry wheat that farm animals sleep on. [Straw] Other people know the alternative slang meaning, which is “masturbation.” However, the use of the word “pajas” in this instance means something else! In El Salvador “pajas” are “lies.” [So the name of the podcast roughly translates to "Let's stop lying" or "Let's leave behind the lies."]
So, this podcast is super honest and very funny. Sometimes they talk about funny things, and sometimes they discuss serious issues – but it is always very interesting. The podcast is for everyone, but if you are from El Salvador especially, you have to listen to this podcast. Carlos and I love it, and I know you’re going to love it too.
Check it out: On their website, on iTunes, on Facebook, and also on Twitter.
Ethics and Morality – Lost in Translation
Quite on accident I stumbled upon photos from my blog which had been stolen. I was looking at the images in a Facebook album owned by a Salvadoran pride community only to see a photo that looked familiar – “Wait a minute,” I thought, “that’s my photo!”
I clicked to enlarge it and not only had it been used without permission, but my name and my blog were not mentioned at all. Looking through the album I found almost a dozen of my photos. Soon I would find my stolen photos in the Facebook photo albums of two other similar communities owned by people in El Salvador.
I accused one of the people of theft and left comments on every single one of my photos demanding that the photos be removed. This person removed the photos quickly and apologized saying the theft had been unintentional. (He claims that the photos were submitted to him and he didn’t know where they had come from. I accepted his apology and moved on.)
In the second case it was a very large community and the guy who owned it had the nerve to watermark my photos with his name and even made comments on the photos as if he had taken them. Angry, I decided to take care of things through the Facebook complaint form for copyright violations. It was a little tedious, but Facebook acted within hours and removed the photos without me having to engage the owner of the page in conversation.
In the third case, I determined that the owner of the Facebook community was a female and decided, out of some sort of sympathy and sisterhood, to give her a chance to remove the photos herself instead of reporting her to Facebook. I told her that the photos were mine and that I was giving her one hour to remove them. If she failed to remove the photos, I would be forced to report the violation to Facebook.
She did not respond well to my ultimatum and began to insult me. I explained to her that I was being kind in giving her this chance and that others in my position could potentially take her to court. Her response?
“tu estas loca hija aqui no vengas con pendejadas saves q me vale berda lo q tu quieras hacer”
Wow. I was a little shocked but I composed myself long enough to reply:
“Qué es ‘berda’? … La palabra es VERGA. Si vas a ser maleducada, por lo menos, aprenda a deletrear, cipota.”
In the end, I reported the copyright violation to Facebook and Facebook removed the photos from her album, but I was left wondering about a lot of things. I related this whole story to Carlos and he seemed unimpressed. The look on his face said to me, “What did you expect?”
“People in El Salvador don’t respect copyrights – you should know that,” he said.
And he was right, I should know that. In El Salvador, pirated DVDs and CDs are sold out in the open. Stores in the mall carry knock-off T-shirts printed with every cartoon character and American rock band imaginable. My suegra, who’s a seamstress, buys bags of clothing labels at the market – The clothing labels are for sewing onto the clothing she makes and sells. She sews in tags that say Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Liz Claiborne.
And it isn’t just individuals who do this – Even businesses in El Salvador get in on the action. I’ve mentioned before, that one day we were traveling back from Chalatenango to the city and we were starving. We saw a sign for Wendy’s – exactly like the Wendy’s sign you all know and love with the same red background, same white lettering, same instantly recognizable font. We go inside the Wendy’s only to find out it’s a little comedor selling bistec y arroz, quesadilla, and all kinds of Salvadoran food. No burgers and fries were to be found – this was not a real Wendy’s.
I think that many (not all) people in El Salvador are so used to literally being surrounded by copyright violations on a daily basis that the concept of intellectual property becomes impossible to understand. In the minds of the people who stole my images, they feel they’ve done nothing wrong. When confronted by accusations of “theft”, in their minds I was being irrational, selfish, crazy. After all, they didn’t literally steal a physical object from me – I still have my photo, they just have it too. What’s the big deal?
As I dealt with the copyright violations, Carlos told me more than once that I was wasting my time. “That’s a losing battle,” he said, “they’ll do it again, and if not them, some other Salvadoran will.” Although I wasn’t able to be at peace with that for a few days, I do agree with him.
I want to be clear here – I don’t believe this difference in ethics is due to American culture, American belief systems or Americans themselves being any way superior to Salvadoran culture, Salvadoran belief systems or Salvadorans themselves. I don’t believe that Salvadorans are less moral, less civilized or less anything. What I do believe is that this difference in ethics is an example of ethical relativism in action – In other words, my “right and wrong” are not necessarily the same as your average Salvadoran’s “right and wrong.”
It’s a controversial and complex philosophy, but it makes sense to me. What do you think? Are morals & ethics non-negotiable or are they dependent on one’s culture? What differences have you observed in ethics across cultures?
Related Reading:
Ethical Issues Across Cultures (PDF)
Ethical Relativism
Morality is a Culturally Conditioned Response
Tim’s El Salvador Blog – (the discussion in comments on this post about piracy is really interesting.)
Chanchona
“What is the music of El Salvador?” you might ask a Salvadoran, and most Salvadorans will answer “Cumbia” – but the less famous Chanchona music is an often overlooked, under appreciated, (and sometimes just plain unknown!) genre that is uniquely Salvadoran.
The word “Chanchona” basically means “big pig” – an affectionate yet amusing name given to the large stringed bass that is at the heart of this music. Other instruments heard in the always upbeat Chanchona music include violins, güira, guitars, conga and other percussion.
In 2011, Smithsonian Folkways Magazine did a fantastic feature of the Chanchona group, Los Hermanos Lovo. Check out this video, and then to learn more, I encourage you to visit the link below where you can read some really touching stories and interesting history from the musicians about the music. If you end up loving it as much as I do, there’s a link down below to song samples and downloads.
Smithsonian Folkways Magazine: The Sound and Story of the Salvadoran Chanchona by Daniel E. Sheehy
¡Soy Salvadoreño! Chanchona Music from Eastern El Salvador by Los Hermanos Lovo (samples & downloads)
Puchica Heating & Air Conditioning
Today is Spanish Friday so this post is in Spanish. If you participated in Spanish Friday on your own blog, leave your link in comments. English translation is below!
Yo estaba leyendo un periódico en español la semana pasada y ví un anuncio que me sorprendió. El anuncio era por una compañía de aire acondicionado y calefacción, pero lo que me fascinó fue el nombre de la compañía.
No lo creía y busqué la compañía en las páginas amarillas latinas – y allí estaba otra vez. Puchica.
[ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
I was reading a newspaper in Spanish last week and I saw an ad that surprised me. The ad was for a heating and air conditioning company, but the part that fascinated me was the name of the company.
I didn’t believe it and looked the company up in the Latino Yellow Pages – and there it was again. Puchica.
Note: “Puchica” is Salvadoran slang and is used like “Wow, Holy cow, Geez, Shoot!”
