Nicaragua

Pickled cabbage salad is my favorite of the excellent Nicaraguan food. I’ve had it now four times, first at the clean and bright Daysi's Gusto Nicaraguan Cuisine in Rialto. The person taking my order there explained the options clearly. Explanation is needed because Nicaraguan enchiladas are more like empanadas, the fried cheese is chewy and squeaky, and the pickled onion condiment and the pickled cabbage salad are different than any food I had eaten previously. I went by myself after work a few years ago and I appreciated the helpful and friendly service I encountered.

I found pickled cabbage salad again at La Fritanguera in Concord when I ordered takeout and ate with Mom, Dad, and Suzy about a year ago. The fried cheese was still chewy and squeaky, and the pickled cabbage salad was very pickled. I liked the gallo pinto (rice and beans) and the plantains in the vegetarian plate. Suzy liked the carne asada.

Just last month, I went to Portobancos, a more upscale Nicaraguan restaurant in Los Angeles, with Raquel. Raquel ordered cheese tostones and sopa de mondongo (beef tripe with vegetables). I ordered the taquitos Nicaraguenses (served with the pickled cabbage salad, sour cream and catsup on top), pescozon (deep fried zucchini stuffed with cheese), more cabbage salad (because it is that good), and pio quinto (a cake with custard). The cabbage salad was light and delicious and I think the best part of the meal even with all the other fabulous food.

Then just last weekend, when I was visiting my brother David in Virginia, his wife Lorie found a Central American cabbage salad at Costco and all of a sudden we had pickled cabbage salad to serve with everything! I was thrilled! If you want to try making Nicaraguan food, here are some great options: https://ourbigescape.com/24-nicaragua-foods-recipes-for-nicaragua-dishes/

To see the food as it is prepared in the country, No Reservations has an episode showing off the amazing food and outlining some of the struggles and joys of being Nicaraguan: https://vimeo.com/151686874

One of the joys of being Nicaraguan is the abundance of poetry. Some examples include:

· Ruben Dario: here is a short bio and the opportunity to click on four of his poems: https://poets.org/poet/ruben-dario

· Ernesto Mejía Sánchez: https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/vigils

· Contemporary poets who use poetry as a means of protest: https://tinhouse.com/another-means-of-protest-poetry-from-contemporary-nicaragua/

Another joy is the large variety of dances. Cesar Flores did a great job on his school project showing the dances of Nicaragua: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2lydaalG0g

Some of the struggles of being Nicaraguan are shown in the documentaries on Kanopy about child soldiers, women soldiers, a homeless baby, and Living at Risk five years after the revolution. Kanopy also has A Life Without Words (Nicaragua has developed its own sign language), Bird Tales (about bird watchers on both ends of a migration path, one end being Nicaragua), and the critically recognized film La Yuma, which can also be found here: https://vimeo.com/85216188

Nicaragua is known for Primitivista art: https://indigoarts.com/galleries/nicaraguan-primitivista-art and I also found something more ancient: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/early-cultures/xf20f462f:isthmian-cultures-central-america/a/doe-shaman

There are great places to go in Nicaragua https://www.planetware.com/nicaragua/top-rated-attractions-things-to-do-in-nicaragua-nic-1-3.htm and I would do it! I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in the Nicaragua and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Roberto Zuniga https://unsplash.com/photos/jr8V04y_LTw