Honduras food
Honduran cuisine
is a fusion of indigenous (Lenca) cuisine, Spanish cuisine, Caribbean cuisine
and African cuisine. There are also dishes from the Garifuna people. Coconut
and coconut milk are featured in both sweet and savory dishes. Regional
specialties include fried fish, tamales, carne asada and baleadas. Other
popular dishes include: meat roasted with chismol and carne asada, chicken with
rice and corn, and fried fish with pickled onions and jalapeños. In the coastal
areas and in the Bay Islands, seafood and some meats are prepared in many ways,
some of which include coconut milk.
Among the soups the Hondurans enjoy are bean soup,
mondongo soup (tripe soup), seafood soups and beef soups. Generally all of
these soups are mixed with plantains, yuca, and cabbage, and served with corn
tortillas.
Other typical dishes are the montucas or corn tamale,
stuffed tortillas, and tamales wrapped in plantain leaves. Also part of
Honduran typical dishes is an abundant selection of tropical fruits such as
papaya, pineapple, plum, sapote, passion fruit and bananas which are prepared
in many ways while they are still green.
Soft drinks are often drunk with dinner or lunch.
Contents
1 Breakfast
2 Sopa de caracol
3 Sopa de Frijoles
4 Carneada
5 Rice and beans
6 Fried yojoa fish
7 Baleada
8 Corn tortillas
9 See also
10 References
Breakfast
Honduran Breakfast, Baleadas and Pastelitos filled
with chicken.
Hondurans usually have a large, hearty breakfast. It
typically consists of fried eggs (whole or scrambled), refried beans, Honduran
salty sour cream (mantequilla), hard olancho cheese, avocado, sweet fried
plantains, and tortillas. It is common for most households to first prepare
tortillas, a staple for nearly every dish, which are used throughout the rest
of the day.
Other breakfast favorites include carne asada (roasted
meat) and Honduran spicy sausages (chorizo). Like many other places throughout
the world, a good breakfast will be accompanied with hot, dark—in this case
Honduran-grown—coffee. Honduran coffee is renowned for its delicate qualities,
being grown on the slopes of the Honduran mountains over rich soils of volcanic
origin. A specific brand famous for its flavour comes from the Honduran region
of Marcala, others being the Copán coffee and the one grown in Ocotepeque.[citation
needed]
Street vendors often sell breakfast baleadas made of
the flour tortillas, toppings such as eggs, meat, and even pickled onions, and
small tamales made of sweet yellow corn dough, called tamalitos de Elote, eaten
with sour cream; fresh Horchata and posole is also common.
Sopa de caracol
Sopa de caracol (conch soup) is one of the most
representative dishes of the Honduran cuisine. This soup was made famous
throughout Latin America because of a catchy song from Banda Blanca called
"Sopa de Caracol." The conch is cooked in coconut milk and the
conch's broth, with spices, yuca (cassava), cilantro, and green bananas known
as guineoverde. Other varieties including crab, fish or shrimp are known as
SopaMarinera.
Sopa de Frijoles
A red bean soup is eaten in every household of
Honduras. For the preparation of this soup, red beans are soaked in water until
soft and then boiled along green bell peppers, salt, pork rib and onions. When
the beans are soft, the broth has a chocolate color and a tasty flavor.
Yucca is added, as well as green plantains and
coriander. Before serving, when the soup is still boiling in the plate, a raw
egg is added sometimes on top. Other sides include deep fried pork belly fat
(chicharrones), smoked dry cheese, sour cream and the ever present tortillas.
Carneada
Carneada is considered one of Honduras' national
dishes, known as Plato Típico when served in Honduran restaurants. While it is
a type of dish, a Carneada or Carne Asada, like its Mexican counterpart, is
usually more of a social event with drinks and music centered around a feast of
barbecued meat. The cuts of beef are usually marinated in sour orange juice,
salt, pepper and spices, and then grilled.
The meat is usually accompanied by chismol salsa (made
of chopped tomatoes, onion and cilantro with lemon and spices), roasted
plátanos (sweet plantains), spicy chorizos, olanchano cheese, tortillas,and
refried mashed beans.
Rice and beans
Rice and beans is a popular side dish in the Honduran
Caribbean coast. The dish is typically cooked in coconut milk with cilantro and
spices.
Fried yojoa fish
Fried Yojoa Fish from Lake Yojoa
A famous dish throughout Honduras, which is found in
the Yojoa Lake. The fish is spiced and salted and later deep fried. It is
served with pickled onions, pickled red cabbage, and deep fried tajaditas
(sliced plantains).
Baleada
An open homemade baleada with eggs, butter, cheese and
beans
The baleada is one of the most common street foods in
Honduras. The basic style is made of a flour tortilla which is folded and
filled with refried beans, quesillo or cheese and sour cream. Many people add
roasted meat, avocado, plantains or scrambled eggs as well. There are Honduran
Fast-food chains that serve different kinds of Baleadas.
Corn tortillas
An Anafre, melted Honduran stringy cheese
"quesillo" in a clay pot, with Choro mushrooms and spicy Chorizo
sausage. Tortilla chips for dipping. La Esperanza-Intibucá, Honduras.
Corn, or maíz, is a staple in Honduran cuisine. Eating
corn comes to Hondurans as an inheritance of their Maya-Lenca ancestors; the
Maya believed corn to be sacred, and that the father gods created men from it.
Some tortilla based dishes include: Tacos Fritos:
Tortillas are filled in with ground meat or chicken and rolled into a flute.
The rolled tacos are then deep fried and served with raw cabbage, hot tomato
sauce, cheese and sour cream as toppings.
Catrachitas: A common simple snack made of deep fried
tortilla chips covered with mashed refried beans, cheese and hot sauce. A variant
of this snack are de Chilindrinas, deep fried tortilla strips with hot tomato
sauce and cheese. It is common in Honduran restaurants to serve an Anafre, a
clay pot with melting cheese or sour cream, mashed beans and sometimes chopped
chorizo (Honduran sausage) heated on top of a clay container with burning
charcoal, and tortilla fried chips to dip in. Similar to Swiss fondue.
Enchiladas: The whole Tortilla is deep fried and
served with a variety of toppings. First ground pork meat is placed, next raw
chopped cabbage or lettuce, then hot tomato sauce, and a slice of boiled egg.
Chilaquiles: Tortillas are covered in egg and deep
fried. Afterwards placed in a wide container to form a layer of tortilla as a
base. Cheese, cooked chicken and hot tomato sauce with spices is then added.
Again place another layer of tortillas and continue to do so to make something
like a Tortilla Lasagna. Place in the oven and let cook until cheese melts and
the tortillas are soft. Servedwiththick sour cream.
Tortilla con Quesillo: Two tortillas with quesillo, a
melted cheese, in between and then pan fried; served with a tomato sauce.
Mashed beans are sometimes also added as a filling with the cheese.
Honduras Food
Honduras Food
Honduras has many tasty traditional meals to choose
from; however, the country is well known for the typical Honduras food served
daily, a routine that ALWAYS include beans, rice, and tortillas.
Most Hondurans get up in the morning and have a
“baliada also spelled “baleada” which consists of a large flour tortilla with
re-fried beans and cream that resembles “sour cream”, but has its own distinct
flavor. Those who can afford it may add various ingredients to their baliada,
including veggies, avocado and / or ground beef. The average cost of this
nutritious start of the day is only 10.00 lempiras. Less than 50 cents in the
U.S.A.!
Baleada
Baleada
In Honduras, a “pastelito” for lunch is in order.
Pastelitos consist of a flour or corn tortilla filled with either beef or
chicken, as well as potatoes and various spices. They are folded in half and
then deep fried. A typical price for a pastelito is also 10.00 lempiras;
although most Hondurans will eat at least two, making for a total cost of 20.00
lempiras, or approximately $1 US dollar. The middle and upper class of Honduras
tends to go home, or out to a fast food restaurant for lunch.
Basically, the middle aged generation goes home, and
the younger generation loves to go to the nearby mall. The Honduras food
courts feature many International food chain restaurants, as well as typical
Honduran food, where a meal can be anywhere from 100.00 lempiras ($5.00) to
300.00 lempiras ($15.00). Lunch for many in Honduras is their “big meal
of the day”. After lunch, a SIESTA is in order. The vast majority
of the country’s businesses which employ the older generations, accommodate
these traditional routines. Administrative businesses, as well as many
retail operations (in particular hardware stores) close between 12:00 noon and
2:00 pm.
Dinner time for laborers may consist of some type of
meat, such as chicken, pork, or beef. There is always rice, and in many cases,
mashed potatoes or french fries. Yes, two starches with every meal, accompanied
by a small assortment of lettuce, onion and tomato with a mostly vinegar and
spices dressing, or the dressing might consist of a mixture of catsup and mayo,
which is similar in taste to Thousand Island salad dressing. Of course
tortillas and beans are also a must.The typical cost of this assortment of food
is 80.00 lempiras, or $4 US dollars. The middle to upper class either goes
home, or out to a favorite restaurant for the evening. Average meals at
nice restaurants and eateries (also known as comedores) throughout the country
of Honduras can range in price from 80.00 lempiras to 400.00 lempiras. Between
$4 and $20.00 US Dollars.
As you can see, a typical Honduran can get have a full
day of nutrition for about 200 lempiras or $10 US dollars. Thus the famous
saying by “back packers” traveling throughout Honduras, that they are on a “$10
a day budget”.
One particular note about Honduras foods; they are not
normally spicy hot, although many people love to put ‘hot sauce’ all over
everything.
Geographically there is quite a change in cuisine from
the west to the east. In the highlands of the central and western provinces,
corn is the base for tortillas and most other dishes. The beans favored by
pre-Colombian Mexico meet the root crops of South America and, as a result,
Honduras boasts more than 20 kinds of tamales, made from steamed cornmeal and
filled with meats, beans, vegetables, and chillies. In the eastern lowlands,
the staple is rice and cassava root, flavored using pumpkin, plantain, coconut
and seafood.
Tapado “olanchano” and tapado “costeño” are beef- and
plantain-based soups. Costeño (from the coast) includes cassava, guineo
bananas, and coconut, and the more western olanchano is packed with pork ribs
and corn. The country being predominantly Catholic, there are days when red
meat is off the menu, in which case Hondurans will eat dry fish cakes in soup.
A Copán-style pork roast is a must try – succulent whole pig stuffed with
spiced corn dough and roasted in special ovens.
Honduran Christmas Traditions – Food
Christmas is not Christmas without Honduran tamales.
For those who do not make their own, many women sell tamales at Christmas time,
taking orders from friends and neighbors. They are often shared with neighbors
or relatives as a gift in the way that those in the U.S. often exchange cookies
or other treats at this time of year.
Honduran Tamales
Honduran Tamales – Also known as Nacatamales
Tamales are filled usually with a small chicken piece
(including the skin and bones) or sometimes pork and some combination of rice,
potatoes, garbanzos, peas, and green olives. Tamales are wrapped in banana
leaves instead of corn husks. Some eat their tamales with ketchup.
Chicken with Rice - Honduran Arroz con Pollo
Chicken with Rice – Honduran Arroz con Pollo
Arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) is another popular
holiday celebration meal, as is a similar dish that includes bits of other
meats and is called Honduran Chop Suey. Whatever is served absolutely must be
accompanied with tamales. No exceptions.
Sandwiches (usually chicken on sliced white bread with
mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard) are another popular food during the Christmas
holidays. Cake is often served to guests, as is rompopo (eggnog). Red grapes
and apples are traditional at Christmas time; the groceries and markets are normally
well stocked with these fruits.
Frozen turkeys, canned cranberry sauce, and pumpkin
pie filling are readily available in the large grocery store chains. At a
price, though! Cranberry sauce can go for as much as $1.59 per can up to $2.59
and a medium-sized twelve pound turkey enough for six to eight people can go
for 800.00 Lempiras around $45 US Dollars while a medium thirteen pound
bone in ham at 150.00 lempiras a pound will cost you approximately $100
US Dollars, putting it well out of reach for most families.
