Nica Food

I learned while working for Broadreach that writing about food is boring, no one really cares what you ate today. But I also think that it is impossible to talk about Nicaragua without talking about what I eat daily. Its interesting because it’s a major topic of discussion within the Peace Corps, between trainees and with our families. Not surprisingly, food is in the spot-light in this Latin American country.


I am lucky, my mama has had 8 other trainees and so she is used to picky eating. I am not a picky eater but am glad she’s had worse because I feel comfortable asking her to “please please please, put less rice on the plate!” or that I don’t need to drink fresh fruit juice (think: oranges, water and tons of sugar) three meals out of the day.
The Bad
Yes, I eat tons of rice (which is fried in oil before boiled) and beans a day. I used to love plantains…now, if I am lucky, I only eat them once a day. Everything is fried and veggies are difficult to come by.


The Good:
I am learning a ton. Because of my inability to relax around my family I prefer to be cooking with my mama than just sitting around and watching her cook. So I am making tortillas from scratch, empanadas and the occasional gallo pinto (fried rice and beans).
My breakfasts are amazing. I get fresh fruit salad of melon, watermelon, oranges, papaya, pineapples and bananas. My parents here have a small farm where they grow mandarins, oranges, bananas (at least 3 types that I can figure out), and plantains. So there is always fruit in the house for everyone in the family (and the various neighbors) to eat at will. They also have avocado trees which means fresh avocado at a majority of the meals.
Sunday Breakfast:
As I said before, every morning I have an amazing fresh fruit salad. This Sunday I woke up a little bit disoriented and sad. I immediately thought of my amazing fruit salad I was about to have, got out of bed unwillingly and made it to the kitchen. Much to my surprise, breakfasts are different on Sundays.
Disclaimer to Brandon- please stop reading.

My parents just sold 13 pigs (don’t be sad- we still have five. They sing me to sleep- and by sing I mean screech, wail and generally sound like they are being slaughtered all night) and we were lucky enough to receive a present from the buyer- some of our pigs in food form! I can safely say that Darla from Market Street Grill really has nothing on a traditional Nica breakfast.
Not only was breakfast from the very same pig I talked to the day before (also wished death upon the night before) but it was made with all different types of pig parts. We started with fried pig meat and fried pig fat. The meet was pretty good and I will just let you use your imagination regarding fried pig fat. The next course consisted of fried pig skin. This is something I’ve had before in Mexico and can confirm I am still not a huge fan of any type of fried skin. The third course is one for the books, and really embodies the idea of a grand finale! This particular type of sausage is black and is made with the blood of the piglet- I think it is called Modunga. My parents told me that its really good for women who’ve just given birth because there is tons of iron in the sausage (duh, its blood). Quite honestly I think I would have been ok with the sausage had I not known about the blood. That being said, I tried everything and even said that I liked everything except the fried skin (I just couldn’t bring myself to say that I prefer fruit salad over this elaborate affair).
I miss Darla.