A pupusa is a thick griddle cake or flatbread from El Salvador and <!-- Any change to these countries should be discussed on talk page first -->Honduras and has a day to celebrate it.
Etymology
The origin of the term pupusa is unknown. The ', published by the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, states that pupusa derives from the Nawat word (spoken by the Pipil people) meaning "fluffy" or "fluffy thing". In Lidia Pérez de Novoa's book Interlude and Other Verses, she believed that pupusa derives from the Nawat word meaning "to puff up". Ricardo Ernesto Roque, a professor at the Central American University in San Salvador, supported this etymology.
Origin
El Salvador and Honduras both claim to be the origin of the pupusa. Roque attributed the pupusa's origin to the Pipil people as he claims the term derived from a Nawat word, and he claims that a Nawat word would make El Salvador the pupusa's origin. Héctor Miguel Leiva Carías, a professor at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, thinks that Roque's reliance on word origin to determine food origin was not correct, as Nawat was also spoken in Honduras.
The pupusa's origin was discussed during negotiations for the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA–DR) in 2003. In 2018, the World Trade Organization listed El Salvador as the pupusa's ("designation of origin").
The earliest mention of modern pupusas was made by Guatemalan poet José Batres Montúfar in 1837. In a letter to his family, he described encountering a dish similar to pupusas in Nicaragua known as . The letter remarked their similarity to pupusas, which he attributes as being from San Salvador. The pupusa was also mentioned by Honduran Alberto Membreño in Diccionario de Hondureñismos where he described it as an empanada "composed of cheese, beans, etc., enclosed in a tortilla and cooked on a comal" (""). In the late 1930s, corn became scarce and some Salvadorans replaced the corn flour to make pupusas with rice flour. This method of creating pupusas, known as , began in Olocuilta.
Preparation
thumb|right|alt=A photograph of a woman cooking pupusas|Pupusas being cooked on a [[Comal (cookware)|comal]]
A pupusa is a handmade maize or rice tortilla stuffed with ingredients. Traditional stuffings can include cheese, refried beans, squash, loroco, and . Pupusas are cooked on comals
Cultural significance
El Salvador
thumb|right|alt=A photograph of a woman cooking pupusas|A woman making pupusas in [[Ahuachapán.]]
thumb|right|alt=A photograph of various pupuserías at night| in [[Olocuilta, nicknamed the "city of pupusas"]]
In El Salvador, the pupusa's cultural importance grew significantly during the Salvadoran Civil War as pupusas spread to and became popular in the United States in the 1980s. November was chosen as it marks the peak of corn harvesting in El Salvador. In 2004, the Salvadoran Chamber of Consulting Entrepreneurs estimated that Salvadorans consumed around US$1.6 million worth of pupusas each weekend. Olocuilta has four locations known as where several are located in close proximity with each other.
United States
Pupusas spread to the United States during the 20th century when Central American immigrants moved to the country to escape violence in their home countries and opened in the U.S. and New York City. The Guardian named pupusas the 2011 Best Street Food in New York City.
See also
- Latin American cuisine
- List of maize dishes
- List of street foods