How to Make Pupusas
Pupusas have been sustaining Latin Americans since pre-Columbian times. And when a food has that kind of longevity, you know it has to be good. Though Salvadorans and Hondurans both lay claim to the recipe, in El Salvador it is considered the national dish. There, these enticing packages are made by stuffing cheese, beans, braised meat, or a combination thereof into a ball of corn flour dough called masa. The ball is flattened into a 4- or 5-inch disk and cooked on a comal (a dry cast-iron griddle) until the tender corn cake forms a spotty-brown, crisp shell. Garnished with curtido (a bright slaw) and a spicy salsa, the result is downright irresistible.
The Salvadoran cooks I’ve seen shape pupusas look like they could do it in their sleep: They work masa into a
