FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Taqueria Los Gallos Express #1 - Now Serving Pupusas
An authentic taste of El Salvador - Right here in Concord!
Concord, CA (January 1, 2015) - What is a pupusa? A pupusa is a tortilla made of corn flour
(Maseca) stuffed with chicharron, cheese, or beans. The pupusas is stuffed while forming the round
pancake like tortilla. It is a culinary art form, and not everyone can make them. It takes skill and practice
to be able to make them.
Taqueria Los Gallos Express #1 Street Style Taco Bar is now
offering El Salvador style Pupusas.
Made from masa dough, the base for tortillas, tamales and
other Latin cooking staples, pupusas are thick corn cakes
filled with chicharron, cheese or beans. For certain, they are
always served with curtido, a wonderfully crunchy and tangy
cabbage slaw, and a simple red salsa.
The word chicharrón means different things in different
parts of Central and South American. Usually
chicharrones are fried pieces of pork rind or some kind of
fatty fried pork. In El Salvador, chicharrón is finely shredded
seasoned pork used to fill the popular stuffed corn
tortillas called pupusas.
Chicharron is usually prepared by cooking the pork until it's
tender, then frying it a bit in its rendered fat, then grinding it
to a paste with tomatoes, onions, and seasonings. This
recipe uses salsa and the crockpot for convenience, and the
resulting shredded pork is great for burritos or nachos…
This tiny country on the Pacific coast has made a rich contribution to Central American cooking. The cuisine
of El Salvador is similar to that of its neighbors, with a strong reliance on indigenous foods like corn, beans,
squash and tomatoes. The influence of Mayan culture is quite strong, mixed in with contributions from the
Spanish kitchen. Pupusas and curtido may be the most well known Salvadoran dishes, but other tasty dishes
include pavo salvadoreño, atol de elote, quesadilla andsemita.
Never eaten Salvadoran food? You’ll find Salvadoran flavors are tame and muted in contrast to the
brighter, more sunny flavors of Mexican cuisine. Salvadoran food is challenging to find in the east bay
area, but we are now serving Pupusas at Taqueria Los Gallos Express #1's new Street Style Taco Bar.
Pupusas are the unsung heroes of Latin cuisine. Their crisped exteriors may not entice like a taco filled
with pork, pineapple, and cilantro, but this humble exterior belies a rich and meaty filling that is nothing
short of magical. Corn masa is shaped into a pocket, filled with fresh chicharron, then fried to crispy
perfection on a flat-top grill.
Most commonly you'll find Salvadoran chicharron inside pupusas, which looks nothing like the hard-fried
pork cracklings you're used to. In El Salvador, chicharron is pork that has been slow-braised, fried in its
own fat, then mixed with traditional spices, onions, and tomatoes. The two most common pupusas are
the pupusa de quesillo (cheese) and more popular pupusa mixta with mixed ingredients of cheese,
beans,[1] and chicharrón. It aims for a kind of self-contained perfection, in which the filling is neatly
encased in a thin layer of griddled masa dough, unlike either the gordita or arepa, whose meat-andcheese guts can spill all over the plate, frustrating your efforts at the ideal bite.
Curtido a spicy, fermented cabbage slaw, similar to Korean kimchi, is typically served alongside
pupusas, and adds nice crunch and a little tang. EL Salvadoran food is challenging to find in the east bay
area, but we are now serving Pupusas at Taqueria Los Gallos Express #1's new Street Style Taco Bar.
In the late 1950s, pupusas were still not widespread across El Salvador, and were mostly localized in
the central towns, such as Quezaltepeque, and cities of the country. As the population started to
migrate to other areas, pupusas stands started to proliferate in the 1960s across the country and in the
neighboring areas of Honduras and Guatemala, sometimes with variations in shape, size or filling.
In the 1980s, the Salvadorian civil war forced a Salvadorian migration to other countries, mainly the
United States. Therefore, pupusas became available outside the country wherever a Salvadorian
community was found. In the United States, immigrants have brought the dish to Florida, New York,
California and other locations, where there are now many pupuserías (a place where pupusas are sold
and made).
In Canada, pupuserías may be found in Toronto, (North York and City of York), Kensington Market,
Southern Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Montréal, Québec, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Alberta and in Vancouver,
BC.
The Pipil, the indigenous people of El Salvador, are credited with the invention of the Pupusa. Cooking
utensils found at the archaeological site of Joya de Cerén (a village in the western part of the country
buried in volcanic ashes after an eruption around 600 A.D.) indicate that pupusas were a staple in the
daily diet of the inhabitants.
The word “pupusa” derives from the Nahuat language and it has two possible meanings, either “stuffed”
or “puffy,” perhaps in reference to the fillings and how pupusas puff up after cooked. In 2005, the
Salvadoran government issued legislation designating the Pupusa the national dish of El Salvador. They
are simply delicious and showcase the artisan quality of Salvadoran culinary traditions.
CONTACT:
Jorge Cardenas
1747 Willow Pass Rd. Concord, CA 94520
925-288-1503 (office)
877-425-5670 (cellular)
925-798-0774 (fax)
(Email) tlgallosexpress@sbcglobal.net
SOCIAL MEDIA:
FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Taqueria-Los-Gallos-Express/388181307875199
TWITTER
https://twitter.com/TLGExpress
GOOGLE+
https://plus.google.com/101872245900899691135/posts
Jorge Cardenas is available for print, radio and television interviews and appearances.
Jorge also has real customers available for interview or for answers regarding the
customer’s perspective on our new Street Style Taco Bar.