Nicaraguan cooking is a fusion of pre-Columbian and Spanish traditions built around maize. From the ever-present gallo pinto to the substantial Sunday nacatamal, it reflects centuries of history.
Gallo pinto, the national breakfast
Gallo pinto — literally “spotted rooster” — is the most iconic dish in Nicaragua. It is eaten practically every day and is treated as a national symbol.
What it is
White rice fried with red beans — sometimes black — along with onion and pepper. The name comes from the speckled look you get when the two are mixed.
The full breakfast
- Gallo pinto
- Fried or scrambled eggs
- Fried cheese
- Fried ripe plantain
- Cream
- Maize tortilla and black coffee
On the Caribbean coast the gallo pinto is cooked with coconut milk, which gives it an entirely different, tropical flavour. It is worth crossing the country for.
Nacatamal
The Nicaraguan tamal, larger and more elaborate than its Central American cousins. The name comes from Nahuatl: nacatl (meat) plus tamalli (wrapped).
Inside: maize dough enriched with lard, pork, rice, potato, tomato, onion, chilli, olives, raisins and mint, all wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled for hours. Because it takes so long to make, it is traditionally a weekend dish — Sunday breakfast, with strong black coffee.
The rest of the table
- Vigorón. Granada‘s own: boiled cassava, crisp pork crackling and cabbage slaw, served on a plantain leaf.
- Quesillo. A soft cheese wrapped in a tortilla with pickled onion and cream, eaten from a plastic bag at a roadside stop. The classic is at Nagarote.
- Indio viejo. A thick stew of shredded beef and maize dough with mint and sour orange.
- Baho. Beef, plantain and cassava steamed for hours in plantain leaves. A Sunday dish.
- Sopa de mondongo. Tripe soup, regarded as restorative.
- Rondón. On the Caribbean coast: fish and root vegetables in coconut milk.
- Fritanga. Not a dish but an institution — the evening grill stall selling fried meat, plantain and cheese.
Sweet things and drinks
- Tres leches. Nicaragua claims to have invented it, and the versions here are very good.
- Cajeta. Milk and sugar sweets sold in the markets.
- Pinolillo. Toasted maize and cacao drink; Nicaraguans call themselves pinoleros after it.
- Chicha de maíz and fresh fruit drinks in plastic bags.
- Flor de Caña. The national rum, genuinely good and internationally awarded.
Where to eat
Comedores and market stalls, where a full plate costs very little. The stalls around Granada’s central square do the best vigorón; Nagarote and Masaya are the places for quesillo; and any evening fritanga will feed you well for almost nothing.
Prices vary between the cities, the islands and the Caribbean coast. Treat any figure as indicative.
