Oh man, this sounds awesome. The Shrine of the Sacred Heart Church at 16th and Park has organized their second PupusaFest for this Sunday: last year’s was a big hit, they had more than 10,000 pupusas but they were sold out by mid-afternoon. This year they’ll have more, all handmade by local experts.
If you’ve never had one, they’re pretty delicious — they’re traditional food from Central America, kind of like thick corn tortillas stuffed with cheese, beans and sometimes chopped chicharron (fried pork) or other meats. They come with a tangy, spicy red sauce and some pickled cabbage called curtido, kind of like cole slaw or sauerkraut but crunchy and with a little kick. Both are great accompaniments to the pupusas.
The fest will sell 3 pupusas for $5, a good deal, and runs from 8am-5pm. I assume they’ll have drinks and such too, there’s not much info on Sacred Heart’s Facebook page.
DCist has more about the fest and the background:
A predominantly Central American parish, Sacred Heart has been a center of the Latino community for generations, serving as a cultural hub for the area’s 250,000 Salvadorans. Many of them came here in the 1980s, fleeing the civil war in their homeland, and pupusa-making is an important part of preserving their Salvadoran heritage. “The new generation is learning the tradition of pupusa making,” says Father Villalta. “This is something that mothers are passing down to their daughters.”
I’m a big fan of pupusas and was lucky enough to have some in El Salvador and Honduras, where they are both awesome and delicious. There are some tasty ones in our area too — the ones at Bravo Bar and Lyman’s Tavern are good, as are the ones at Susana’s Pupuseria which is just across from Lyman’s and Gloria’s Pupuseria at 3411 14th.
I’m definitely looking forward to this event though, which also serves as a fundraiser for the church.
Photo by Jeremy Noble
