For something as simple as a thick corn tortilla stuffed with cheese, pork, beans, and other customizable varieties, pupusas have people feeling some type of way. For years, David Chang tried to bring the dish to Momofuku – his Washington DC ramen eatery – but it took him some time to get his pupusa game up to snuff. He finally started offering his own take on pupusas in late 2015. And ever since Martha Stewart had her first delicious morsel at Red Hook Food Vendor’s Marketplace, she’s been hooked. She even had the folks at Solber Pupusas come on her show and teach her how to make them.
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If you happen to be in the DC area on June 26, you can experience ultimate bliss as you eat your weight in pupusas at the second annual PupusaFest, according to Hola Cultura. Last June, the Shrine of the Sacred Heart gave DC its first “Day of the Pupusas” celebration and sold nearly 10,000 of the ñom Salvadoran treat. But they fell short of feeding the masses, so this year, they plan to make more.
Before they decided to make PupusaFest official, the church knew they’d be able to draw big crowds. On weekends, people have long congregated at the church on weekends to eat pupusas. Almost 75 percent of the church’s parishioners are from Central America, so they know a thing or two about El Salvador’s national dish. They’ll start making them at 5 a.m., so that by 8 a.m. people can stuff their faces for $5, which gets you three pupusas. All of the money raised from this event will go to the church’s dinner program, hypothermia shelter, alcoholism program, as well as to Sacred Heart’s mission in El Salvador.
Alba Funes will serve up chicharrón, zucchini, mushrooms, and chicken varieties. But with all the excitement for pupusas, make sure you don’t sleep on the tangy salsa roja and the curtido. In the meantime, here’s a few pictures of pupusas to get you hyped:
http://instagram.com/p/BGucl7bHFYj/?tagged=pupusas
PupusaFest will take place Sunday, June 26, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, 3211 Sacred Heart Way, Washington, DC 20011.