Nicaraguan cuisine includes a mixture of indigenous Native American cuisine, Spanish cuisine, and Creole cuisine. Despite the blending and incorporation of pre-Columbian and Spanish-influenced cuisine, traditional cuisine differs on the Pacific coast from the Caribbean coast. While the Pacific coast’s main staple revolves around beef, poultry, local fruits, and corn, the Caribbean coast’s cuisine makes use of seafood and coconut.
Main Staple
As in many other Latin American countries, corn is a staple. It is used in many of the widely consumed dishes, such as nacatamal, and indio viejo. Corn is not only used in food; it is also an ingredient for drinks such as pinolillo and chicha as well as in sweets and desserts. Other staples are rice and beans. Rice is eaten when corn is not, and beans are consumed as a cheap protein by the majority of Nicaraguans. It is common for rice and beans to be eaten as a breakfast dish. There are many meals including these two staples; one popular dish, gallo pinto, is often served as lunch, sometimes with eggs. Nicaraguans do not limit their diet solely to corn, rice, and beans. Many Nicaraguans have small gardens of their own full of vegetables. From time to time, flowers are incorporated into their meals.
Commonly used ingredients (including fruits and vegetables) are peanuts, cabbage (shredded in vinegar, this is called “ensalada” and used as a side dish. Sometimes carrots and beets are added.) carrots, beets, butternut squash, plantains, bananas, fresh ginger, onion, potato, peppers, jocote, grosella, mimbro, mango, papaya, tamarind, pipian, apples, avocado, yuca, and quequisque. Herbs such as culantro, oregano, and achiote are also used in cooking.[1]
Typical Nicaraguan dishes
- Arroz ancha
- Arroz aguado
- Arroz con pepino
- Arroz con pollo
- Berenjenas rellenas
- Brochetas
- Camarones al ajillo
- Carne asada
- Carne desmenuzada
- Carne enchorizada
- Carne Pinchada
- Carne sofrita
- Coctel de conchas
- Corazon asado
- Costillas asadas de cerdo
- Cusuco frito y desmenuzado
- Chancho adobado
- Chancho frito
- Chicharrón con Chimichurri
- Churrasco con Chimichurri
- Ensalada de aguacate
- Filete en tocineta
- Gallina Rellena
- Gallo Pinto
- Guacamol Nica
- Guiso de berenjenas
- Guiso de chayote
- Guiso de pipian
- Güirila
- Higado asado
- Higado en caldillo
- Higado frito
- Indio Viejo
- Lengua
- Lengua fingida
- Lomo de venado
- Lomo entomatado y encebollado
- Lomo relleno
- Nacatamal
- Pechuga con queso
- Pechuga desmenuzada
- Pescozon
- Pescado a la Tipitapa
- Platanos fritos
- Posta en caldillo
- Punta de Salon henchida
- Quesillo
- Repocheta
- Rondón
- Salpicón
- Sopa de albóndigas
- Sopa de cola
- Sopa de frijoles
- Sopa de Gallina con Albóndigas
- Sopa de mondongo
- Sopa de pastora
- Sopa de pato
- Sopa de pescado
- Sopa de punche (cangrejo de mar)
- Sopa de queso
- Sopa de res o de hueso
- Sopa de sesos
- Sopa de verduras
- Sopa Siete Mares
- Substancia de carne o de higado
- Taco al Pastor
- Tajadas con ensalada
- Tamal pisque
- Tamal Relleno
- Tamales
- Tostones
- Ubre
- Vaho
- Venado asado
- Vigorón
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