¡Buen Provecho!

I think at this point I have mentioned the food in Honduras more than once, but it truly deserves more than a mention - it needs its own blog post.

To begin with, it is important to know that we are in a culture where the phrase “Bueno provecho” is used more than almost any other phrase we have heard. The significance is far more than, “good eating” or, enjoy your meal.” The customary phrase serves several purposes: to express gratitude for a food, and as a well-wish for the recipients of the meal, that they should enjoy the experience of its flavors and its company.

[the first crew + mark and lori]
[Courtesy of Lori Connel]


The basic components of a Honduran meal include some mix of the following: beans, rice, platano (plantain), eggs, meat (chicken, beef, or pork), avocado, and some kind of queso (cheese) or mantequilla (the word for butter, but almost in liquid form) and salsa. But these components do not comprise an ordinary meal. The beans - especially refried, are rich and bursting with flavor, the platano... well, I have no words for platano. They are soft, fresh-fried golden pieces of heaven, and they go well with every single flavor we have ever paired them with, especially the beans. The meat is always seasoned to perfection, and none of the fat has been removed so the full flavor remains, and the mantequilla and queso add the ideal pop of sourness and creamy goodness. Of course, the fresh corn tortillas wrap it all together into one beautiful creation.
[beans, platano, egg, ham, queso, and mantequilla]


I wish I was a food critic or wordsmith so as to more adequately explain the home-cooked perfection of the food here, but I’m afraid I am mostly guided by my stomach and my cravings, usually for a fried platano with beans and mantequilla. I did not come to Honduras with food on my mind, but my life has been changed by the Mecca of flavors I have found here. To sweeten the deal, eating out can be done fairly cheap: a delicious “baleada” can be found at the market for only 10 lempiras (about 50 cents), 2 enchiladas topped with juicy meat, fresh cabbage, and a sweet tomato salsa and queso are only 20 lempiras (about $1), and most drinks of your choice are only 50 cents, from fresh Nance juice to Coke in a glass bottle.




The home cooked meals have been our most frequent and most favorite, even in comparison to the Creperia (a swanky crepe place). Even as our waistlines expand, neither Lindsey nor myself have plans to consume any less of the local cuisine.




[the kitchen where our meals in Opatoro were created - note the fresh corn tortillas on the wood-burning stove]





A special mention of honor should also go out to peanut butter and jelly, an age old friend of mine and Lindsey’s. It has seen us through the hungriest and most frugal of times, and continues to keep us company through our nights of scrounging our refrigerator. Thanks, PB&J.

[eating on the trail at the National Park, La Tigra]